Management committee
Dr Alessandro RIVA, MD
Chairman and CEO
Dr. Riva has nearly 30 years’ experience in the Life Sciences industry. He was CEO of Intima Bioscience which specializes in cell therapies for solid cancers and was previously CEO of Ichnos Sciences. Dr Riva was also Executive Vice President (EVP), Global Head of Oncology Therapeutics and Cell & Gene Therapy at Gilead Sciences, where he was instrumental in the acquisition of Kite Pharma and led its integration and growth. He also managed the US and EU approvals of Yescarta, the first approved CAR-T cell therapy for adult patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
Prior to Gilead, Dr. Riva was EVP, Global Head of Oncology Development and Medical Affairs at Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Riva currently serves on the Boards of BeiGene and Century Therapeutics. He received his bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Milan and a certificate board in oncology and hematology from the same institution.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Christophe ANCEL, PharmD
VP, Pharmaceutical Operations & Qualified Pharmacist
Christophe Ancel joined Transgene in 2008, first as Head of Quality Assurance and then as Vice President, Operational Quality. Prior to that, he was a consultant for several international pharmaceutical groups. From 2001 to 2005, he was Head of Quality, Assistant Pharmacist and Interim Responsible Pharmacist for the French production site of E. Lilly. In 2001, he was Director of Quality Assurance and Interim Responsible Pharmacist for a Cardinal Health site. From 1992 to 2000, he worked on Quality Assurance for Alcon Laboratories and was Assistant Pharmacist at the production site. He has international work experience in the areas of production and commercialization of sterile products. Christophe qualified as a Doctor of Pharmacy.
VP, Pharmaceutical Operations & Qualified Pharmacist
Maurizio CEPPI, PhD
Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)
Maurizio Ceppi joined Transgene in September 2024 as Vice President in charge of Research and Development (Chief Scientific Officer – CSO). With over 15 years in the oncology life sciences industry, he holds a deep expertise in cancer immunotherapy and precision medicine. Throughout his career, Maurizio Ceppi has played a pivotal role in the preclinical and clinical development of innovative therapies, including monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, small molecules, and mRNA vaccines. Dr. Ceppi brings a strong expertise in managing multidisciplinary teams, an expertise acquired at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies such as Roche and iTeos Therapeutics, where he combined scientific leadership with strategic vision.
Maurizio Ceppi holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Department of Medicine of the University of Fribourg. He is an active contributor to the scientific community, with over 60 publications and holds eight patents.
Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)
Emmanuelle DOCHY, MD
VP Medical Affairs & Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Emmanuelle Dochy, MD, joined Transgene in September 2024 as Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
Emmanuelle Dochy was previously Vice President of Global Medical Affairs at Bayer, where she gained extensive experience in managing medical affairs on a global scale. With 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, she has held a variety of medical affairs, various strategic positions, focusing particularly on managing clinical trials from preclinical stages through advanced development.
Emmanuelle began her career at Sanofi Belgium, where she was responsible for Oncology. Among her notable achievements, she led the European launch of aflibercept for metastatic colorectal cancer and contributed to the development and submission of post-marketing approval files, particularly for new indications of docetaxel in the treatment of prostate cancer. Emmanuelle Dochy holds a medical degree from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and is specialized in Internal Medicine.
VP Medical Affairs & Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Lucie LARGUIER
VP, Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Lucie is appointed on March 27 as Chief Financial Officer, responsible for all aspects of the Company’s financial strategy, management and operations to ensure efficient delivery of Transgene’s innovative immunotherapy pipeline. Since 2016, Lucie has served as Director Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, reporting to the CEO and joins the Executive Comity in December 2023 as VP, Corporate Communication and Investor Relations. Specialist in financial communications and press relations, Lucie came with over 10 years’ experience in communications agencies. She spent 3 years as a financial communications consultant at Ogilvy PR (2006 to 2008) before joining Citigate Dewe Rogerson (2009-2016). Her strategic contribution helped to ensure the smooth execution of four successful securities transactions, as well as multiple scientific, clinical and corporate announcements. Within the Paris office, she has also created a franchise dedicated to biotech companies, combining the sector expertise of the London subsidiary with her perfect knowledge of the French financial ecosystem.
She is a graduate of Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po), with a Master’s degree in communication with a specialization in finance.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
John FELITTI
VP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
John Felitti joined Transgene in 2016 as General Counsel & Corporate Secretary. Before joining Transgene, he was Associate Vice President, Corporate Law, Finance & Securities Law at Sanofi and previously held other positions in the Sanofi and the Aventis legal departments. From 1996 to 2003, he was an associate attorney at the Paris offices of the global U.S. law firm Shearman & Sterling. He is admitted to practice in New York and is a former member of the Paris Bar. After majoring in economics at Harvard University (AB 1991) and the College of Europe (MA 1993), John Felitti studied law at the University of Michigan (JD 1996) and the University of Paris II – Panthéon (LLM 1997). He also holds a business degree from INSEAD (GEMBA 2015).
VP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
Christelle SCHWOERER
VP, Human Resources Director
Christelle SCHWOERER was appointed Director of Human Resources and joined the Executive Committee in April 2024.
She joined Transgene’s Human Resources department in December 2013 as a Human Resources Assistant, after initial experience in construction and industry.
Her various roles at Transgene have enabled her to develop generalist skills in human resources and to contribute to projects of major importance to the company. Her knowledge of the organization, its culture and its employees are real assets in her new missions.
Christelle SCHWOERER holds a Master 1 Ressources Humaines from the CNAM Grand-Est and a Master 2 Management – Ressources Humaines from the Ecole de Management de Strasbourg, obtained in 2020 and 2021.
Human Resources Director
James Wentworth, PhD
VP, Chief Business Officer
James Wentworth, PhD, joined Transgene in 2024. Dr. Wentworth is responsible for developing, leading, and implementing Transgene’s business, corporate development and partnering strategies.
He has over 15 years of experience working in the pharma and biotech industry. James was Director, Business Development and Strategy at Adaptimmune, a NASDAQ-listed biotechnology company focused on developing T-cell receptor (TCR)-based cell therapies for solid tumors. His responsibilities included strategic pharma partnering, collaborations and transactions, corporate development projects, commercial strategy development and he also led the company’s competitive intelligence function. Prior to Adaptimmune, James worked with precommercial Biotech companies at inVentiv Health (now Syneos Health) and held strategic roles at Shire, contributing to product development, post M&A integration, and managing commercial launches in European markets for ViroPharma Europe.
James holds a BSc Hons degree in Pharmacology and a PhD in Pharmacology both from the University of Bristol and an MBA from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland.
VP, Chief Business Officer
