Belgium
General management biotech executive and board member with extensive experience in life sciences, working across European and North American organizations. Stephane studied medicine at KU Leuven and obtained an MBA from Erasmus University Rotterdam and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. • In 2023, Stephane became CEO of Flamingo Therapeutics (Leuven, Belgium) after leading the merger between Dynacure and Flamingo. The company launched a Phase 2 clinical development program in head and neck cancer with an antisense oncology asset, in collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IONS). • He joined Dynacure (Strasbourg, France) in 2016 as CEO. Dynacure was a drug development company focused on innovative therapies for rare myopathies. Under his leadership, the company raised over 94M$ from an international syndicate of investors (France, U.S., Israel) and initiated a Phase 2 clinical program in rare disease ‘centronuclear myopathies’ in collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals. • In 2014, as founding CEO of Confo Therapeutics (a VIB-VUB spin-off, Brussels, Belgium), he established the company, secured funding, and built a high-performing team, driving the company’s expansion. • In 2012, he joined ViroPharma (London, UK) as a member of the European Business Council and the global pipeline project team. He led the company’s main commercial program, Cinryze (an orphan drug indicated for hereditary angioedema). • Stephane started at Genzyme Corporation in 2005 (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), working in business development and finance. He later became the European Cardiovascular Business Unit Leader. • He started his career in 1996 at Arthur D. Little’s strategy consulting team.
The Termeer Institute was inaugurated to honor Henri Termeer’s (former Genzyme CEO) dedication to mentor 1st time life sciences CEOs. It builds and supports a network of biotech entrepreneurs, CEOs, academics and other innovators. The support includes mentoring, networking, professional development and financial grants.
Flamingo was pioneering RNA-targeted therapies for oncology with a clinical-stage pipeline, including Phase II trial PEMDA-HN evaluating the STAT3 targeting agent danvatirsen, in combination with pembrolizumab, in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Flamingo had an alliance with Ionis Pharmaceuticals and was supported by well-known European and US biotechnology investors.
Dynacure was a drug development company focused on innovative therapies for rare myopathies. The company raised over 94M$ from an international syndicate of investors (France, U.S., Israel) and initiated a Phase 2 clinical program in rare disease ‘centronuclear myopathies’ in collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Dynacure merged with Flamingo Therapeutics in 2023.
Confo Therapeutics is a drug discovery company building a portfolio of development programs by employing its proprietary CONFO® technology to lock inherent unstable functional conformations of GPCRs (G protein-coupled receptors) as a superior starting point for drug discovery in CONFO® body-stabilized active state conformations of these receptors to uncover a wide range of previously inaccessible drug targets.