About TreeFRog Therapeutics
We bring together biophysicists, stem cell biologists & bioproduction engineers around the motto
"Cell Therapy for All"
THE VISION
TreeFrog Therapeutics was created to provide access to safe, efficient and affordable cell therapies for millions of patients.
TreeFrog Today
Hyper-growth since incorporation in 2018
EXecutive team
Frédéric Desdouits, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Frédéric joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as an independent Board Member in October 2019 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2021.
A seasoned international executive in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, Frédéric has deep experience across all disciplines of the biotech industry from RD, commercial and manufacturing, through to investment equity and management consulting.
After starting his career in research in GSK, he shifted focus and joined the investment community as Partner in Pharma and Bioequity Research at Exane BNP Paribas. He subsequently co-founded Bionest, a strategic consulting and financial advisory company, growing the company from a 3-partner venture to 50 in just 4 years. He joined Pierre Fabre in 2011 and held the positions of Executive Vice President Corporate Licensing Acquisition and President, US Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining TreeFrog, Frédéric held a number of positions including CEO of PCAS, a publicly listed company, and Managing Director of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing at Seqens CDMO, a world leader in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Throughout his career, Frédéric has sat on several Boards and supported numerous start-ups in Biotech. He currently sits on the Board of Orano Med. He holds a degree in engineering from Ecole Polytechnique, France, and a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology from UPMC College de France.
Kévin Alessandri, PhD
Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer
Kévin is co-founder, Chief Technology Officer and US VP at TreeFrog Therapeutics
Kévin earned a degree in biochemistry, a Masters in system biology and a diploma in neurobiology from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure before focusing on biophysics for his PhD, completing his thesis on micro-fluidic technologies for cell encapsulation at the Institut Curie, Paris, France. He continued his research with a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, centered on pluripotent cells, tissue engineering and neurogenerative diseases. Kévin worked for the last 15 years in 3D encapsulation leading to 12 papers, more than 1000 citations and the filing of 14 patents.
It was during his time in Geneva that the fortuitous meeting with fellow scientist Maxime Feyeux, led to the subsequent development of a 3D print encapsulation system in 2015 and the invention of the biomimetic C-Stem™ technology that TreeFrog Therapeutics is based upon.
The promise of the technology, together with the passion of the duo led to numerous awards and grants and TreeFrog Therapeutics was incorporated in 2018 with the mission to provide innovative, safe and more affordable cell therapy to all through proprietary therapeutic programs and external partnerships.
Following a $75M Series B financing in 2021, Kévin Alessandri moved to Boston, MA, in 2022 to lead the U.S. subsidiary of TreeFrog Therapeutics.
Maxime Feyeux, PhD
Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer
Maxime is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at TreeFrog Therapeutics
Maxime holds a Masters degree in cellular and molecular biology from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure and a PhD in neurobiology and neurosciences. He has dedicated his career to stem cells and was one of the first PhD students to work with pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in France and on their applications in neurology at the Institute for Stem Cell Therapy and Exploration of Monogenic Diseases (i-Stem). Based on his singular expertise, Maxime was invited to continue his research in the field of PSCs at the University of Geneva, using iPSCs to investigate therapeutic targets. Maxime has published over 18 papers cumulating over 1000 citations and filed 16 patents.
In 2014, the serendipitous meeting with Kevin Alessandri, a biophysicist specialized in cell encapsulation microfluidics, kicked off the TreeFrog adventure with their combined talents leading to the invention of C-Stem™, a biomimetic technology allowing for the mass production of induced pluripotent stem cells, and their differentiation into ready-to- transplant microtissues, with unprecedented scalability and cell quality.
In 2018, they co-founded TreeFrog Therapeutics transitioning the C-Stem™ technology to GMP standards in 2022.
The mission set out by Maxime and Klevin is to bring innovative, more affordable cell therapies to millions through proprietary therapeutic programmes and external partnerships.
Marie Daniel, MBA
General SECRETARY
Marie joined TreeFrog Therapeutics in September 2019 as General Secretary, overseeing human resources, legal and intellectual property functions.
Based on the strong expertise developed throughout her career, Marie has accompanied the development of the company structure and organization during a period of significant growth in the last 4 years.
Prior to TreeFrog, Marie spent nearly 12 years with Unitec, one of the main start-up support structures in Bordeaux and the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. During her tenure with Unitec she supported over 150 start-ups in all areas of their development from project development coordination, strategic thinking, organization, structure development and finance.
