iPS-based Stem Cell therapy Biotech I About TreeFrog Therapeutics I Cell Therapy for All (2024)

Meet our leadership team

Get to know the TreeFrog leadership and key team members.

• 

  PhD

  Frédéric Desdouits

  Chief Executive Officer

  Frédéric joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as an independent Board Member in October 2019 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2021.

  A seasoned international executive in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, Frédéric has deep experience across all disciplines of the biotech industry from R&D, commercial and manufacturing, through to investment & equity and management consulting.

  After starting his career in research in GSK, he shifted focus and joined the investment community as Partner in Pharma and Bioequity Research at Exane BNP Paribas. He subsequently co-founded Bionest, a strategic consulting and financial advisory company, growing the company from a 3-partner venture to 50 in just 4 years. He joined Pierre Fabre in 2011 and held the positions of Executive Vice President Corporate Licensing & Acquisition and, President US Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining TreeFrog, Frédéric held a number of positions including CEO of PCAS, a publicly listed company, and Managing Director of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing at Seqens CDMO, a world leader in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

  Throughout his career, Frédéric has sat on several Boards and supported numerous start-ups in Biotech. He currently sits on the Board of Orano Med. He holds a degree in engineering from Ecole Polytechnique, France, and a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology from UPMC College de France.

• 

  PhD

  Kévin Alessandri

  Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer

  Kévin is co-founder, Chief Technology Officer and US VP at TreeFrog Therapeutics.

  Kévin earned a degree in biochemistry, a Masters in system biology and a diploma in neurobiology from the Ecole Nationale Superiéure before focusing on biophysics for his PhD, completing his thesis on micro-fluidic technologies for cell encapsulation at the Institut Curie, Paris, France. He continued his research with a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, centered on pluripotent cells, tissue engineering and neurogenerative diseases. Kevin worked for the last 15 years in 3D encapsulation leading to 12 papers more than 1000 citations and filed 14 patents.

  It was during his time in Geneva that the fortuitous meeting with fellow scientist Maxime Feyeux, led to the subsequent development of a 3D print encapsulation system in 2015 and the invention of the biomimetic C-Stem™ technology that TreeFrog Therapeutics is based upon.

  The promise of the technology, together with the passion of the duo led to numerous awards and grants and TreeFrog Therapeutics was incorporated in 2018 with the mission to provide innovative, safe and more affordable cell therapy to all through proprietary therapeutic programs and external partnerships.

  Following a $75M Series B financing in 2021, Kévin Alessandri moved to Boston, MA, in 2022 to lead the U.S. subsidiary of TreeFrog Therapeutics and the filing of 14 patents.

• 

  PhD

  Maxime Feyeux

  Co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer

  Maxime Feyeux is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at TreeFrog Therapeutics

  Maxime holds a Masters degree in cellular and molecular biology from the Ecole Nationale Superiéure and a PhD in neurobiology and neurosciences. He has dedicated his career to stem cells and was one of the first PhD students to work with pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in France and on their applications in neurology at the Institute for Stem Cell Therapy and Exploration of Monogenic Diseases (i-Stem). Based on his singular expertise, Maxime was invited to continue his research in the field of PSCs at the University of Geneva, using iPSCs to investigate therapeutic targets. Maxime has published over 18 papers cumulating over 1000 citations and filed 16 patents.

  In 2014, the serendipitous meeting with Kévin Alessandri, a biophysicist specialized in cell encapsulation microfluidics, kicked off the TreeFrog adventure with their combined talents leading to the invention of C-Stem™, a biomimetic technology allowing for the mass production of induced pluripotent stem cells, and their differentiation into ready-to-transplant microtissues, with unprecedented scalability and cell quality.

  In 2018, they co-founded TreeFrog Therapeutics transitioning the C-Stem™ technology to GMP standards in 2022. The mission set out by Maxime and Klevin is to bring innovative, more affordable cell therapies to millions through proprietary therapeutic programmes and external partnerships.

• 

  MBA

  Jaime Arango

  Chief Financial Officer

  Jaime joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as Chief Financial Officer in October 2023.

  Jaime is an expert finance executive with over 20 year’s experience in the biotech/pharma industry. He began his career at Biogen as a Senior Treasury Analyst and subsequently Senior Financial Analyst.

  Joining Merck & Co in 2006, he held various finance positions with an increasing level of responsibility in France including Director Financial Planning & Analysis & Internal Control, in Eastern Europe as Finance Director MSD Balkans and ultimately globally, as Global Director of Merck’s Finance Transformation team.

  Jaime then spent two years in the United States as Vice President Finance of Revlon’s Professional Division, before returning to France to join Medincell in 2017 as Chief Financial Officer. As CFO of Medincell, he led the successful IPO of the company and secured financing through to the first approved product in 2023.

