Apellis Pharmaceuticals CEO and leadership

Cedric Francois' primary areas of expertise are immunology and immune system mediated disease. Cedric Francois received his medical degree from the University of Leuven in Belgium and his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Louisville. Following postgraduate training in pediatric and transplant surgery, Dr. Francois joined the research team that performed the first successful hand transplantation and the Louisville Face Transplant Team, whose work supported the first human face transplantation in Lyon, France in 2005. He has published numerous publications and is the principal author on the clinical report of the first four human hand transplantations. He is an inventor on many biotechnology patent applications, including all of Potentia and Apellis' proprietary patent applications. Dr. Francois led Potentia to become the first group to test complement-inhibiting drug candidates for age-related macular degeneration, now an established mechanism in that disease. In October 2009 Alcon, the world's largest ophthalmology company, entered into a licensing and option to purchase agreement with Potentia Pharmaceuticals and took over all of its operations. He is currently President and CEO of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Pascal Deschatelets is a COO/Co-Founder at Apellis Pharmaceuticals. He has worked as COO/Co-Founder at Potentia Pharmaceuticals Inc. Pascal studied at Montréal (Québec and Harvard University.

Federico Grossi is a Chief Medical Officer at Apellis Pharmaceuticals and is based in Louisville Kentucky Area. He has worked as Dir:Clinical Research at Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Product development consultant at Eastwood Naturals, and Early-stage Clinical Research Consultant at Clearpointe Technology Group. Federico studied at University of Louisville School of Medicine between 2003 and 2007 and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba between 1994 and 2000.

Partner at AJU IB Life Sciences Overseas Expansion Platform Fund, an early to late stage life sciences venture fund that is part of AJU IB Investment Co., Ltd. Investments include Molecular Templates, Atea Pharmaceuticals, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Aileron Therapeutics, Kezar Life Sciences and Selecta Biosciences.

Currently a board member at Molecular Templates and board observer for Apellis Pharmaceuticals & Aileron Therapeutics.

Previously worked in corporate development and finance within biotechnology as well as investment banking.

Adam Townsend is a Chief Commercial Officer at Apellis Pharmaceuticals and Chief Commercial Officer at Andrew Ellis and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts. He has worked as Specialist Representative at Novartis; Senior Vice President Of Corporate Development at BIOGEN INC.; and Senior Vice President, Specialty Medicines and Rare Disease Group at BIOGEN INC.. Adam works or has worked as Gen Mgr:UK/Head:Commercial at Eusa Pharma Europe Ltd and Head:Marketing at Amgen. He studied at Royal Holloway, University of London and Centro Ricerche Fiat between 1994 and 1997.

Karen Lewis joined Apellis in May 2020 as our Chief People Officer and brings over 20 years of experience leading human resource (HR) teams in the biotechnology and technology industries. She most recently led and built the HR function at Axcella Health, a start-up biotech company in the Boston area. Prior to Axcella, Karen held numerous leadership roles with increasing responsibility at Biogen including overseeing Global Talent Acquisition, leading human resources for several Commercial and Market Access functions, and managing HR for Asia Pacific and Latin America. Previously, Karen worked at Amazon and Bristol-Myers Squibb where she held leadership roles in Talent Acquisition, Talent Management and as an HR Business Leader supporting the R&D and Commercial functions. Karen holds a B.S. in Biology from Rider University and worked as a Research Scientist at a start-up biotech company before entering HR.

Experienced Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the biotechnology industry. Strong healthcare services professional skilled in Research and Development (R&D), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Clinical Research, Ophthalmology, and Medical Devices.

Nur Nicholson is a Chief Technical Operations Officer at Andrew Ellis and Chief Technical Operations Officer at Apellis Pharmaceuticals and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts. She has worked as Medical Sales Representative at Alcon Research, Ltd. Istanbul, Turkey; Head, Global Supply Chain at Galderma; and Department Director, Global Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) & Global Data Management at Alcon. Nur studied at Texas Christian University - M.J. Neeley School of Business between 2016 and 2017; TCU, Neeley School of Business; and ODTÜ between 1987 and 1991.

Cedric Francois' primary areas of expertise are immunology and immune system mediated disease. Cedric Francois received his medical degree from the University of Leuven in Belgium and his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Louisville. Following postgraduate training in pediatric and transplant surgery, Dr. Francois joined the research team that performed the first successful hand transplantation and the Louisville Face Transplant Team, whose work supported the first human face transplantation in Lyon, France in 2005. He has published numerous publications and is the principal author on the clinical report of the first four human hand transplantations. He is an inventor on many biotechnology patent applications, including all of Potentia and Apellis' proprietary patent applications. Dr. Francois led Potentia to become the first group to test complement-inhibiting drug candidates for age-related macular degeneration, now an established mechanism in that disease. In October 2009 Alcon, the world's largest ophthalmology company, entered into a licensing and option to purchase agreement with Potentia Pharmaceuticals and took over all of its operations. He is currently President and CEO of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Pascal Deschatelets is a COO/Co-Founder at Apellis Pharmaceuticals. He has worked as COO/Co-Founder at Potentia Pharmaceuticals Inc. Pascal studied at Montréal (Québec and Harvard University.

Cedric Francois' primary areas of expertise are immunology and immune system mediated disease. Cedric Francois received his medical degree from the University of Leuven in Belgium and his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Louisville. Following postgraduate training in pediatric and transplant surgery, Dr. Francois joined the research team that performed the first successful hand transplantation and the Louisville Face Transplant Team, whose work supported the first human face transplantation in Lyon, France in 2005. He has published numerous publications and is the principal author on the clinical report of the first four human hand transplantations. He is an inventor on many biotechnology patent applications, including all of Potentia and Apellis' proprietary patent applications. Dr. Francois led Potentia to become the first group to test complement-inhibiting drug candidates for age-related macular degeneration, now an established mechanism in that disease. In October 2009 Alcon, the world's largest ophthalmology company, entered into a licensing and option to purchase agreement with Potentia Pharmaceuticals and took over all of its operations. He is currently President and CEO of Apellis Pharmaceuticals