Thierry Abribat

Biotech Entrepreneur

Dr. Thierry Abribat is currently an Industry Partner at Sectoral Asset Management, a Venture Advisor at Andera Partners, and is a member of the Board of Directors at Nuevocor and Find Therapeutics.

He is a biotech executive and serial entrepreneur who has founded, managed, and exited three biotech companies, delivering innovative drugs to the patients while consistently providing positive returns to investors: Alizé Pharma, acquired by Millendo Therapeutics (2017); Alizé Pharma 2, acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals (2016); and Amolyt Pharma, acquired by AstraZeneca (2024).

Prior to his entrepreneurial track, Thierry held several executive positions with increasing responsibilities in drug development, business development and management, as CSO at Theratechnologies (TSX:TH, Montreal, Canada) and as COO at OPi SA, Pharmaceuticals for Rare Diseases (Lyon, France), until OPi’s acquisition by EUSA Pharma Inc in 2007.

He is a doctor in veterinary medicine and holds a PhD in neuroendocrinology from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse. He began his career as scientist at Sanofi and at University of Montreal.

Audrey Cacaly

Non-Executive Board Member

Audrey joined Forbion in 2021 and is now a Principal, contributing to building and managing the portfolio across therapeutic areas and modalities. In that capacity, she currently serves as board observer on Synox, Anaveon, Granite, and formerly Aiolos (Acquired by GSK).

Audrey started her career with Kurma Partners, a well-known management company based in Paris, specialised in the financing of innovation in healthcare and biotechnology. Prior to joining Forbion, Audrey was an Associate with Bpifrance – Large Venture, the growth fund managed by the French Sovereign Wealth Fund. Audrey has experience with healthcare investment activities including sourcing, scientific and medical due diligence, valuation assessments, deal execution and portfolio management.

Audrey received her Masters in Biology from the University of Technology of Compiègne in France, and is a graduate of ESCP Europe with a major in Biopharmaceutical Management.

Julien Elric

Non-Executive Board Member

Julien Elric is a Senior Principal at Jeito Capital, where he oversees deal sourcing, due diligence, and supports portfolio company management.

Before joining Jeito, Julien led the startup incubator iPEPS at the Paris Brain Institute, where he helped establish it as a key hub for life sciences innovation in France. He supported early-stage biotechs and medtechs in their growth (fundraising, partnerships) and advised major pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer, Janssen, AstraZeneca, etc.) on corporate–startup collaborations.

Earlier in his career, he was responsible for business development and industrial partnerships at Institut Curie. Julien holds a PhD in Cell Biology from the Institut Pasteur and is a graduate of INSEAD Business School.

Ksenija Pavletic

Non-Executive Board Member

Ksenija Pavletic is a General Partner and Chief Commercial Officer at Jeito Capital, and has more than 25 years' experience in pharma & biotech. She is an expert in both investment strategies and healthcare company scale-ups, with a successful track record in fundraising, M&A, company & teams build-ups, commercial organization build-ups, product launches, and market access. As part of the Jeito founding team, Ksenija contributed to Jeito's development as Chief Commercial Officer before being promoted to Partner Investor in November 2023.

Prior to joining Jeito, she was CEO of Swiss-based, reproductive health pharma company, PregLem SA, where she led the company's rapid expansion including its successful exit for CHF445 million three years after the inception. Prior to PregLem, Ksenija worked for eleven years with Serono (then Merck Serono) in various regional and global business, sales and marketing positions.

Ksenija holds an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from the University of Zagreb and an MBA from the American Graduate School of Business. She is also a member of W.I.T.H. (Women Innovating Together in Healthcare).

Stefano Portolano

Executive Board Member

Stefano Portolano joined Azafaros in 2021, bringing with him 20+ years in orphan disease and speciality drugs and a remarkable track record in building and developing high-performing teams. He successfully led numerous commercial, market access and medical affairs efforts in Europe and the US. Prior to joining Azafaros, he served at Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals as Head of Europe since 2016, where he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s business in the European market, as well as the oversight of the company’s European offices. Before Ultragenyx, Dr. Portolano spent a decade at Celgene, most recently as Vice President, Strategy & Commercial Operations. In this role, Dr. Portolano was responsible for strategic initiatives and driving commercial execution. Earlier in his career, Dr. Portolano held various senior commercial, business development and general management positions at Genzyme and Sigma-Tau.

Dr. Portolano started his career as an adjunct assistant professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he authored several scientific publications on the molecular biology of autoimmunity. He received his Doctor of Medicine from Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’ in Italy.

Sander Slootweg

Non-Executive Board Member

Sander Slootweg is Managing Partner at Forbion in the Netherlands and has a wealth of experience in handling significant investment transactions in the pharmaceutical industry.

He co-founded ABN AMRO Capital Life Sciences in 2000 and Forbion in 2006, and currently serves on the boards of several portfolio companies including Replimune (REPL), NorthSea Therapeutics (Chair), Xention, Oxyrane and New Amsterdam (Chair).

Sander is also responsible for Forbion’s investment in uniQure (QURE). He was instrumental in several of Forbion’s major exits: Dezima was sold to Amgen for up to USD 1.55 billion, Biovex was acquired by Amgen in 2011 for up to USD 1 billion and Fovea was acquired by Sanofi in 2009 for up to EUR 390 million.

Before co-founding Forbion, Sander was an Investment Director at ABN AMRO Capital Life Sciences. His other activities at ABN AMRO included buy-out/growth equities at ABN AMRO Capital, Equity Capital Markets Syndications (HQ Amsterdam) and Financial Institutions Relationship Management Latin America (Regional Office Miami).

Sander holds a master’s degree in Economics and Finance from the Free University of Amsterdam and a Bachelor in Business Administration from Nyenrode University in the Netherlands.