Prof. Jian-Sheng Sun , Ph.D., born in Shanghai. After High School, he was selected and sent to France by Chinese government under the leadership of the father of Chinese modernization, Deng Xiao-Ping. He graduated in theoretical physics at the University Marseille-Luminy in 1983. Then, he served as assistant professor at the University Fudan in Shanghai. In 1984, he returned to Paris and prepared his Ph.D in biophysics under the supervision of the late Prof. Claude Hélène.

He was recruited as a CNRS research scientist (1988-1994), then appointed as an associate professor (1994-2000) and full professor (2001-) at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) in Paris. He co-directed the jointly affiliated INSERM-CNRS-MNHN research unit (“Nucleic acids: dynamics, targeting and biological function”, the famous Biophysics Laboratory previously led by Prof. Hélène), and served in the Scientific Advisory Board of the MNHN, among other committees.

Prof. Sun has a broad recognized expertise in oligonucleotide-based biotechnologies and applications in biology and in therapeutics. He has more than 90 peer-reviewed publications in international journals, and is co-inventor of siDNA technology with the Dr. Marie Dutreix.

During 2004-2005, he had an entrepreneurial training (“Challenge+”) at Paris HEC business school to complement his scientific experience by acquiring fundamentals in business, finance and management. He serves as Chairman and CEO of DNA Therapeutics since its inception.

Dr. Marie Dutreix, Ph.D., born in Paris. She prepared her Ph.D in microbiology under the supervision of the Dr. Raymond Devoret. Then she had 3 years postdoctoral training with the Prof. Charles Radding at the department of human genetics in the Yale university (CT, USA).

She started her scientific career as a CNRS research scientist (1985-1999), then research director (2000-). She is a team leader at the translation research department at the Institut Curie. She is an associated member of the “Center of Research in Applied Economy” at the Ecole polytechnique of Paris. She is also a member of the scientific advisory board of the “Institute of Complex Systems” of Paris, a new multidisciplinary center she contributed to create. She was consultant for CORNING SA in nanotechnology during six years.

She is a well known specialist of DNA repair and genetic instability, and has about 40 publications in peer-reviewed international journals. She is co-inventor of siDNA technology. She conducted the proof of concept experiments and realized the loco-regional irradiation set-up in small animals. She develops new protocols of treatments associated to siDNA in animal models. She continues the investigations to elucidate the mechanism of action at the molecular and cellular levels.

Dr. Dutreix currently serves as acting VP Research to oversee R&D and technology transfer into the company, and to coordinate the translational R&D studies performed at DNA Therapeutics and the fundamental research undertaken in the public institutions.

Mr. Bernard Davitian, MBA, has about 20 years of business and corporate finance experience in the biotech industry, marked by many fund raising and M&A closed. He is EVP & CFO of Fovea Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company specialized in ophthalmology, recently acquired by Sanofi-Aventis. Previously, he was CEO of Neurotech (2001-2006), a biopharmaceutical company that he refocused on ophthalmology, EVP & CFO of Transgene (1995-2000), a gene therapy company that he took public on the Nasdaq and Euronext in 1998. He started his career in the biotech sector by serving in various capacities at Pasteur Mérieux (now Sanofi Pasteur), a world leader in vaccines, including that of Corporate CFO from 1990 to 1994. Mr. Davitian holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business of Lyon (EM Lyon, France) and an Executive MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Davitian was a board member of DNA Therapeutics from its inception until the closing of the series A financing round (early 2009), and greatly contributed to its maturation.

Dr. Georges A. Marcel, MD, Ph.D. founder and chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of HealthValue Ltd., specialized in biotechnology competitive intelligence. He previously held a number of senior executive positions in pharmaceutical industry, including President & CEO of Amgen’ French subsidiary that he created from nil the entire French operation and obtained approval and pricing for Neupogen in record time; VP of marketing worldwide for Rhône-Poulenc Santé (now Sanofi-Aventis), VP of preclinical & clinical drug development worldwide, head of R&D executive committee for Roussel-Uclaf; CEO of Laboratories Roussel; VP director of marketing at Hoechst. He was also a member of the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee at the French Medicines Agency (1994-2004). He was a board director of Hybridon Inc, and a board director and member of the Audit Committee of Pharmos Inc. Dr. Marcel served as vice chairman of the board of DNA Therapeutics from its inception until early 2007, and helped to shape development strategy.

The Institut Curie continues, according to the will of the double Nobel Prize Winner Marie Curie, its mission of treatment and research against cancer. The continuity from research to care constitutes the originality of the Curie model to support the excellence, the innovation and the quality of patient management. Foundation accredited as a public service body since 1921, the Institut Curie profits from the generosity of the public by donation, legacy and sponsorship.
The Institut Curie where the core siDNA concept and technology have emerged and been developed is our unique institutional founder. It will continue to support R&D and clinical developments, as a privileged partner of DNA Therapeutics.