Jean-Baptiste brings over 12 years of experience in the biotech sector, with the last seven years focused on structuring and managing biotech companies in close collaboration with investment funds. He started his career as a business developer in technology transfer and later ventured into entrepreneurship by establishing a tech scouting subsidiary for an agri-tech company. He has since supported the growth of biotech companies, guiding them through seed rounds and Series A fundraising. Currently, Jean-Baptiste assists biotech companies and entrepreneurs in structuring financing strategies and managing operations. He holds a biosciences engineering degree from Paris XII University and an MBA from Sorbonne Business School.

MsC, MBA,
CEO

Pascal Dao is a highly experienced medicinal chemist and drug hunter with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the field of drug discovery and development. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Paris V. With nearly 10 years of experience in the academic and industry, Pascal brings a multidisciplinary background in chemistry, biochemistry, and biology to his role as Head of Operations
Pascal is a skilled problem-solver and an effective communicator, able to collaborate effectively with interdisciplinary teams to achieve shared goals. His passion for drug discovery and his drive to make a positive impact on human health make him a valuable asset to our company and our mission to bring innovative treatments to the market.

PhD.,
Head of operations

Thierry Passeron is Professor, head and chair of the department of Dermatology in the University hospital of Nice, France. He also heads the laboratory INSERM U1065 team 12, C3M, dedicated to the study of molecular mechanisms involved in pigmentation and melanoma.
He trained in Nice, France, and completed his fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health at Bethesda, USA. He heads the University laser center in Nice. He is the president of the Department of Clinical Research and Innovation of Nice University hospital. He has been the vice-president of the regional institute of cancer and vice president of the Côte d’Azur University. He holds 16 international patents with 8 licensed, and more than 370 publications in scientific journals (h-index 60). He is the co-founder of NIKAIA Pharmaceuticals. He has received numerous grants and awards, including the prize Robert Degos, the Galien prize (category Dermatology and Cosmetology), and the prestigious Grand Prize Robert Debré for Medical Research. In 2021, he was honored as Chevalier of the National Order of Merit.
His research fields include pigmentary disorders (such as vitiligo and melasma), alopecia areata, hidradenitis suppurativa, and lasers.

MD, PhD.

Rachid Benhida is DR CNRS, Deputy-Director of the ICN Institute and leader of Bioactive Molecules team. He received his Ph. D. from the University-Paris XI (1992). After three years postdoc (Hoechst/Roussel-Uclaf, Germany and “Institut Curie-Paris”, 1994), he joined the “Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles” as “ANRS young research award” and as CNRS researcher in the same year (1995). He moved to the University of Nice in 2002. His current researches focus on the development of synthetic methods and their applications in nucleic acid chemistry, chemical biology and the development of new strategies to overcome drug resistance using small molecules (specific targeting of nucleic acids and CSCs, identification and validation of new targets, etc.)

PhD.

Guillaume Beranger received his Ph.D from the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis (2006). He performed a first post-doc in the group of Pr Erwin Wagner (IMP/Vienna and CNIO/Madrid) on the generation and the analysis of genetically engineered mouse models in the oncology field, followed by a second postdoc on the role of Oxytocin in the regulation on bone and adipose tissue homeostasis in ovariectomized mice with the Dr Ez-Zoubir Amri (IBV, Nice). He currently works in the team of Pr Thierry Passeron, co-founder of Nikaia Pharmaceuticals, at the C3M (Nice) where he’s in charge of the biological aspects of the NIK blocker program that led to the incorporation of Nikaia Pharmaceuticals

PhD.