Vocation

Adhesive micropatterns which control internal cell organization were invented at the Curie Institute in Paris. Cytoo was granted worldwide exclusive rights. The technology has potential in high-content analysis of cultured cells, enabling to combine reliable quantification with simplified and improved cell phenotyping.

François Chatelain, founder, president and co-chief executive officer of CYTOO SA, with 19 years of experience in biotechnology and in research in microtechnology both in France and in US, in academic research and in the industry. Until 2008, he was the director of the Biochip Laboratory (laboratoire iRTSV/Biopuces) at the Life Sciences Division of the Comissariat à  l'Energie Atomique in Grenoble (Fr). Prior to joining the CEA in 2001, he assembled and managed multidisciplinary research teams at Protogene Inc. (US), Life Technologies Inc. (US), and Genset SA (Fr). He also co-founded DNAgency Inc. (US), a company specialized in HT oligonucleotide synthesis. 
Francois Chatelain holds a MS and a DEA in biochemistry and organic chemistry from the University of Paris XI, France. 
He is the author of 15 publications and an inventor of 16 patents and patent applications.

Alexandra Fuchs, founder and co-chief executive officer of CYTOO SA, with 16 years of experience in R&D at the interface between cell biology and microtechnology at the Life Sciences Division of the Comissariat à  l'Energie Atomique in Grenoble (Fr).
Alexandra holds a PhD in biochemistry and cell biology and graduated from the prestigious Ecole Centrale Paris in 1992 (French Ivy League).  She is the author of 20 publications and an inventor of 7 patents and patent applications

Michel Bornens, chief scientific officer of CYTOO SA, worked at the Pasteur Institute in Paris from 1973 to 1982, and in 1995 joined the Curie Institute in Paris to head a research lab “Biology of the Cell Cycle and Cell Motility”.
His major research interest has been the role of the centrosome-microtubule system in animal cells, more particularly in the definition and maintenance of cell polarity during migration, and the progression and control of the cell division cycle.
Michel Bornens is author of over 170 publications (including more than a dozen papers in Nature, Science, Cell and PNAS). His group at the Curie Institute is at the origin of CYTOO’s patented technology, the adhesive control of internal cell organization.

Mr. Sharp brings thirty years of progressive experience spanning emerging private to mid-sized and large public companies in the life science tools, diagnostics, and clinical products markets.  Prior to joining CYTOO, Bill was President and CEO of Aruna Biomedical, a privately held stem cell technologies company.  Before Aruna, Bill was Chief Commercial Officer at BioProcessors Corporation.  Prior to BioProcessors, Bill was Vice President of Business Development with Cellomics (a market leader in high content screening technologies).  While at Cellomics, he played a key leadership role in the $49 Million sale of Cellomics to Fisher Scientific International.   Bill's experience also includes a number of years in senior leadership roles with Gentra Systems (acquired by Qiagen), Life Technologies (acquired by Invitrogen), Heraeus Instruments and Baxter Healthcare.  Mr. Sharp earned M.S. and B.A. degrees from The Pennsylvania State University.

Jacques Lewiner, founder and chairman of the board of Cytoo SA, carries out basic and applied research in various domains of physics.
The scientific director of the Elite School ESPCI in Paris from 1987 to 2001, he has published more than 80 scientific papers in International Journals.
In parallel with his research, he has developed many practical applications of his work. He has filed more than 140 patent applications. A significant number of these patents have been either licensed or sold to companies.
Jacques Lewiner has participated in the creation of various technology oriented start up companies, for instance Inventel, telecommunications, and Finsecur, fire detection systems. Most of these companies have experienced a strong (and in some case spectacular) growth.

Celia Hart has more than 13 years of experience in science, management and business in academia, international organizations and start up companies.
She’s currently working as an investor in a seed/early stage funding company (CEA Valorisation, France), responsible for the life sciences sector (biotechnology, medtech and also "green" biotechnology).

CEA Investissement is an investment company founded in 1999 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CEA. CEA Investissement’s mission is to invest in start-up companies developing innovations originating from the CEA, in particular in the areas of micro and nano technologies, life sciences, information technologies, advanced materials and novel technologies for energy.

Franck Lescure cumulates more than 19 years of experience in Healthcare innovation, enriched by various experiences at the Academic, Industry, or Finance level. He started his carrier at Genset in 1990, as a Scientist on therapeutic applications of oligonucleotides and was involved in the development of a new generation of DNA synthesizer. In 1997, he entered the Air Liquide group where he developed new Medical applications of gases and new services. In 2004, after more than one year at Crédit Lyonnais Private Equity, he joined Auriga Partners. He is now in charge of several Auriga’s investments, including Cytoo, Erytech, Médian, TcLand and TxCell.

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