AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM COMPOSED
OF STRATEGIC AND MEDICAL EXPERTS
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Guillaume Buc
Arnaud Mascarell
Sophie Jonquière
Mohammad Haddadi
Stephane Garrigue
Virginie Rivet
Samuel Lequette
Cyril Fromentin
Guillaume Buc
Before joining FineHeart, Guillaume was Technical and R&D Director at Pixium Vision for more than 9 years. His expertise and passion were instrumental in the development of the PRIMA retinal implant, which is now in its commercialization phase. Prior to that, he held several strategic management positions at GE Healthcare in Europe for more than 25 years, before becoming Technical Director of the Interventional Cardiology Department. Guillaume holds an engineering degree from Ecole Polytechnique in applied mathematics, and from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Paris in image processing and computer science.
Arnaud Mascarell
Arnaud started his career as a research engineer at Air Liquide in 1997. In 1998, he joined Medtronic, where he had the opportunity where he developed his expertise. A senior executive with more than 17 years of experience managing sales, marketing, clinical, personnel, and merchandising at district and regional levels, Arnaud completed his academic training with an MBA from IAE Paris and a graduate from HEC Start-Up. His taste for an entrepreneurial way led him to co-found FineHeart in 2010.
Sophie Jonquière
Sophie is a medical device manufacturing and supply chain specialist. For 15 years, she held various positions at Zimmer Biomet in the orthopedic implant activity, during the industrialization process, and then production management and distribution before heading up Manufacturing Operations for spinal implants and instruments for EMEA. She started her career as a Manufacturing Process Engineer at Hemodia. Sophie Jonquière is an engineer, Materials Science and Engineering from INSA Lyon, and a graduate of IAE Bordeaux, Business Management.
Mohammad Haddadi
Expert engineer in fluid mechanics, pumps and assist devices (PhD). Chief of research & Development department (CRDO). Principal advisor in technics strategy. Mohammad brings 11 years of direct experience in this field. He is our lead pump designer and expert for CFD modeling of rotary blood pumps. He completed his PhD in conception and development of an intracardiac turbine to compensate heart failure, and has designed and worked with axial, centrifugal and mixed flow blood pumps, both extra and intra corporeal. Mohammad joined FineHeart in 2011.
Stephane Garrigue
Inventor of the device (I.C.O.M.S.), Head of research on pre-clinical and clinical trials. Electrophysiological surgeon at the private St Augustin heart center in Bordeaux. Researcher in cardiology at the Bordeaux Medical University. Specialist in heart failure electrical treatments and hemodynamics (ventricular assist devices). Ex vice-president of the worldwide scientific congress of electrophysiology and cardiac stimulation – CARDIOTISM.
Virginie Rivet
Virginie is a regulatory affairs and quality manager with more than 15 years of experience in healthcare product sector. She is also experienced in quality management system, project management and regulatory strategies. Virginie joined FineHeart in October 2017.
Samuel Lequette
Samuel is a biomechanical engineer he has directed for more than 15 years R&D, industrialization and international marketing of innovative medical devices.
Cyril Fromentin
Cyril has more than 15 years of experience in product development of class IIB life sustaining medical device (ResMed). His key competencies are the design of complex systems, software and hardware development of critical system, and the management of medical device development activities.
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Laurent Barandon
Michael Andrew Acker
Francis Pagani
Philippe Ritter
Stephane Garrigue
Mandeep R. Mehra
Laurent Barandon
Docteur Barandon is a cardiac surgeon, professor in Bordeaux Medical University, head of the department of cardiac transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support in CHU de Bordeaux since 2010. His clinical activity is especially focused in heart failure patients (acute and chronic) including temporary circulatory support, LVAD and artificial hearts with a special topic in mini-invasive procedures. Docteur Barandon has a strong experience in experimental research, especially focused on myocardial ischemia and heart failure and has developed several experimental models of heart failure in big animals.
Michael Andrew Acker
Chief of the Cardiac Surgery Division at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is the Surgical Director of Heart Transplantation and Ventricular Assist Programs. He maintains an active surgical practice focusing on the care of patients with end-stage heart failure, coronary artery disease and valvular disease. He is a national leader in the use of mechanical assist devices as a bridge to transplantation or as permanent therapy for end-stage heart failure.
