A highly accomplished and internationally recognised biopharma R&D executive with three decades of experience driving innovation from ideation through post-market approval.
Known for strategic leadership at the senior executive level (Ferring, Janssen, Elan), Araz has a proven track record of establishing and scaling global R&D organisations and leading diverse, cross-functional multinational teams across the US, EU, and Asia.
A strategic decision-maker with Board and Governance Committee experience, she has consistently directed R&D growth, defined investment strategy, and successfully steered complex portfolios. Her deep expertise spans drug discovery and clinical development across multiple therapeutic areas (Infectious Diseases, Fertility, Gastroenterology, Autoimmune Diseases), resulting in four product approvals and the progression of many projects to development stages.
Passionate about translational medicine, technology innovation, and promoting diversity and inclusion as an advocate for women in STEM leadership.
Araz holds a Bachelor degree in Pharmacy from the University of Baghdad, Iraq, PhD in Pharmacology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, and an MBA from the Smurfit Graduate School of Business, Dublin, Ireland.
Inez de Greef is a pharmaceutical professional and a serial entrepreneur with extensive leadership experience within the pharma and biotech industry. She is managing partner of 3D-PharmXchange, a drug development consultancy company and CEO of Treeway, a biotech company developing therepies for neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, she co-founded several biotech companies.
She has an in-depth knowledge of the different elements of drug development and the interfaces between them. She has a passion for driving results that truly impact critical decisions through leadership and/or participation in multidisciplinary efforts at the interface between science and business.
Her key interests are in the strategic aspects and the valuation of drug development projects, as well as the potential for collaboration and synergy in this space between big pharma and smaller biotech companies, knowledge institutes and public organizations.
Her vision is that this complex interplay can be made much more focused and effective through patient empowerment.
Julie is inspired by the possibility of bringing breakthrough innovation from development to market to help people with unmet medical needs live healthier and longer lives.
As a life science executive with 25 years’ experience in the industry, her career path has spanned leadership roles in fundraising and finance, global launches, product development, regulatory, quality and operations for both big pharma and start-ups. She has held leadership positions with Novo Nordisk (Denmark HQ and Latin America), with a medtech start-up (BresoTEC, Canada) and at Ascelia Pharma (oncology, Sweden). During the last 10+ years, she has held C-level including President, CFO, CCO and COO roles as well as board of director roles in emerging medtech and biotech organisations. From global and US-focused roles and from living and working outside Denmark for 10+ years, her mindset is global.
Julie is currently member of the Board several life science companies, supporting leaders shape development and product strategies, secure fit-for-purpose scale-up and raise capital while building next generation life science companies in Europe.
Julie Drapier brings over two decades of experience in investing in and scaling climate technology and impact ventures across Europe and North America. In her roles at Air Liquide Ventures (ALIAD), Liberset, and Suttona Capital, she has sourced and assessed hundreds of startups, investing across multiple stages of growth, from early-stage enterprises to publicly listed companies.
Her investment track record includes several successful exits, notably Waga Energy (Euronext IPO, 2021), Proxem (acquired by Dassault Systèmes, 2020), PlugPower (NASDAQ), K18 (acquired by Unilever, 2024), The RealReal (NASDAQ IPO, 2019), and ClassPass (acquired by Mindbody, 2021).
Earlier in her career, Julie led the Data Science team at Air Liquide R&D Americas, where she oversaw the development of advanced AI software solutions for energy, sustainability and industrial applications. She began her professional journey in project finance, focusing on public-private partnerships within the transport sector, at Dexia Astris Finance and the Meridiam Infrastructure Fund.
Julie holds degrees from ESCP and INSEAD and is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.
Anya Hayden is a technology investor with over a decade of experience at the world’s best investment institutions and unicorns, most recently venture capital fund Founders Fund and autonomous vehicle company Aurora Innovation, respectively. She began her public market career at Morgan Stanley in M&A Investment Banking, with a concentration in Technology, Media, and Telecom. Anya continues backing founders globally from the earliest stages with venture capital investment, dovetailing her operational and investing expertise to support companies from inception to exit.
Anya has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Vogue, The Economic Times, Entrepreneur India, and Silicon India, serves as a delegate to the Middle East and Asia with multiple conferences, and has led technology and investment sessions for Google, Amazon, and other technology leaders globally. Anya graduated from Harvard Business School where she served as Student Body President. Anya currently serves as a delegate of the Young Leaders Circle of the Milken Institute.
