Life Science Committee


The Life Science Committee of the French American Chamber of Commerce San Francisco, organizes events on various subject related to the Biotechnology field. It also promotes other organizations' events fitted to our Membership and Calendar.

To receive any information or for sponsoring, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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2010 Life Science Calendar events

2009 Life Science Calendar events

2008 Life Science Calendar events

  • Tuesday, February 12th,  "Bioinformatics", San Francisco
  • Tuesday, May 13th, Reimbursement, San Francisco
  • Tuesday, December 2nd, "Smart Costs Transformation in Stretch Economy"

2007 Life Science Calendar events

  • Thursday, January 11th,  “Corporate Venture Financing: a creative alternative to traditional Venture Capital”
  • Monday, April 23rd,  "Globalization of Clinical trials", San Francisco
  • Tuesday September 25th,  “From Market to Discovery and Back, the Value of Early Commercialization"  , San Francisco
  • Thursday, October 18th, "Global Health, Biotech Innovation and International Education" at The Institute of International Education, San Francisco
  • Tuesday, December 4th,  "Personalized medicines", San Francisco

 

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Life Science Committee Members

Chair

Other Members

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Members

Elie W. Asmar, Interpro

Elie Asmar is co-founder and CEO of Interpro, a project knowledge management corporation. Interpro specializes in developing and implementing strategic initiatives for global organizations in the semiconductor, information technology and biotechnology industries.
Elie is also an instructor at UC Berkeley Extension and at the University of San Francisco. His courses include Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility and Project Leadership.

Roland Barakett - French Foundation for Medical Researsh and Education

Roland J Barakett, M.D. is a retired General Surgeon. He was the Chieff of Staff at California Pacific Medical Center San Francisco and the President of the San Francisco Medical Society.
He is currently the President of the French-American Foundation for Medical Research and Education and the Grand Consul USA of la Confrerie des Vignerons de Saint-Vincent Macon

Thomas Celerier, Cap Gemini

Thomas is a trusted industry advisor and a senior member of the Capgemini Consulting North America Life Sciences practice. He has been directing some critical strategy engagements for key Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices accounts of the Fortune 500 companies’ index, with a focus on Sales and Marketing, Managed Care and Commercial Operations. Most recently, Thomas helped a biotechnology manufacturer optimize its marketing spend across all its Brands. He has also assisted a top medical device company going through a major re-organization of its customer facing operations and has guided several programs and organizational change initiatives in the technology space. Thomas has been recognized for his contribution to various industry research and surveys conducted on a global basis. He started his career in France and has been serving Life Sciences clients for 9 years. He holds a MBA from HEC School of Management, Paris and a MS and Engineering Degrees in Biotechnology and Agronomy from Agro, Nancy


Benoit Colinot, Ubifrance

Benoit Colinot is Director of the Life Science Team at Ubifrance-US. Ubifrance is the French national agency for international business development. Based in San Francisco and Chicago, the Life Science Team assists French biotech/medtech companies in their partnering activities in the US and works with over 450 American and 150 French biotech companies every year.
Prior to San Francisco, Benoit held several positions at Ubifrance in the UK and China and has 8 years’ experience in business development and competitive intelligence activities in biotech, IT and cleantech. Benoit has a Msc in Biochemistry from Paris 6 University and a M. Eng in Life Sciences from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie de Toulouse.

Cecile Gouffrant, LEDA Consulting LLC

Cécile Gouffrant, President and Founder of LEDA Consulting LLC, offers dynamic business solutions to the Life Science industry worldwide. The services provided range from business development activities such as licensing or strategic alliance deals, to business education such as worldwide negotiations, and business coaching including for management or project teams.
Cécile’s background spans Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology & Diagnostics industries, and includes expertise in business development, partner management, clinical research and project management. Her career comprises of leadership positions with Bayer HealthCare, Pharmacia, parexel International and OXO Chemie. Cécile holds a B.S. in Marketing and a M.S. in Psychology, Université of Bordeaux, France. She is fluent in French and Spanish. In addition to the SF-FACC (San Francisco French American Chamber of Commerce), she is a member of LES (Licensing Executives Society), WITI (Women In Technology International) and ISPSO (International Society of Psycho-analytical Studies of Organizations).
 