  Jaime holds Colombian and French nationalities and has a degree in engineering from the University of Los Andes in Colombia and an MBA from HEC Paris.

• 

  MSc

  Myriam Makhloufi

  Chief Strategy Officer

  Myriam joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as Chief Strategy Officer in November 2021.

  With over 20 year’s experience in Life Sciences, Myriam kicked off her career with Bionest Partners as a Management Consultant in charge of the commercial and strategic due diligence department for private equity clients. During her tenure, she gained deep insight into a wide variety of large, midsize and small pharmaceutical companies, in particular in target positioning, portfolio assessment and strategy development. She then moved into the Financial Advisory Services arm of the company, focusing on merger & acquisitions.

  In 2011, Myriam joined Astellas Pharma to lead the Market Research and Strategic Planning department, before being appointed as Corporate Development, Licensing & Acquisition Director for Pierre Fabre Medicament in 2015. Prior to joining Treefrog Therapeutics, Myriam sat on the management team of Seqens, a contract development and manufacturing operations company, where she held the position of Strategic and Operational Marketing Director.

  Myriam completed a DEUG in Life Sciences from Université Jussieu, Paris and holds a MSc in Biotechnology and Management from ESIEE management (formerly Institut Superieur de Technologie et Management ISTM, Paris).

  See Also

  Cell Therapy Pipeline I iPS-derived Cell Therapies I Allogeneic Stem Cell TherapiesBREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY FOR IPS-DERIVED CELL THERAPIES TURNED INTO GMP PLATFORM BY TREEFROG THERAPEUTICS & INVETECHVERTEX UND TREEFROG THERAPEUTICS GEBEN LIZENZVEREINBARUNG UND ZUSAMMENARBEIT ZUR OPTIMIERUNG DER PRODUKTION DER ZELLTHERAPIEN VON VERTEX FÜR TYP-1-DIABETES BEKANNTVertex und Treefrog Therapeutics geben Lizenzvereinbarung und Zusammenarbeit zur Optimierung der Produktion der Zelltherapien von Vertex für Typ-1-Diabetes bekannt

• 

  MBA

  Michael Lanero Fidalgo

  Chief Operating Officer

  Michaël joined TreeFrog Therapeutics in early 2020 as Chief Operating Officer.

  Michaël is responsible for leading process development & analytics activities as well as technical development related to the core technology of the company (SAKURA®). He is also in charge of the technical services – IS/IT, supply chain & Infrastructure management.

  Michaël is renowned for his capability to bring innovative approaches to any project. Prior to joining TreeFrog, he headed up the EMEA Bio Development Center in France for Merck, focused on scaling up an innovative business through seeding new technology applications and services, ultimately growing the business at 25% CAGR. He was also in charge of defining strategy across all core business functions including process development, GMP manufacturing, supply chain, quality and supporting sales functions.

  In another of his positions with Merck, he created the first microbial process development laboratory to deal with therapeutic drug development in the MERCK KGaA healthcare business unit covering process development, analytical, quality, biostatistics and project management.

  Michaël started his career at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals in Belgium where he worked for 10 years in several positions in the R&D organization focused primarily on vaccines process development and driving technological innovation in the field, as well as working as an expert for commercial product cycle management.

• 

  PhD

  Daniel Castro

  Chief Business Officer

  Daniel joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as Chief Business Officer in March 2023.

  Prior to joining TreeFrog Therapeutics, Dan spent two years with Avectas, a cell engineering company based in Dublin, Ireland, where he led corporate strategy and business development and launched their presence in the US, opening a technical applications lab in Cambridge, MA.

  Previously, Dan spent 15 years at Mass General Brigham, during which time he was consistently promoted and ultimately led a 30-person business development team as Managing Director, Licensing. Prior to MGB, Dan spent more than 10 years within the biotech and large pharmaceutical industry, including roles at Sanofi, Agenus and Onyx Pharmaceuticals (now Amgen).

  Dan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from the University of California, Davis, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Boston College.

• 

  PharmD, MSc

  François Gianelli

  Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer

  François joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as a consultant in 2019 and was appointed Chief Regulatory & Quality Officer in January 2023.

  With 15 years experience in Regulatory Science for Cell and Gene Therapy, François began his career in the French army health services and the French Medicine Agency (ANSM). As part of the cell therapy quality control laboratory, he supported the establishment of new cell therapy guidelines.

  In 2013, François joined Voisin Consulting Life Sciences (VCLS) where his expertise in cell and gene therapy requirements and challenges actively supported building the regulatory chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) expertise within the company where he worked on multiple cell and gene therapies. He was responsible for communicating with regulatory authorities, authoring and reviewing CMC content (IMPD/IND and MAA/NDA/BLA), performing gap-analysis, product positioning and establishing pragmatic regulatory strategy. His most recent position was Head of the European CMC division. François is a recognized speaker and trainer on Cell and Gene Therapy development at international conferences. François holds a Pharm.D. from the University of Pharmacy Paris-V and two MSc Degrees, in pharmaceutical biotechnology and innovative therapies and in human genetics from University of Paris-XI.

