Board of Directors
Dr. Marquet co-founded Althea Technologies in 1998 and led the company to the successful acquisition by Ajinomoto, a global Japanese company, leader in amino acid technology. During her tenure at Althea Technologies, Dr. Marquet had full P&L responsibility and built an organization with R&D and international commercial capabilities. Prior to starting Althea Technologies, Dr. Marquet held several positions in product development and pharmaceutical development in companies such as Vical and Amylin Pharmaceuticals.
She currently serves on the following Boards: Pfenex (PFNX) where she is a member of the Governance and Nomination Committee and Arcturus Therapeutics (ARCT) where is the Chairman of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. She also serves on the Board on several private companies such as Senté. As a former founder and CEO, Dr Marquet provides the Board with operational, fund raising expertise including venture, private equity and venture debt. She also brings expertise in M&A, global commercial development and regulatory strategies. She has a passion for building a winning culture of innovation and strategic growth.
She holds a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from INSA/University of Toulouse, France. Dr. Marquet has received numerous prestigious awards throughout her career including the 2005 Regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Life Sciences category, the Athena Pinnacle award, the Director of the Year award (Corporate Governance) from the Corporate Directors Forum and has been inducted into the CONNECT Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.
Andy Sassine is currently, and has been since January 2019, the Chief Financial Officer at Arcturus Therapeutics. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Nasdaq listed ICAD Inc. ICAD Inc. is a leading provider of advanced image analysis, workflow solutions and radiation therapy for early detection and treatment of cancer. Mr. Sassine served in various positions at Fidelity Investments from 1999 to 2012, including, most recently as Portfolio Manager. Between 2005 and 2011, he managed the Fidelity Small Cap Stock Fund, the Fidelity International Small Cap Opportunities Fund and the Fidelity Advisor International Small Cap Opportunities Fund. Mr. Sassine joined Fidelity as a high yield research analyst, covering the Telecommunications, Satellite, Technology, Defense and Aerospace, and Restaurant Industries and in 2001, joined the international group as a research analyst covering small and mid-cap international stocks. Mr. Sassine has been a member of the Henry B. Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa Board of Advisors from 2009 to 2018. Mr. Sassine earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Iowa in 1987 and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui was the Chief Scientific Advisor to Operation Warp Speed. Under his leadership the operation enabled the fastest ever development, manufacturing, and approval of multiple COVID-19 vaccines in less than 11 months after the virus genetic sequence was described. Dr. Slaoui has sat on several biotechnology company boards, including Moderna, Inc. and Lonza Group AG, and he chaired the boards of Galvani, and Vaxcyte, a vaccine development platform company.
Dr. Slaoui spent nearly 30 years at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) holding leadership positions including as member of the Board of Directors of GSK PLC; Chairman of Pharmaceutical R&D; Chairman Global R&D, Vaccines & Oncology; and Chairman, Global Vaccines. As Chairman of Pharmaceutical R&D, Dr. Slaoui led a restructuring to improve focus on innovation and productivity. As Chairman of Global Vaccines, Dr. Slaoui was directly involved in GSK's vaccine pipeline, leading to the creation of 14 new vaccines, including Shingrix®, to prevent shingles; Cervarix®, to prevent cervical cancer; Mosquirix, to prevent malaria; Rotarix®, to prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis; and Synflorix, to prevent pneumococcal disease.
In 2016, Dr. Slaoui was recognized as one of Fortune's 50 Greatest World Leaders for his work in under-researched diseases common in the developing world, served on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the NIH from 2011 to 2016, and has advised the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Dr. Slaoui holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Immunology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, completed postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine, and was a Professor of Immunology at the University of Mons, Belgium. He received an accelerated Master of Business Administration from IMD, Switzerland in 1998.