Carolyn Malestic has over 15 years experience in marketing mobile products
and software applications. Early in her career, she brought successful
brands to customers around the world, including the PalmPilot handheld
organizer and Treo smartphones. Her private consultancy helps clients to
develop product strategies for global markets, create messaging platforms
with impact, implement effective go-to-market plans and build
revenue-generating alliances. Carolyn is passionate about exploring
technology solutions to improve health outcomes. She is continuing
coursework in Bioscience Business at UC Berkeley, and is the Marketing &
Outreach Officer of the Association of Women in Science, SF Chapter.
 
Carolyn is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago and the
Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris.
Carolyn Malestic has over 15 years experience in marketing mobile products
and software applications. Early in her career, she brought successful
brands to customers around the world, including the PalmPilot handheld
organizer and Treo smartphones. Her private consultancy helps clients to
develop product strategies for global markets, create messaging platforms
with impact, implement effective go-to-market plans and build
revenue-generating alliances. Carolyn is passionate about exploring
technology solutions to improve health outcomes. She is continuing
coursework in Bioscience Business at UC Berkeley, and is the Marketing &
Outreach Officer of the Association of Women in Science, SF Chapter.
 
Carolyn is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago and the
Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris.
Carolyn Malestic has over 15 years experience in marketing mobile products
and software applications. Early in her career, she brought successful
brands to customers around the world, including the PalmPilot handheld
organizer and Treo smartphones. Her private consultancy helps clients to
develop product strategies for global markets, create messaging platforms
with impact, implement effective go-to-market plans and build
revenue-generating alliances. Carolyn is passionate about exploring
technology solutions to improve health outcomes. She is continuing
coursework in Bioscience Business at UC Berkeley, and is the Marketing &
Outreach Officer of the Association of Women in Science, SF Chapter.
 
Carolyn is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago and the
Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris.
Carolyn Malestic has over 15 years experience in marketing mobile products
and software applications. Early in her career, she brought successful
brands to customers around the world, including the PalmPilot handheld
organizer and Treo smartphones. Her private consultancy helps clients to
develop product strategies for global markets, create messaging platforms
with impact, implement effective go-to-market plans and build
revenue-generating alliances. Carolyn is passionate about exploring
technology solutions to improve health outcomes. She is continuing
coursework in Bioscience Business at UC Berkeley, and is the Marketing &
Outreach Officer of the Association of Women in Science, SF Chapter.
 
Carolyn is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago and the
Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris.

Carolyn Malestic - CK International Consulting

Carolyn Malestic has over 15 years experience in marketing mobile products and software applications. Early in her career, she brought successful brands to customers around the world, including the PalmPilot handheld organizer and Treo smartphones.
Her private consultancy helps clients to develop product strategies for global markets, create messaging platforms with impact, implement effective go-to market plans and build revenue-generating alliances. Carolyn is passionate about exploring technology solutions to improve health outcomes. She is continuing coursework in Bioscience Business at UC Berkeley, and is the Marketing & Outreach Officer of the Association of Women in Science, SF Chapter. 
Carolyn is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris.

