Dr Isabelle Gorrillot was not predestined to a business of science career with a high school degree in mathematics and philosophy. Yet, following med school, she pursued an undergraduate education in biochemistry and cell biology, ultimately training as an immunologist at the Pasteur Institute. In the course of her doctoral research studies, she discovered, characterized and demonstrated the vaccine potential of a major parasitic antigen. This antigen is integrated in a multivalent vaccine distributed to endemic regions by the WHO. She then switched to a business career starting at ALZA Corp (now J&J), one of the very first start-ups out of Stanford University, and was closely involved in alliance management activities with the university, including sponsored research project management. This experience imprinted the remainder of her 30-year career at the interface of university, industry, and governmental agencies. In fact she chaired the Licensing Executives Society's "IUGI" sector introducing,notably, a program dedicated to Open Innovation and is an LES Coach. She was also a frequent speaker at AUTM on practical technology marketing strategies. Isabelle's multifaceted professional focus on early to mid-stage Biotech entrepreneurship stems from her vast experience across academic technology transfer (WSU, Penn, MSIP), industry (e.g. ALZA, TheraTech/Watson, and multiple start-ups), and investment- from pre-seed to clinical stage. Her scorecard includes ~$30Mil in raised capital, and over $700M in partnering deals mainly in immune-mediated diseases, autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, oncology, and neurodegeneration and across most modalities. She is an avid equestrian, outdoor enthusiast, and proud mother of a stellar law student.
