CARLO BOUTTON 

Carlo Boutton has served as CEO of Biotalys since August 2026, having joined as Chief Scientific Officer in May 2022 and stepped up to interim CEO in March 2026. He brings over 20 years of leadership in antibody and biochemistry research, built at Sanofi (Global Head of Innovation, Large Molecules Research), Ablynx and Tibotec, where his work contributed to the NANOBODY® platform and the development of HIV and hepatitis C treatments. He is named co-inventor on more than 20 patent applications. Carlo holds a master's and PhD from KU Leuven.

CHRISTEL MENET

Christel Menet has served as Chief Scientific Officer at Confo Therapeutics since 2016. She was one of the earliest chemists at Galapagos, rising to Director of Medicinal Chemistry, where she invented filgotinib (Jyseleca), now on the market for rheumatoid arthritis. Before Galapagos, she worked at Faust Pharmaceuticals (now Kainova Therapeutics) on GPCR drug discovery. She is named inventor on more than 25 patent applications and holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Manchester.

JORN VANYSACKER

Jorn Vanysacker is a serial entrepreneur and investor, currently Co-Founder & General Partner of 100IN since January 2026, and a Shareholder of Wintercircus Ghent since August 2024. He's best known as co-founder of Henchman, "the fastest contract drafting experience ever made," which he built from August 2020 through its acquisition by LexisNexis in the summer of 2024. Before that, he spent nearly five years as CMO at Intuo.io (later acquired by Unit4), and earlier in his career co-founded and served as Creative Director of Rendeevoo in London.

WIM  VAN CRIEKINGE

Wim Van Criekinge is professor of bioinformatics and computational genomics at Ghent University, and co-founder and shareholder of Wintercircus. Trained as a chemical engineer with a PhD in Molecular Biology, he founded and leads BIOBIX, the university's lab for computational genomics, and NXTGNT, its sequencing facility, where his team was first to run whole-epigenome sequencing at scale for diagnostic discovery. Alongside his academic work, he's a serial founder, with ventures ending in both acquisitions (including Genohm and NXTDX) and IPOs (Devgen, MDxHealth), and he co-founded the Novalis Biotech fund, which now invests in around 20 life science startups. In 2024 he published his first book, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Genome.

ANNICK VERWEEN

Annick Verween manages biotope by VIB, where she supports early-stage biotech entrepreneurs in turning breakthrough technology into scalable solutions for planetary health. She played a key role in growing biotope into a leading startup ecosystem, recognized by the Financial Times in both 2025 and 2026, and in building out the Biotope Ventures investment fund. Driven by her belief in the power of personal connection, she continues to shape biotope into a leading incubator for the next generation of biotech innovation.

BART DE TAEYE

Bart De Taeye heads PMV’s Life Sciences & Care team. He brings more than 25 years of research experience, including 15 years in drug discovery, as well as over seven years in business development and company creation.

Before joining PMV, Bart served as Business Development Manager at VIB and as Search and Evaluation Lead at Cistim/D3, where he focused on translating early-stage drug discovery projects. Earlier, he spent more than a decade leading a scientific team as Project Leader in Drug Discovery at reMYND, where he built a diabetes drug discovery platform, and held research and assistant professor positions at Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University.

Bart holds a PharmD and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from KU Leuven, as well as a postgraduate degree in Business Economics.

JEROME VAN BIERVLIET

Jérôme Van Biervliet is Managing Director at VIB, where he leads the Innovation & Business team of more than 60 experts. He has driven the launch of 19 VC-backed startups, secured roughly €140 million in partnering income, and helped grow biotope by VIB into a leading accelerator recognized by the Financial Times. He also serves on the boards of Confo Therapeutics and Oncurious, among others, and co-founded Biotope Ventures I & II and Avante Biocapital. Jérôme trained as a veterinarian and holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from KU Leuven.