Philippe Durieux
Vivian Capart
Laurent van den Hove 
André Vandemeulebroecke
Frédéric Ooms
Gauthier Boels
Mélanie Lecomte
Alexandra Safiannikoff
Michèle Hody
The combination of these varied and complementary profiles, which ally scientific education with experience in the industrial world, makes it possible to ensure successful implementation of the technology transfer mission that has been entrusted to Sopartec.
More information
Philippe has been acting CEO of Sopartec SA and Vives Fund SA since 2006. Prior to Sopartec, he was Senior Investment Manager at Dexia Private Equity and Senior Credit Manager at WestLB. He holds a graduate degree in Economics from Louvain-la-Neuve, and a post-graduate degree in Finance from Hautes Etudes Commerciales Saint-Louis.
More information
Vivian joined Vives at its inception in 2003 as Chief Financial Officer. His current responsibilities include taking care of all the financial and administrative activities of the company. Vivian has over ten years experience of working for various SMEs where he mainly concentrated on financial management and commercial issues. As a result of his experience, he is in a position to assist project owners and managers of spin-offs in areas such as accounting, finance, cash management, insurance issues , taxation and administration.
More information
Laurent holds a law degree from UCL and a Masters in intellectual property rights from the Katholieke Universiteit van Brussel. Before joining Sopartec in 2008, he was Legal Advisor for a company active in cancer research (therapeutic). In addition to his legal training, Laurent followed biotechnology courses as a free student (ULB/UMH). Laurent is a specialist in corporate and intellectual property matters.
More information
André has an MS in Electrical Engineering from UCL. He was active in academic research at UCL before n joining a leading semiconductor company and holding successive postions as R&D engineer, Marketing engineer, Sales Director and Business Development Director.
More information
Gauthier holds a master degree in bioengineering from the UCL and a second degree in business management from the EAE in Barcelona. He started his career in the IT sector before joining a fast growing industrial biotech SME, where he held the positions of R&D Manager and then CTO.
Gauthier joined SOPARTEC in September 2012, as Senior Business Development Manager and Investment Manager for the VIVES fund.
More information
Frédéric holds a PhD in Sciences from the Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix and a MBA with a specialisation in entrepreneurship from Solvay Business School. Prior to joining Vives, he held the position of Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Euroscreen, a Belgian biotech company. In 2008, he joigned Sopartec where he manages the protection and the commercialisation of the intellectual property of the Université catholique de Louvain.
More information
Mélanie holds a law degree and a Masters in intellectual property and competition law from the University of Liège. Following an internship at a renowned intellectual property legal office, she worked for several banks where she focused mainly on the administration of private and company accounts. Mélanie joined Sopartec in 2008 and is specialised in both intellectual property and competition law.
More information
Alexandra holds the position of Executive & Marketing Assistant. As a result of her experience in consultancy, the medical sector, interior design and sales in both Belgium and abroad, Alexandra has gained impressive , organisational and creative skills which are key for the company.
More information
Michèle holds a PhD in Chemistry, Cellular Biochemistry orientation, from UCL. During her Doctoral Research, she followed an introductory course on the issues related to patents in scientific research. She then worked as a freelance translator of patents. Since joining Sopartec at the beginning of 2006, Michèle has focused on patentability evaluation as well as strengths/weaknesses and freedom to analyse patents and patent applications in the life and medical sciences sectors.
