November 22nd : Chantal Parpex - Pharmaceuticals and Biotech : Minutes

Pharmaceuticals and biotech: guest speaker, Chantal Parpex, Présidente du Directoire, CDC Entreprises Innovation. November, 2007. Click for Minutes.

Minutes of the PharMBA meeting : Nov 22 2007
Speaker: Chantal Parpex –  President & Managing Partner CDC Innovation

CDC Innovation is an international venture capital firm whose sponsor is a subsidiary of the Group Caisse des Dépôts. With over 415 M€ currently under management, CDC Innovation invests in two sectors: information technologies and life sciences.
Investment in life sciences includes different components: research, pharmaceutical industry (very often the client), finance and entrepreneurship.
Chantal introduced her mentioning that she had the chance to experience most of the above. Chantal holds a Medical Degree from the Faculté de Médecine de Paris with a specialization in Rheumatology. She was a resident (Interne des Hôpitaux de Paris) and Chef de Clinique Assistant des Hôpitaux de Paris.  She practiced medicine (Rheumatology) in hospital alongside  in a private practice and was working, part time at Synthélabo.
Chantal then held a number of senior international positions in the pharmaceutical industry (Synthélabo, Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, Servier) for over than 20 years.
Before joining CDC Innovation in 2004, Chantal was the Founder and Managing Partner for 4 years of Bioam Gestion, an early stage fund dedicated to life sciences, having previously worked for 2 years as Principal Consultant in the Healthcare Practice of Gemini Consulting.
For Chantal, the success of companies in life sciences is coming from different inputs: a strong research linked to economic value creation, the development of relationship with the pharmaceutical industry and, of course, money.
She shared her views of the French situation:
France has a reputation of being strong in research. However to be successful in this field, you should be better than the others, constantly evolve and monitor what is happening outside of your known environment. France is also lacking the willingness to create economical value from research (which is a strong focus in the USA and in the UK).
Unlike Switzerland where pharmaceutical companies have for long developed links with biotech companies, France is still behind
There is money in France (though pension funds do not exist in France) but it is not easy to attract money for investment in life sciences.
Chantal gave advise to the participants (several entrepreneurs and investors were attending). In Life Sciences, it is essential to develop asap in the USA. For her, value creation will come from the company itself and not from its financing (unlike LBO).
She is optimistic in the development of innovation in France but remains realistic. It is essential to give back to science its attractiveness (today, it is not “trendy” for young people to develop in scientific domains). Research in France should also be revamped. Researchers should be evaluated; they should deliver as any other professionals.

Written by Alain Pujol: Secretary.

CDC Entreprises is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Caisse des Dépôts that manages all of the state-owned company’s private equity activities. Its task is to invest capital in French companies. This it does directly via dedicated investment funds managed by its teams and indirectly by investing in private equity funds and companies. CDC Entreprises is involved in financing all types of activity at all stages: from start up through growth and subsequent transfers of ownership. Through specialized funds its teams manage the activities of the Caisse de Dépôts’ PME Innovation Programme and funds open to third parties, with which the Caisse d’Epargne group is associated.