Stéphane Boissel
The Power List 2017 – Business Captains
Stéphane Boissel
Chief Executive Officer, TxCell
Passion
“For many years, my field, cellular immunotherapy, was little more than a scientist’s dream. Indeed it only became a serious clinical option for patients a few years ago. But in 2017, it will likely become a commercial reality. Being involved in a rapidly changing field with is very exciting – especially when you know that patients’ quality of life and survival are at stake.”
“On a more down to earth level, the field of cellular immunotherapy, like for all innovative fields, brings new challenges almost every day: you have no time to rest and only passion can make you address the challenges with the required level of optimism and energy.”
Pivotal moment
“The most recent pivotal moment was when two months after joining TxCell in the spring of 2015, we faced a major industrial setback that led us to put on hold our only clinical trial and therefore pause the progress of our most advanced program. In a very short period of time following the industrial problem, we had to decide to close our manufacturing unit, to find a new source of supply, to deal with displeased pharma partner and investors. We had to let 60 percent of the staff go and, eventually, dramatically change our technology.”
“I was new to the story, which is not exactly a walk in a park from a technical viewpoint, and new for my board – which had to validate all important decisions I was proposing. Things could have gone wrong for the company and for me. Looking back, I do not regret any of the decisions that were made during that intense 18-month period. And we have turned a very negative event into a fantastic opportunity to reinvent TxCell – and the company is now stronger than ever to face its future.”
