David Silvestre

I have focused my career on translating exciting findings from research into successful ventures and technologies in life sciences. My professional ambition is to contribute with my experience in translational research and my business development acumen supporting and evaluating start-ups and drug development projects in the public and industrial domains to help new start-ups develop their businesses. That is my motivation to join Bioexpert network.

My doctoral and postdoctoral work was devoted to identifying therapeutic targets and early-stage drug discovery. Given my interdisciplinary approach, my work focused on the interphase of academia, industry, and clinicians. As a result, I collaborated with several academic/clinical institutions (CEA, Curie Institute) and pharma companies (GSK, Servier, Cancer Research UK).

I continued my work in two biotech start-ups for the development of innovative therapies, first as a Scientist at iDD Biotech (development of monoclonal antibodies – Lyon, FR) and afterward as a Senior Scientist at Cristal Therapeutics (development of nanomedicines – Maastricht, NL). During this period, my main tasks were the following:
1. Project manager for the planning and execution of drug development programs in partnership with
academia/biotech/big pharma.
2. As a scientist, I led the preclinical characterization of leads in vitro and in vivo.
3. In the scientific support of business development activities, I provided overviews, conclusions, and
recommendations to the business development department, management, and venture capital partners in
written/oral reports and slide decks, on the following activities:
a. systematic overviews of state of the art on fields and technologies of interest
b. due intelligence studies for the identification of new applications of proprietary technologies
c. scouting campaigns for in-licensing, leading discussions with TTOs and inventors
Throughout these activities, I evaluated the competitor landscape, market, regulatory aspects, IP and performed
risk analysis.

As a scientific writer at Genmab (development of monoclonal antibodies – Utrecht, NL), I was responsible for extracting and summarizing preclinical data for IND/CTA applications in reports, investigator’s brochures, modules, and clinical protocols. I was also responsible for the review of these documents across departments and for competitive intelligence studies. In collaboration with the BD department, I lead competitive intelligence studies in the identification and evaluation of partnership opportunities.

In summary, I acquired solid knowledge in the emerging fields of translational research in life sciences and in their commercial application. Furthermore, I have aimed to build an extensive network with relevant companies, knowledge and research institutions, and investors.

I am convinced that my passion and track record connecting business and science and evaluating novel technologies and my strong affinity for start-ups will be highly valued.