She started her career as a management consultant with CM International before joining EDF, where she spent six years within the Global Internal Audit team working in Paris and internationally. She also spent three years with Secafi Alpha in financial audit.
Marie is French and graduated in Strategy Organization from HEC Paris.
Jaime Arango, MBA
Chief Financial officer
Jaime joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as Chief Financial Officer in October 2023.
Jaime is an expert finance executive with over 20 years’ experience in the biotech/pharma industry. He began his career at Biogen as a Senior Treasury Analyst and subsequently Senior Financial Analyst.
Joining Merck Co in 2006, he held various finance positions with an increasing level of responsibility in France including Director Financial Planning Analysis Internal Control, in Eastern Europe as Finance Director MSD Balkans and ultimately globally, as Global Director of Merck’s Finance Transformation team.
Jaime then spent two years in the United States as Vice President Finance of Revlon’s Professional Division, before returning to France to join Medincell in 2017 as Group Chief Financial Officer. As CFO of Medincell, he led the successful IPO of the company and secured financing through to the first approved product in 2023.
Jaime holds Colombian and French nationalities and has a degree in engineering from the University of Los Andes in Colombia and an MBA from HEC Paris.
Myriam Makhloufi, MSc
Chief Strategy Officer
Myriam joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as Chief Strategy Officer in November 2021.
With over 20 years’ experience in Life Sciences, Myriam kicked off her career with Bionest Partners as a Management Consultant in charge of the commercial and strategic due diligence department for private equity clients. During her tenure, she gained deep insight into a wide variety of large, midsize and small pharmaceutical companies, in particular in target positioning, portfolio assessment and strategy development. She then moved into the Financial Advisory Services arm of the company, focusing on merger acquisitions.
In 2011, Myriam joined Astellas Pharma to lead the Market Research and Strategic Planning department, before being appointed as Corporate Development, Licensing Acquisition Director for Pierre Fabre Medicament in 2015. Prior to joining TreeFrog Therapeutics, Myriam sat on the management team of Seqens, a contract development and manufacturing operations company, where she held the position of Strategic and Operational Marketing Director.
Myriam completed a DEUG in Life Sciences from Université Jussieu, Paris and holds a MSc in Biotechnology and Management from ESIEE management (formerly Institut Superieur de Technologie et Management ISTM, Paris).
Michael Lanero Fidalgo, MBA
Chief Operating Officer
Michaël joined TreeFrog Therapeutics in early 2020 as Chief Operating Officer.
Michaël is responsible for leading process development analytics activities as well as technical development related to the core technology of the company (SAKURA®). He is also in charge of the technical services – IS/IT, supply chain infrastructure management.
Michaël is renowned for his capability to bring innovative approaches to any project. Prior to joining TreeFrog, he headed up the EMEA Bio Development Center in France for Merck, focused on scaling up an innovative business through seeding new technology applications and services, ultimately growing the business at 25% CAGR. He was also in charge of defining strategy across all core business functions including process development, GMP manufacturing, supply chain, quality and supporting sales functions.
In another of his positions with Merck, he created the first microbial process development laboratory to deal with therapeutic drug development in the MERCK KGaA healthcare business unit covering process development, analytical, quality, biostatistics and project management.
Michaël started his career at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals in Belgium where he worked for 10 years in several positions in the RD organization focused primarily on vaccines process development and driving technological innovation in the field, as well as working as an expert for commercial product cycle management.
Daniel Castro
Chief BUSINESS OFFICER
Daniel joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as Chief Business Officer in March 2023.
Prior to joining TreeFrog Therapeutics, Dan spent two years with Avectas, a cell engineering company based in Dublin, Ireland, where he led corporate strategy and business development and launched their presence in the US, opening a technical applications lab in Cambridge, MA.
Previously, Dan spent 15 years at Mass. General Brigham (MGB), during which time he was consistently promoted and ultimately led a 30-person business development team as Managing Director, Licensing. Prior to MGB, Dan spent more than 10 years within the biotech and large pharmaceutical industry, including roles at Sanofi, Agenus and Onyx Pharmaceuticals (now Amgen).
Dan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from the University of California, Davis, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Boston College.
François Gianelli, PhD MSc
Head of Regulatory and Quality
François joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as a consultant in 2019 and was appointed Head of Regulatory and Quality in January 2023.
With 15 years’ experience in Regulatory Science for Cell and Gene Therapy, François began his career in the French army health services and the French Medicine Agency (ANSM). As part of the cell therapy quality control laboratory, he supported the establishment of new cell therapy guidelines.
