PARIS & TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--T.H.A.C SA, a biopharmaceutical company in clinical trials for treating type 2 diabetes in early phase by fighting insulin resistance, today announced the appointment of Lyse Santoro to the position of Chief Executive Officer. L. Santoro has also joined the company’s Board of Directors. She succeeds company Founder and former CEO Professor Christian Brechot, who is remaining as Executive Chairman of the T.H.A.C. Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of the T.H.A.C. US affiliate.
“We are delighted to welcome Lyse Santoro who is joining the T.H.A.C Company; Her experience, large expertise and quality of her professional background will be key for the development of the Company which is under high speed development and success” said Professor Christian Brechot MD, PhD, who was CEO of INSERM, Vice-president of Mérieux Institute, CEO of Pasteur Institute in Paris. Today in parallel of his executive role at T.H.A.C, he serves as Professor at University of South Florida and Chairman of the Global Virus Network.
Mrs Santoro commented on his appointment: “T.H.A.C was created and is supported by a team of excellence in research, clinical development and medical fields which I am proud to join. The Company acquired outstanding assets and would not be where it is today without the brilliance and leadership of Pr Christian Brechot. The creation of the Company is based on a real breakthrough innovation through the discovery of a molecule having a fundamental impact on organs regeneration, acting on insulin resistance. This is an exciting time for T.H.A.C. being concentrated on clinical trials for “First in Class” drug treatment for type 2 diabetes with a real benefit for patients and the healthcare community. Beyond, the Company has also a real and significant potential for other age-related diseases treatments, for which insulin resistance is involved. I am really honoured to take on this leadership role, to be committed with the team, to accompany the Company in its growth and to contribute to create the medicine of tomorrow, for a better care and management of patients suffering in particular of chronic diseases”.
Lyse Santoro is highly committed to grow people and organizations serving innovation in healthcare. Prior to joining T.H.A.C., she acquired 10 years of experience in entrepreneurship. She served as CEO of Magnisense SE, a French company developing CE marked mobile, rapid and connected devices and tests, recently relocated in Belgium under the name of Ovvi diagnostics SRL. From 2004 to 2010, she served as Vice President of IPSEN Group in charge of a worldwide product portfolio. In parallel, (i) she served as leader of the G5-R&D initiating and leading bioIntelligence project in collaboration with Ipsen, Sanofi, Pierre Fabre, Servier, Guerbet, Dassault Systems, Inserm and INRIA, and she was Board Member of MEDICEN, the Ile-de-France healthcare cluster contributing to its creation. From 2002 to 2004, she was the personal advisor of the French Minister of Research, Mrs Claudie Haigneré, in charge of innovation and technology transfer. She was responsible for the “Innovation Plan” with the vote and implementation of the young innovative company status, the first reform of the French tax credit for research expenses (CIR), the creation of the National Research Agency (ANR), and the creation of French competitive clusters (“Pôles de Compétitivité”). Prior to that, she spent several years at bioMérieux and in the holding bioMérieux-Pierre Fabre at different strategic and executive positions, as well as at Transgene. She has a robust scientific education: graduated from Ecole Normale Supérieure, she has an “agregation” for teaching in biology and a PhD in immunology (Inserm / CEA). She received an executive education at INSEAD. She is also member of the HCERES (Haut Comité d’Evaluation de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement supérieur).
About T.H.A.C (The Healthy Aging Company)
T.H.A.C. was created in 2018 by Pr Christian Brechot MD & PhD, Dr Gilles Amouyal MD & PhD, Dr Paul Amouyal MD, Pr Christophe Magnan PhD, Dr Laure Jamot PhD and M. Marc le Bozec.
T.H.A.C is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel First in Class molecule to treat type 2 diabetes by acting on insulin resistance. The treatment will fundamentally improve the patient management care for the benefit of patients, healthcare professionals and healthcare economy, for addressing a real unmet medical need. The current clinical developments are based on the discovery of the ALF-5557 molecule coming from several years of research by Pr Christian Brechot and top-level scientists. They are supported by strong publications in peer review journals. This scientific discovery highlights the excellence of research in France. The Company has a strong international patents portfolio with delivered patents in Europe and US. A high number of papers have been published in international peer-review.
Beyond type 2 diabetes, other age-related diseases targeting therapeutic market needs are under research, possibly involving the microbiote, through partnerships.
Mr Jean-Philippe Santoni, Mr Patrick Couvreur, M. Bernard Thorens, who have robust professional carriers and recognized expertises, are acting as independent Board Members. The Company benefits of a network of top-level experts in different field of research, clinical development and medical therapeutic areas. Active collaborations with Inserm, CNRS, APHP (Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris), University of South California, University of Paris Diderot, and laboratories in China are established. The Company has already an international dimension, thanks to the development of the affiliate in the US. http://www.thac.fr/about-us/