 

Anita Melikian - Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati

Dr. Anita Melikian is a patent agent in the San Francisco office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, where she assists with the preparation and prosecution of patent of patent applications in the fields of chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. She also provides support on various intellectual property counseling matters. Dr. Melikian has more than 15 years of experience in drug discovery research.  She has worked in the US as well as in Europe and she has experience with large pharmaceutical companies such as Sanofi-Aventis in France and Eli-Lilly in the US, as well as smaller companies, including start-ups. At an early stage in her career Dr. Melikian has been involved in the successful development of a compound for diabetes type II, commercialized under the name “RUBOXISTAURIN”.
Dr. Melikian authored and co-authored multiple scientific articles in peer- reviewed journals and she is an inventor on 20 published patents. Her experience spans multiple therapeutic areas, such as neuroscience, metabolic disease, anti-infectives, immunology, and oncology.
She holds a Ph.D. that she obtained with honors from the University Louis-Pasteur Strasbourg, France and she is a registered US patent agent.
 

Didier Perez, Inoventures Inc, Managing Partner

Innovation Ventures LLC, Founding Partner since 1999 - During the last six years, Didier Perez was involved with the following portfolio companies: COO and CFO of Investigen Inc, a molecular diagnostics company, Director of MarketNews International, a financial news network that specializes in fixed income news, CEO of AuthentiSure, a security and authentication company, and Chief Financial Officer of MagnetPoint, a software telecommunication company. Prior to that, Didier Perez was Managing Director at Plantagenet Capital Management, an investment banking firm specialized in turnaround and M&A situations. Prior to that, he was an international financial consultant with Merrill Lynch.  Mr. Perez has over twenty- five years of experience in working with small to medium size companies.
Mr. Perez serves as Director on the Boards of Investigen Molecular Diagnostics, UCSF Mont Zion Hospital Healthcare Fund, AuthentiSure Inc and of the French American Chamber of Commerce as Co-Chair of the Biotech Committee. 49 years old, married with two daughters Hannah 17, and Melanie 15.

 

Isabelle Tanneau, Ubifrance

Isabelle Tanneau is a Biotech Trade Advisor at Ubifrance in San Francisco. Ubifrance is the French national agency for international business development. Ubifrance’s mission is to assist French companies in their export and partnering activities with international businesses. The US Team in charge of Life Sciences works with over 450 American and 150 French biotech companies every year. Isabelle’s mission at Ubifrance includes the organization of the French Biotech Tour, a French-American biotech partnering event held twice a year.
Prior to Ubifrance, Isabelle held several science and business positions in biotech companies such as Genentech and Genzyme.
Isabelle is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Biotechnologies de Strasbourg, Franceand of Grenoble Management School, France.

 

Jean-Frederic Viret, XDx, Inc.

Jean-Frederic Viret is the Chief Financial Officer for XDx, Inc., a VC-backed molecular diagnostics company.  Jean has over 10 years of experience in the finance departments of biotechnology companies, including Anesiva, a publicly traded specialty pharmaceutical company where he served as CFO. Previously, Jean was Associate Director of Finance at Tularik. He worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, serving various biotech clients. Jean earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Universite Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France. He was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University and a Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT. Jean also earned a master in business administration from Cornell University and a B.S. in Engineering from the Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, in Nancy, France.

 

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Previous events and activities ...

In 2006 we were delighted to organize 3 great events:

  • Monday, February 28th, Life Science Breakfast: "A look at obesity-related diseases, a 21st century crisis"
  • May 11th , Life Science Breakfast
  • October 3rd, life science breakfast

In 2005  we had a chance to have conferences such as:

  • "Start-up in Biotech"
  • "Personalized Medicine: Changing the Face of Healthcare?"
  • "Drug Safety: Is the role of FDA and  consumer safety agencies going to change?"

In 2004, we had a chance to have conferences such as:

  • French Life Science Awards reception
  • "Global Life Science Partnering Reception" as an opening to Bio2004
  • "Exit Strategies for Mature Biotech Firms"
  • "Growing the Bioscience industry through Bio Entrepreneurship"
  • "How Incubators can help Biotech Firms?"
  • "Drug Pricing, do we need limits?"

The Biotech committee was one of the founding members of Bioswap a biotech networking initiative to help companies develop through Bio2004
In 2003, we had a chance to organize conferences such as:

  • Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology, the other side of Biotech
  • GMOs, the new deal


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