France Biotech moves to draw in wider membership

France Biotech head Philippe Pouletty: looking to help tomorrow’s leaders emerge.

The new rules say the board of directors must choose from among its members a chairman and two vice-chairmen who must have significant experience as entrepreneurs in life sciences.

One of the two vice-chairmen will have the responsibility of taking over the chair when the mandate of the out-going chairman expires. Three seats on the board of directors will be reserved for members in the medical devices and diagnostic technology sectors, and for other life science sectors.

“France Biotech has put in place a dynamic and unifying network which is working to improve the ecosystem of innovative small and medium-sized life science and advanced technology businesses, so that tomorrow’s leaders may emerge,” said Dr Philippe Pouletty, chairman of France Biotech.

“Among our achievements, including the status of the Young Innovative Company (YIC) which is an emblematic success for innovative small and medium-sized businesses, we should also emphasise, the lifting of the upper limit of the ISF (French wealth tax) reduction in March 2008, the partial commitment of life insurance in the financing of innovative small and medium-sized businesses, the creation of national research foundation programmes, our contribution to the reform of research and to the 2002 Biotech plan.”

Pouletty added, “Finally, for a few months now, we have been battling for the new Research Tax Credit option to be reviewed as at present it penalises hundreds of SMEs which are trying to invest in research and development.”

“Besides this, we shall continue to work for the adoption of the European Young Innovative Company status, for a strengthening of Oseo and of the National Research Agency and for the mobilisation of savings for the benefit of innovative SMEs.”

Out-going board member Gilles Avenard, co-founder of BioAlliance Pharma, has been re-elected. Two new board members taking their seats on France Biotech’s board of directors are Salman Al-Mahmood, Scientific Director and co-founder of Gene Signal, a research and development company for therapeutic solutions based on angiogenesis mechanisms, and Loïc Maurel, the new CEO of ExonHit Therapeutics.