• 

  MD, PhD

  Jens Schröder

  Chief Medical Officer

  Jens joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as Chief Medical Officer in July 2023

  Jens brings 20 years of experience in the healthcare sector and joins from Bayer where he was responsible for the Clinical Development of the cell therapy portfolio. In 2003, he began his career at Ethicon, a medical device company subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, where he was responsible for innovative and complex device development programs.

  Jens joined Bayer in Montville, New Jersey, in 2007. During his 15-year tenure, he held various leadership positions in late-stage clinical development of numerous products, including Spheramine®, which was Bayer’s pioneering work on cell therapy for Parkinson’s Disease.

  In 2017, while retaining his corporate role at Bayer, he co-founded Coagulant Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held company developing medicines to treat acute bleeding, as part of a spin-off from Bayer. Jens has also served as an advisor to several emerging medical technology firms, advancing their product development programs and processes.

  Jens, a German national, holds an MD from Hamburg University School of Medicine and a PhD from the Institute for Immunology at Hamburg University. He is a trained Neurosurgeon and Molecular Biologist.

• 

  Rachel Mooney

  Chief Communications Officer

  Rachel joined Treefrog Therapeutics as Chief Communications Officer in September 2023.

  With nearly 25 years’ experience in communications and marketing, Rachel started her career on the agency side, working across a wide range of areas including Government, finance, FMCG and Healthcare industries. Since 2003, she has focused on healthcare communications and joined Sanofi as Head of Communications & Public Affairs in Ireland in 2005, before moving to France as Global Marketing Manager for the Diabetes division in 2007. She joined the Global Communications Leadership team in 2009 as Head of CEO Communications & Strategic Communications Planning, a post she held for five years before ultimately leading International Communications, covering all country communications structures outside North America and France. Her last position at Sanofi was as Head of Consumer Healthcare Communications. Throughout her career at Sanofi, Rachel additionally led several initiatives around M&A, integration communications, culture evolution and issues management. Prior to joining TreeFrog, she spent two years as Head of Franchise Communications for Galderma. Rachel is Irish and a graduate in Business & Politics from Trinity College Dublin.

• 

  Romain Boiteux

  People Director

  Romain joined Treefrog in September 2022 to structure the Human Resources function and organize the teams to support the company’s development.

  Romain graduated from the University of Versailles in France in 2007 with a Master’s degree in law. He began his career in human resources at Leyton, a fast-growing international consultancy, where he held positions in personnel management, social partner relations and human resources development (recruitment, career management). In 2015, he moved to Bordeaux with his family to join Idaia, in the data marketing and communications sectors, to set up the human resources team, first on his own and then with a small team.

  Romain is passionate about the human resource challenges in developing a company, especially when innovation is at the heart of the future company: building the organization by anticipating the next phases of development, recruiting and retaining talent, building the social policy, supporting managers and the management team. Each phase of development brings its own set of new cultural, organizational, legal and relational challenges.

Board members

• 

  Elsy Boglioli

  Chair Independent Board Member

• 

  PhD

  Frédéric Desdouits

  Chief Executive Officer

• 

  PhD

  Kévin Alessandri

  Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer

• 

  PhD

  Melissa Carpenter

  Independent Board Member

• 

  PhD

  Peter Nell

  Independent Board Member

• 

  Laurent Higueret

  BPI Large Venture

• 

  Pete Zippelius

  Leonard Green & Partners

• 

  Guilhem de Vregille

  Xange

• 

  Marine Choplain

  Observer, BPI France

• 

  Bryan Campbell

  Observer, Bristol-Myers Squibb

• 

  Fabienne Mazeau

  Observer, Aquiti Gestion

• 

  PhD

  Maxime Feyeux

  Co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer

Strategic advisory board

• 

  Prof. Peter Andrews

  Emeritus Professor, University of Sheffield, UK

• 

  Prof L. Mahadevan

  Professor of Physics, de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, USA

• 

  PhD

  Marta Shahbazi

  Group Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) Cambridge, UK

• 

  PhD

  Justin Eyquem

  Assistant Professor, University of California San Francisco, Co-founder of Mnemo Therapeutics, USA

• 

  MD, PhD

  Shin Kawamata

  Director, Research and Development Center for Cell Therapy, FBRI Kobe, Japan

• 

  PhD

  Pierre Nassoy

  Research Director, CNRS, Co-inventor of C-SteM technology, Bordeaux, France

Our partners

Scientific collaborations, investors and our supporters are at the core of our success.