Margrit Schwarz, PhD MBA, has joined the Board of Novus Diagnostics, representing the EIC Fund, in April 2025. She is a life science executive, entrepreneur and board director with 25+ years strategic and scientific leadership experience in the global biopharma and life science industry. She has held C-level positions with multiple startups in USA, Canada, Denmark and Germany, and is a former VP Roche and VP Boehringer-Ingelheim, and Research Director Amgen. She has led preclinical R&D and IND-enabling phases for multiple small molecules, biologics and oligonucleotide drug candidates that have reached clinical development for metabolic, cardiovascular and renal indications, including the anti-PCSK9 therapeutic antibody Repatha, launched commercially in 2015. Margrit serves as Non-Executive Director on the Boards of Immunethep and Spirochem AG, and she has previously served on the Board of Altamira Therapeutics and the Advisory Board of EvlaBio AG. She partners with leading VC funds on new company formation in the life science space, serves as a due diligence expert for the European Investment Bank and as a contractual expert for InnoSuisse. Margrit holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Cologne, Germany, and an MBA from Columbia University, NY.
Anne Reiser
Anne has decades of experience in the medtech industry. She notably spent 10 years at ResMed, a NYSE-listed medtech company, where she advanced to the global executive committee, serving as President of Europe and later overseeing the EMEA-APAC-Japan region. She played a key role in the company’s growth, contributing to its rise to the S&P 500 in July 2017. Anne has also gained solid knowledge of heart failure, having successfully developed at Medtronic the implantable defibrillator market in France in the 1990s. She holds a master’s degree in business from ESC Clermont-Ferrand, a bachelor in law, and an Executive Master from Sciences Po Paris.
Catherine Gras is a seasoned energy professional with over 25 years of experience in the European energy sector.
She has held a diverse range of roles at ENGIE, spanning from strategy and M&A to senior leadership positions (CFO and CEO).
For the past decade, she has successfully led two subsidiaries of Engie: Storengy UK, and Storengy Germany. During her tenure, she proposed a strategic transformation of these companies to develop decarbonized solutions and prepare for the decline in natural gas consumption.
Currently, Catherine serves as Non-Executive Director on the boards of three energy companies and a VC fund.
Catherine is a dedicated advocate for sustainability and social impact. She is an active Business Angel, investing in early-stage companies with a strong environmental and social focus. Furthermore, she mentors women leaders and contributes her expertise to diversity initiatives within the corporate world.
Catherine holds a degree from French business school ESSEC.
Fabrice Garrigue is a European deeptech entrepreneur and executive with over 20 years of experience at the crossroads of chemistry, agri-industry, and industrial biotechnology. His professional journey began in conventional chemicals, progressively evolving toward green chemistry, sustainable ingredients, and advanced bio-manufacturing technologies.
He has led strategic and operational transformations in both large industrial groups and startups, driving innovation in fields ranging from green value chains to alternative proteins and functional biomolecules. As a CEO, and board member, he has played a pivotal role in scaling industrial biotech ventures across Europe.
Fabrice currently serves as Executive Managing Director of Naturamole, a biotechnology company developing low-carbon, natural aroma and sensory molecules through precision fermentation and enzymatic catalysis. Naturamole’s mission is to replace fossil-based ingredients in flavors and fragrances with renewable, scalable alternatives that preserve biodiversity and reduce environmental impact. Its ambition: to enable a new generation of sustainable consumer products—cleaner, more ethical, and emotionally resonant.
Fabrice is deeply committed to Europe’s green transition and industrial sovereignty. He contributes to various boards , investment committees, and expert groups focused on biotechnologies, circular economy, and sustainable manufacturing. His conviction is that scientific innovation must serve both ecological responsibility and industrial performance, to help build a regenerative and competitive Europe.
Marc Kegelaers is a seasoned entrepreneur with more than 30 years first-hand experience in setting up and managing innovative startups and scaleups.
His initial ventures were situated in the Telecommunication and Data Security markets.
In 2005, after obtaining a commercial Pilot license with Flight Instructor privileges, Marc pivoted to the fascinating world of Aviation – both manned and unmanned.
After scaling up a School for Professional Pilots in Belgium and after creating a world-leader in Uncrewed Management software, Marc co-founded ADLC – A Drone Logistics Company.
ADLC is disrupting the Express Delivery market by using drones for urgent transport in Industrial, Maritime and Offshore environments.
Marc has accumulated competence in all aspects of running a startup: Company creation and company closure, Scaling up and Scaling down, Raising funds and the Selling companies.
He has also served as a visiting professor at the VIVES Aeronautical college and Guest lecturer at the U-Hasselt.