Chief Business Officer

The organisation

HORAMA is a French biotech company based in Paris and Nantes, which specialises in gene therapy for the treatment of rare, inherited retinal diseases. Backed by a strong syndicate of investors HORAMA aims being one of the key players in the field of ophthalmic gene therapy.

HORAMA’s approach is based on vector technology using non-pathogenic, recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAV). The rAAV carrying the therapeutic gene of interest penetrates the target retinal cells, inducing the expression of the functional protein. This restores normal cell function, prevents further retinal deterioration, and improves or restores visual function.

The position

To strengthen the current executive team and to ensure that HORAMA further builds its partnering and collaboration efforts with universities, non-profit organisations and biotech/pharma companies, HORAMA is looking for an experienced business development executive to serve as their Chief Business Officer. This is a key position as they enter the next exciting phase of growth.

Tasks & responsibilities

The primary objective of the Chief Business Officer is to further entrench HORAMA in the biotech clusters in the broadest sense of the word. The Chief Business Officer will provide leadership in the development, evaluation, implementation of acquisitions and/or collaborations. Together with a team of functional experts in science, finance, Legal/IP you will generate and evaluate opportunities to develop collaborations with external parties. In cooperation with the executive leadership team and board you will work on a wide range of related strategy projects as needed.

What are your key responsibilities:

• Helping with the development and implementation of partnering strategies with universities, non-profit organisations and biotech/pharma companies applied in a various ways (co-development, in/out license, academic partnerships, etc.)
• Leading negotiations to any agreements, as well as presenting proposed agreements to the executive team/board
• Overseeing the to be set-up partnerships
• Making appropriate recommendations on company strategy and generating buy in from other stakeholders
• Identifying the above opportunities for novel therapeutics and execute deals
• Creating and participating actively in the relevant networks, conferences, etc.
• Evaluating alliance and partnership trends and providing analysis and recommendations to the board
• Expected to be a “hands on function” in which you are able to work independently but also have the ability to lead a matrix group and to proactively and meaningfully participate in other group led discussions
• Actively participating in fundraising, or working on other methods the generate funds (IPO, exit strategy, non-dilutive financing, etc.)

Candidate profile

What are we looking for in terms of experience?

• 10 – 15 years of experience in business development in the biotech and pharma sector with strong success in licensing targets and products in development stage
• Fundamental understanding of drug development and therapeutic areas (gene therapy, ophthalmology) of interest to HORAMA
• Strong expertise in collaborations, business development and project management
• The ability to manage competing priorities and to prioritise workload as needs evolve across projects
• Operate independently with high level of integrity; individual will be frequently working with multiple external stakeholders across all levels
• Ability to assess and determine critical issues in executing deals
• A previous experience in a start-up/early stage environment will be appreciated
• Interest to work and live in the Paris region

Personality traits:

• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Entrepreneurial mentality
• Collaborative mindset
• Resilient; remains calm and deliberate under any circumstance

The offer

• You will play a central role in the future success of the company it is small enough to allow fast decision making, but it has a solid pipeline, and the financial resources to do things right
• Since HORAMA is a flexible organisation you get the opportunity to build up from the ground which leads to interesting growth opportunities
• You will be offered a lot of opportunities to work on new development areas and work together with a team of pharma/biotech industry veterans with a strong reputation and experience with scale-up biotech’s
• A competitive salary and benefits package

Interested?

You can apply to this position by using the link below. For more information please contact Jord Teeuwen, Managing Partner at QTC Recruitment, +31(0)6-11107684, +31(0)23-7548660.