In 2013, François joined Voisin Consulting Life Sciences (VCLS) where his expertise in cell and gene therapy requirements and challenges actively supported building the regulatory chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) expertise within the company where he worked on multiple cell and gene therapies. He was responsible for communicating with regulatory authorities, authoring and reviewing CMC content (IMPD/IND and MAA/NDA/BLA), performing gap-analysis, product positioning and establishing pragmatic regulatory strategy. His most recent position was Head of the European CMC division. François is a recognized speaker and trainer on Cell and Gene Therapy development at international conferences. François holds a PhD from the University of Pharmacy Paris-V and two MSc Degrees, in pharmaceutical biotechnology and innovative therapies and in human genetics from University of Paris-XI.
Jens Schröder, MD PhD
Chief Medical Officer
Jens joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as Chief Medical Officer in July 2023
Jens brings 20 years of experience in the healthcare sector and joins from Bayer where he was responsible for the clinical development of the cell therapy portfolio. In 2003, he began his career at Ethicon, a medical device company subsidiary of Jonhson & Jonhson, where he was responsible for innovative and complex device development programs.
Jens joined Bayer in Montville, New Jersey, in 2007. During his 15-year tenure, he held various leadership positions in late-stage clinical development of numerous products, including Spheramine®, which was Bayer’s pioneering work on cell therapy for Parkinson’s Disease.
In 2017, while retaining his corporate role at Bayer, he co-founded Coagulant
Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held company developing medicines to treat acute bleeding, as part of a spin-off from Bayer. Jens has also served as an advisor to several emerging medical technology firms, advancing their product development programs and processes.
Jens, a German national, holds an MD from Hamburg University School of Medicine and a PhD from the Institute for Immunology at Hamburg University. He is a trained Neurosurgeon and Molecular Biologist.
Rachel Mooney
Chief Communications Officer
Rachel joined TreeFrog Therapeutics as Chief Communications Officer in September 2023.
With nearly 25 years experience in communications and marketing, Rachel started her career on the agency side, working across a wide range of areas including Government, Finance, FMCG and Healthcare industries.
Since 2003, she has focused on healthcare communications and joined Sanofi as Head of Communications Public Affairs in Ireland in 2005, before moving to France as Global Marketing Manager for the Diabetes division in 2007. She joined the Global Communications Leadership team in 2009 as Head of CEO Communications Strategic Communications Planning, a post she held for five years before ultimately leading International Communications, covering all country communications structures outside North America and France. Her last position at Sanofi was as Head of Consumer Healthcare Communications. Throughout her career at Sanofi, Rachel additionally led several initiatives around MA, integration communications, culture evolution and issues management.
Prior to joining TreeFrog, she spent two years as Head of Franchise Communications for Galderma. Rachel is Irish and a graduate in Business Politics from Trinity College Dublin.
Board members
Elsy Boglioli
Chair, INDEPENDENT board MEMBER
Frédéric Desdouits, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Kévin Alessandri, PhD
Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer
Melissa Carpenter, PhD
independEnt board MEMBER
Peter Nell, PhD
independEnt board MEMBER
Laurent Higueret
BPI Large Venture
Pete Zippelius
Leonard Green & Partners
Guilhem de Vregille
Xange
Marine Choplain
ObservER, Bpifrance
Bryan Campbell
Observer, BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB
Fabienne Mazeau
Observer, AQUITI Gestion
Maxime Feyeux, PhD
Observer, Co-Founder and CSO
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Prof. Peter Andrews
Emeritus Professor, University of Sheffield, UK
Prof. L. Mahadevan
Professor of Physics, de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, USA
Marta Shahbazi, PhD
Group Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) Cambridge, UK
Justin Eyquem, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of California San Francisco, Co-founder of Mnemo Therapeutics, USA
Shin Kawamata, MD, PhD
Director, Research and Development Center for Cell Therapy, FBRI Kobe, Japan
Pierre Nassoy, PhD
Research Director, CNRS,
co-inventor of C-SteM technology, Bordeaux, France
They trust us
Our partners
Scientific COLLABORATions
INvestors
Public funding
EARLY SUPPORT
TreeFrog Therapeutics is receiving funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program through the SME Instrument Phase 2 under grant agreement n° SME 881113.
La Région et l’Union européenne soutiennent le projet CHAMBERLAN dans le cadre du « Programme Opérationnel FEDER/FSE Aquitaine 2014-2020 » en conformité avec la règlementation européenne en matière de Fonds européens structurels et d’investissement (FESI).