Francis Pagani
Cardiac Surgeon with over 25 years of surgical experience in the field of cardiac surgery and has performed over 5000 complex open heart procedures that include implantation of ventricular assist devices, total artificial hearts, heart transplant procedures, coronary revascularizations, removal of cardiac tumors, valve repair and replacement, septal myectomies, repair of left ventricular aneurysms, repair of aortic aneurysms, pulmonary thromboendarderectomies and thromboembolectomies. He is the Otto Gago, MD Endowed Professor of Cardiac Surgery in the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School as well as the Surgical Director of the Heart Transplant Program and Director for the Center for Circulatory Support in the Department of Cardiac Surgery. His research focuses primarily on the use of mechanical circulatory support in the treatment of end-stage heart disease and research in the field of stem cell therapies.
Philippe Ritter
In charge of FineHeart animal experiments (ICOMS FLOWMAKER®) and Delivery System. Cardiologist at CHU (Hospital) in Bordeaux, President of CARDIOSTIM Created the cardiac resynchronization in 1994, a market that amounts to $3 Billion per year. Co-chairman of LIRYC, The Institute of Rythmology and Cardiac Modelling, directed by Pr. Michel Haissaguerre.
Stephane Garrigue
Inventor of the device (I.C.O.M.S.), Head of research on pre-clinical and clinical trials. Electrophysiological surgeon at the private St Augustin heart center in Bordeaux. Researcher in cardiology at the Bordeaux Medical University. Specialist in heart failure electrical treatments and hemodynamics (ventricular assist devices). Ex vice-president of the worldwide scientific congress of electrophysiology and cardiac stimulation – CARDIOTISM.
Mandeep R. Mehra
Medical Director of the BWH Heart and Vascular Center and Executive Director of the Collaborative Center for Advanced Heart Disease, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Additionally, he is Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. Dr. Mehra has authored and published over 400 book chapters, manuscripts, editorials and abstracts focusing on all aspects of advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation, treatment modalities, medical therapies and alternatives to transplantation.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mikel Charritton
Maria Berkman
Bertrand Boutaud
Jean-Luc Boulnois
Philippe Plas
Arnaud Mascarell
Mikel Charritton
Lauak Group is a family owned company specialized in the aeronautics industry. With an annual turnover of €200 million and 1830 employees, it has a worldwide manufacturing footprint with operations in France, Canada, India, Mexico and Portugal.
Maria Berkman
Maria Berkman, MD from the UCLA School of Medicine, MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA. Maria is a Director and Head of the MedTech practice at Broadview Ventures. She shares responsibility for all aspects of Broadview’s investment activity, from identification and screening of new opportunities, through due diligence, negotiation of deal structure, and portfolio company board involvement. Prior to joining Broadview Ventures, Maria was a management consultant at Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte), and before that, Maria trained within the Partners HealthCare System at Newton Wellesley Hospital in General Surgery. Maria serves on the boards of 480 Biomedical, Adient, BioKier, Cardialen, FineHeart, Vascular Graft Solutions, Vectorious, and Zumbro Discovery. In addition to her role at Broadview Ventures, Maria contributes time as a SBIR/STTR grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation and is a Strategic Advisory Board Member for the RAD BioMed Accelerator in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Bertrand Boutaud
Bertrand is a Physics Engineer cumulating 20 years of experience in High Tech companies (from startups to larger groups) in global environments (Europe, US, Asia). He developed several breakthrough technologies from proof of concept to high volume markets, with industrialization transfers (low & high volumes) and QA management responsibilities (qualification, reliability, quality systems, international audits), in the field of Microsystems, Optics and Consumer Electronics, and more extensively in the implantable medical devices industry (10 years as R&D Manager for SORIN/LIVANOVA) putting on the market 10+ families of pacemakers and implantable defibrillators. Bertrand holds 12 patents, and funded his own startup in 2016 developing unprecendeted Titanium based MEMS components for the medical industry. In parallel, he is bringing his technical, managerial business expertise and leadership skills as a senior consultant for DOLIAM, a French group investing in highly innovative medical solutions.
