PEOPLE

Dr. Rolland is an international executive leading start-up, private and public Pharmaceutical/Biotech companies, from discovery to pre-commercial stage. He had a pioneering career in the discovery and clinical development of novel technologies including nanomedicines for oncology, microspheres for dermatology, gene therapies and DNA vaccines. He co-founded, incorporated, and obtained seed financing for a startup company (CHIME BioTherapeutics) and established three biotech organizations from the ground up (GENEMEDICINE, CHIME, EMERALD). He secured early financing, research collaboration and out-licensing with large pharmas and drove several biotech companies from discovery to clinic (VICAL, VALENTIS, HUYA, EMERALD). He developed and managed P&L, budgets, and resource plans. He defined and established corporate strategy, operational infrastructure, and dynamic teams. He persuasively presented to Board of Directors, investors, analysts, and scientific community.
Over his 30-year career, Dr. Rolland identified, negotiated, established, and maintained mission-critical partnerships and licensing agreements. He led partnering activities with Astellas Pharma resulting in $35M upfront cash with milestone payments up to $130M and supported an exclusive license with Eisai for upfront and milestone payments up to $280M. He recently secured a regional pharma licensing deal resulting in up to $300M for upfront and milestone payments. He managed alliances with international partners including Boehringer Mannheim, Roche Bioscience, AnGes MG. He led multidisciplinary functions and programs, filed more than 12 INDs, orphan drug and fast-track designations, and managed clinical development programs through Phase 3 multi-national studies (USA, Europe, Japan, Australia) while developing, enhancing and managing intellectual property portfolio.
Dr. Rolland received a Pharm.D, a Pharmacokinetics degree, and a Ph.D. from the School of Pharmacy (Rennes, France). He published over 100 scientific articles and book chapters, edited 3 scientific books, was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and a member of several scientific societies. He presented at more than 130 conferences and is an inventor on over 20 international patents in advanced drug delivery systems, drug/gene targeting and formulation. He was honored by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists as an “AAPS Fellow” for professional excellence and outstanding contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences.