AC BioScience is a start-up biotech company with an innovative vision and business model. We are dedicated to developing groundbreaking new therapies to fight a range of cancers. Two of our three lead molecules in oncology will enter clinical stage in 2021/2022.
Founded by Andreas Schläpfer and Professor Christian Auclair, the company is leading a paradigm shift in cancer therapeutics. AC BioScience is headquartered at the life sciences campus Biopôle near Lausanne, and celebrated its third year of existence in March 2020.
Our primary focus is on developing personalized therapies for tumoral pathologies. We have obtained patent protection for one ground-breaking cancer therapy and have filed patents for two others.
The company has a subsidiary company – AC BioTech SAS – whose offices are located in the Villejuif Bio Park near Paris, in proximity to the main French cancer research institutions. AC BioTech will serve as a liaison point and vehicle for clinical validation activities in France.
Leadership
The Management consists of an experienced and well-balanced team with complementary skill-sets.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is Andreas Schläpfer, a Swiss national, who has extensive experience in business strategy and global management. He holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from St. Gallen University, and has acted as an advisor to the International Trade Centre (UNCTAD/GATT). He spent more than three decades as a senior executive at the Nestlé Group (CEO in France, Russia, Thailand/Indochina) and as Global Business Head/Senior Vice President in charge of Nestlé's Infant Nutrition business. Until recently, he was Vice-Chairman of the Swiss Post and Head of the Merger & Acquisition Committee.
The Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder is Professor Christian Auclair, an eminent expert in pharmacology, molecular oncology and innate immunity. He is an Emeritus University Professor (exceptional class) and Doctor in Science (PharmD, PhD). Professor Auclair is a former Deputy Director at CNRS in the Department of Life Sciences and was subsequently Head of the Department of Biochemistry Bioengineering at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan . He co-founded the Graduate School of Oncology at the Institut Gustave Roussy and founded the Master's programme in Cancer Research. He has published more than 130 articles in the field of antitumor and antiviral pharmacology. Professor Auclair is a French national residing near Paris.
Our Global Category Manager, Infectious Diseases, is Dr. Annette Ives. She has a Ph.D in Immunology and Infections from the University of Lausanne, and in her previous capacity was a Research Scientist and Project Manager with the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and the WHO, respectively. Her areas of expertise are within infectious diseases, immunology and vaccines, and public health. She has published over 15 peer-reviewed articles. Dr Ives has both Australian and Swiss nationality.
Dr. Manale Karam is our Senior Scientific Officer, Oncology. She obtained a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular oncology from the University of Paris Sud/ENS Paris Saclay followed by an extensive research training at Harvard Medical School in cancer biology and therapeutics. She has over ten years of experience in cancer research and mentoring in France (LBPA, CNRS, ENS Paris Saclay) and Qatar (QBRI, HBKU and Qatar University). Dr. Karam has both Lebanese and French nationality.