Jean-Luc Boulnois
Over 30 years of international leadership experience in the medical device industry, where he developed early-stage companies, participated in an Initial Public Offering, and led several mergers, acquisitions, and financing rounds. Dr. Boulnois’ focus has been on managing high growth opportunities, either through innovation, unique business models, or strategic expansion. He is co-author of five books and more than 35 peer-reviewed scientific articles in applied physics and biophysics. He is bi-national, American and French.
Philippe Plas
More than 20-years of experience as a key account manager in « Cardiology Rhythm Management division » for EDWARDS, SORIN GROUP, and MEDTRONIC. Expert in Pacemaker, ICD, and Resynchronization therapies market development. Co-founder and manager of STIMUPRAT EDITIONS and EDUPRAT TRAINING companies dedicated to entirely new numerical medical education methods.
Arnaud Mascarell
Arnaud started his career as a research engineer at Air Liquide in 1997. In 1998, he joined Medtronic, where he had the opportunity where he developed his expertise. A senior executive with more than 17 years of experience managing sales, marketing, clinical, personnel, and merchandising at district and regional levels, Arnaud completed his academic training with an MBA from IAE Paris and a graduate from HEC Start-Up. His taste for an entrepreneurial way led him to co-found FineHeart in 2010.
OBSERVERS OF THE BOARD
Alexandre Scherer
Pierre Arnaud
Philippe Ritter
Jean-Michel Petit
Alexandre Scherer
MBA Havard, PhD in Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences – University of Paris, René Descartes Serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist with 15 years of experience in the United States, Alexandre is passionate about innovation and has won the New Venture Competition at Harvard Business School. Alexandre started his career in Boston, in the biotech sector, meeting and evaluating start-ups before taking part in the first wave of Internet marketing. He is co-founder of ZEFER (now a subsidiary of NEC) a full-service digital agency. In 2010, he joined Cue Ball, the venture capital fund specializing in B2B innovation (Business Information Services, Digital Media, Enterprise Internet). He also served on the Board of Directors of Epic Burger and accompanied the CEO of MiniLuxe to prepare the geographic expansion of the brand in Texas, start a $ 23 million fundraising and develop an application allowing uberisation of his industry. In the margins of his entrepreneurial career he accompanied an engineering school in Lyon (ECAM) on the implementation of his strategic plan, the launch of an investment plan of 30 M € and the teaching of a course on startups, venture capital and entrepreneurship.
Pierre Arnaud
An engineer by training and a graduate of EIGSI and ESC Bordeaux, Pierre ARNAUD began his career in 2002 in the automotive industry. For 8 years, he held management positions in purchasing and quality within three leading equipment manufacturers, particularly in the PSA and Fiat groups. After a master’s degree in business school, Pierre joined Sodica Corporate Finance (Crédit Agricole Group) in Bordeaux where he advises business leaders on their top-of-the-line issues. It will put at their service its dual industrial and financial competence, he will carry out several operations of sale, acquisition, fundraising, LBO between 2010 and 2014. Pierre joined the GALIA Gestion team in 2015 as Account Manager, then as Director of Investments since January 2018.
Philippe Ritter
In charge of FineHeart animal experiments (ICOMS FLOWMAKER®) and Delivery System. Cardiologist at CHU (Hospital) in Bordeaux, President of CARDIOSTIM Created the cardiac resynchronization in 1994, a market that amounts to $3 Billion per year. Co-chairman of LIRYC, The Institute of Rythmology and Cardiac Modelling, directed by Pr. Michel Haissaguerre.
Jean-Michel Petit
Jean-Michel is a partner at IRDI SORIDEC GESTION in the venture capital practice since 2003. He serves on the boards of several portfolio companies such as Gamamabs, FineHeart, EnobraQ, Aelis Farma, Exagan, Ixaltis, Advicenne and LNC Therapeutics. Before joining IRDI SORIDEC Gestion, Jean-Michel spent 4 years with CDP capital’s Life Science venture capital team based first in Montreal and then in Paris. In this position, he made a range of international investments mostly in the US. Before joining CDP Capital, he worked for a regional fund based in Montreal. Jean-Michel graduated from Chimie ParisTech and holds an MSc degree from Montreal university and MBA from McGill.