How to Pronounce Désiré Collen
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Jun 21, 1943 Sint Truiden, Flemish Region, Belgium 81 years old
chemist, physician
CancerDésiré Collen - Place of Birth, Date of Birth, Age, Wiki, Facts, Net Worth, Birthday, Biography and Family
Désiré Collen, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Family, Facts, Age, Net Worth, Biography and More in FamedBorn.com
About Désiré Collen
- Désiré, Baron Collen (born in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, 21 June 1943) is a Belgian physician, chemist, biotechnology entrepreneur and life science investor.
- He made several discoveries in thrombosis, haemostasis and vascular biology in many of which serendipity played a significant role.
- His main achievement has been his role in the development of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) from a laboratory concept to a life-saving drug for dissolving blood clots causing acute myocardial infarction or acute ischemic stroke.
- Recombinant t-PA was produced and marketed by Genentech Inc as Activase and by Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH as Actilyse, and is considered biotechnology's first life saving drug.In 2008 Collen reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 years as Professor of the Faculty of Medicine at KU Leuven (Belgium), where he served as Director of the Center for Thrombosis and Vascular Research (now Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology) and the VIB Department for Transgene Technology and Gene Therapy (now VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology).
- He authored and co-authored over 650 research papers in peer reviewed international journals which as of mid 2017 have been cited over 70,000 times.
- He was ranked among the 100 most cited scientific authors of the 1980s and among the top 100 living contributors to biotechnology in polls conducted by Reed Elsevier in 2005.
- In 2012 SciTech Strategies [1] placed him among the top 400 most influential scientists in biomedical research for the period 1996–2011.In 1988, Désiré Collen founded the ‘D.
- Collen Research Foundation vzw’, a not-for-profit organization with the mission to invest the mayor part of the royalties earned from Genentech on the t-PA patent in scientific research.
- The Foundation was renamed in 2007 into ‘Life Sciences Research Partners vzw’ of which Collen remains the Statutory Chairman.In 1991 he spun out the company Thromb-X nv from the KU Leuven in Belgium.
- The primary focus of Thromb-X was in the cardiovascular space with an initial effort to develop staphylokinase as a more affordable thrombolytic medicine compared to t-PA ("poor man's t-PA").
- With the constitution of ThromboGenics Ltd [2] in Ireland in 1998, the company expanded its R&D scope to include cardiovascular, oncology and ophthalmology programs.
- ThromboGenics developed ocriplasmin, a truncated form of plasmin, for the treatment of vitreomacular traction in the eye.
- Disappointed by the, in his opinion inadequate strategic and commercial governance of the company, Collen left ThromboGenics as Chairman and board member in December 2013.With the help of Chris Buyse [3] [4], his CFO and “companion de route” during their 7 years at ThromboGenics, he co-financed the start of Fund+, an ever-green investment fund that currently manages over 139 million euro .
- Fund+ is a private Fund for long term equity investment in innovative life sciences companies with a strong patient-centered approach aiming at both a financial return and a tangible societal impact.King Albert II of Belgium awarded Désiré Collen hereditary nobility, with the personal rank of Baron in 2012.
- He was also recipient of the Belgian Francqui Prize, Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine, Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Cardiovascular Research, Interbrew-Baillet Latour Health Prize, Insead Innovator Prize, Robert P.
- Grant Medal [5] of the International Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis [6], Lifetime Achievement Award of the Belgian-American Chamber of Commerce (BelCham) [7], and Lifetime Achievement Award of Scrip.
- He received honorary doctorates from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Free University of Brussels (VUB), Brussels, Belgium; University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States; and Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
