Through this mini-series of articles, we want to present you the talents of each member of the team
Christophe Gaudin, can you introduce yourself shortly ?
C.G.: I am a Medical Doctor. Over the last 20 years, I was in charge of development of cardiovascular and antithrombotic drugs at Sanofi. This background allowed me to build a strong expertise in large and ambitious development programs in this therapeutic area, which is closely linked with the stroke area, as well as an efficient team management experience.
What were your main contributions in the cardiovascular and thrombosis area ?
C.G. : For many years, I benefited from a very enriching experience as the Head of Cardiovascular and Thrombosis Development. This therapeutic area has been very successful, with the commercialisation of many new cardiovascular drugs. These new medical treatments made convergence with the development of cardiovascular interventional procedures, as well as with the substantial progress that was accomplished in the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases. The current standard is that a patient with a STEMI, which is a form of heart attack where the coronary artery (which provides the blood oxygen and nutriments necessary for the cardiac muscle to beat) is entirely occluded by a clot, can be treated within 90 minutes. This patient benefits from an early diagnosis, which is directly transmitted through a smartphone to the emergency coordination center so that the catheterisation center can be booked immediately and direct transfer can occur. I was in charge of development of drugs such like clopidogrel and enoxaparin, which contributed a lot to the progress of medical management of patients with a heart attack. We think that this can be a model for futur management of stroke patients : new drugs, development of interventional procedures and a better handling by emergency coordination centers can contribute altogether to greatly improve management and treatment of these patients, and then substantially decrease the disability and death due to stroke.
What is the strength of the technology developed by Op2Lysis?
C.G. : The strength of Op2Lysis is to be agile enough to adress quickly and completely a strong medical need, taking into account both the need to decrease hospital costs and the expectations of stroke patients. While benefiting from progress of alteplase in patients with hemorrhagic stroke, our product combines differenting attributes so that it can be effective and safe with one unique intracerebral injection.
What is your personal contribution to Op2Lysis ?
C.G. : Beyond my expertise in drug development in the cardiovascular and anti-thrombotic field, I bring a clinical vision, in close link with expert neurologists and neurosurgeons, which is a critical source of value for our product, therefore also for Op2Lysis.
Patrick is the managing partner of CASSAGNE et Associés. He previously provided his contribution to many companies for fundraising, until IPO, including in the biotechnology area.
On last December 1st, we welcomed our first employee.
Tiffany will be in charge of internal and external communication of the company, which will provide Op2Lysis with an opportunity to grow and to reinforce its presence in the media.
Op2Lysis attended the BioFit event in Strasbourg on 28-29 November, 2017
We were selected for a pitch at the Slams start-up session, which allowed us to present our company and to benefit from a meeting space in the business area. This was an opportunity for us to meet with new potential investors who welcomed our project.
The doors open at 10:30 AM. Come and listen to our pitch by 11 AM and by 3 PM, and join us at the Medicen booth.
The first step for selection in Big Booster, the international non-profit acceleration program for startups, which is organized across the globe over 4 continents, was held in Lyon. This was a 3-day session during which 100 startups shared their strategy, business plan and innovation. Following the pitch session that occured on Friday 17 October, Op2Lysis was selected to compete further in the Biotech & Health category.
More about Bigbooster : http://www.bigbooster.org/
The Op2Lysis executive summary which was submitted to Bigbooster: http://www.bigbooster.org/pdf/projects/Executive_Summary_OPLYSIS%20SAS.pdf
In the press : http://www.brefeco.com/actualite/innovation/big-booster-3-40-start-passent-la-premiere-etape
An additional step was achieved on last October, with Japan granting the patent that protects O2L-001. After US, this is the second large geographic area of patent protection. This decision strengthens our development and our international strategy.
As a follow-up of our settlement with a new company settlement in Caen, Op2Lysis communicates in Ouest-France.
The article is available at the following address
https://www.ouest-france.fr/normandie/caen-14000/caen-une-start-travaille-sur-l-accident-vasculaire-cerebral-5363174