Stéphanie is involved in the field of innovation for over 20 years. She started her career at Genzyme a Sanofi company – the pioneering company in orphan drug development- where she has held various major positions. Among others she has led successfully the launch of two orphan drugs across Europe and has created and led Genzyme patient group relations team for Europe.
These last 10 years Stéphanie has played leading roles in biotech start-up companies being in charge of early and late stage orphan drug commercialisation planning for Europe, Middle-East and Africa region and responsible for the set-up of the European infrastructure/ organisation for North American companies.
She has recently started her own consultancy company providing services to pharmaceuticals companies developing orphan drugs. Stéphanie holds a degree in chemistry- specialisation in biochemistry (UCL- Belgium) and holds a 1-year MBA from Louvain School of Business (UCL).
Didier Georges
Didier works for over 27 years at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and more particularly in the Economic Development Unit.
In this context, he occupies various positions : Responsable of Valorisation in the Financial Department / Director of SA Biopole ULB Charleroi / Co-Manager of the a-ULaB spin-off / Board member of the Aquality technologies spin-off / Board member of ULB Dev ’SA / Observer to Theodorus III and IV Investment Committees / Member of the Investment Committee of the Boost Engineering Pre-Seed Fund.
He also provides support to the various incubators and projects, partners of the ULB.
José Castillo
As founder and CTO of Univercells, José is the architect of highly efficient production processes that will make biologics available and affordable for all.
A recognized technology leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, José brings a strong track record in innovative processes design and successful commercialization.
Previous accomplishments include the start-up of Artelis, where he designed and developed bioreactors that transformed industrial operations – the iCellis system being now considered as standard in the vaccines and gene therapy industry. The technology was industrialized at ATMI LifeSciences and Pall Lifesciences, where José held the position of Cell Culture Technologies Director. Prior to Artelis, José was Head of Viral Vaccine Industrialization at GSK Vaccines.
With a background in Chemical Engineering, Jose’s education includes a PhD in Applied Sciences from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and an entrepreneurship degree from the Solvay Business School.
Jean-Marie Solvay
Jean-Marie Solvay is a serial entrepreneur in various industries and continents. In 1988, he founded two businesses in the helicopter service industry in the western US of which he was CEO and chief pilot, specializing in forest fire fighting, power line construction and maintenance. In 2000, Jean-Marie sold his aviation activities and invested in the East Berlin real-estate market where he currently manages a portfolio of buildings.
As a member of the board of Solvay S.A. for 29 years (until Mai 2020) and since 2004 as a member of the innovation board, Jean Marie has actively supported research and innovation at Solvay. He is also the chairman of the Solvay family’s shareholder council and member of the Solvac SA board.
Jean-Marie is a member of the Board of the Innovation Fund in Brussels Belgium, a capital venture fund focused on providing financial support to emerging businesses in the chemical industry in Belgium.
He is the chairman of the board of the Solvay International Institutes for Physics and Chemistry. These institutes are a widely known Belgian scientific foundation. They organize periodically the famous counsels for physics and chemistry and supports the Belgium scientific community with activities organized around distinguished researchers.
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