Biotalys appoints Carlo Boutton as Chief Scientific Officer

“I’m delighted to welcome Carlo as a new member of the Executive Committee of Biotalys,” said Simon Moroney, Chairman of Biotalys. “With a wealth of experience working with antibody innovation and an exemplary track record building world-class research platforms, he is an outstanding addition to the team.”

“The proteins we use in our products are inspired by naturally occurring antibodies, aiming to protect food from the field to the plate,” commented Patrice Sellès, CEO of Biotalys. “As we continue to develop our technology platform, Carlo will support the acceleration of technical innovation in the next stage of Biotalys’ growth, ensuring we can offer growers safe, effective and sustainable alternatives to conventional crop protection products.”

Most recently serving as the Global Head of Innovation for Large Molecules Research at global healthcare and pharmaceutical leader Sanofi, Dr. Boutton brings more than 20 years of antibody and biochemistry leadership to his new executive role at Biotalys. Reporting to Biotalys’ CEO Patrice Sellès, Dr. Boutton will lead the team’s continued scientific research to further develop the novel AGROBODY Foundry™ technology platform, preparing Biotalys’ pipeline of biofungicides, biobactericides and bio-insecticides for expansion and commercial availability while building its intellectual property portfolio.

“Biotalys is at the forefront of innovation in agricultural technology. I could not pass up the opportunity to join Biotalys and apply proven science to address such an important global issue – the safe and sustainable production of our food,” noted Dr. Boutton. “Antibody-inspired proteins have the potential to bring completely new compounds and modes of action to farms around the world so we can better protect our crops, consumers and ecosystem. I look forward to working with the exceptionally talented Biotalys team to continue its innovation in AGROBODY™ biocontrols.”

In his most recent role as Sanofi’s Global Head of Innovation, Large Molecules Research, Dr. Boutton drove the innovation strategy and managed an expansive team exploring novel technologies with antibodies, NANOBODIES® and other biologic modalities to find innovative pharmaceutical solutions. Before Sanofi, Dr. Boutton held various scientific leadership roles at Ablynx (now Sanofi), where he focused on bioinformatics, protein modelling and finding new therapeutic applications for its NANOBODY® platform. At Ablynx, he was also involved in multiple strategic partnerships as member of Joint Steering Committees. Previously, he took part in several anti-HIV and anti-HCV drug discovery projects at Tibotec (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson). At the start of his career, he contributed to the development of a platform to develop rationally designed therapeutics in the broad field of immunotherapy, at Algonomics (now Lonza). He is named co-inventor on more than 20 patent applications.

Carlo Boutton obtained his M.S. and PhD from the University of Leuven (Belgium), where he researched the physico-chemical behavior of proteins under high-electromagnetic fields.

About Biotalys

Biotalys is an Agricultural Technology (AgTech) company protecting crops and food with proprietary protein-based biocontrol solutions and aiming to provide alternatives to conventional chemical pesticides for a more sustainable and safer food supply. Based on its novel AGROBODY™ technology platform, Biotalys is developing a strong and diverse pipeline of effective product candidates with a favorable safety profile that aim to address key crop pests and diseases across the whole value chain, from soil to plate. Biotalys was founded in 2013 as a spin-off from the VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and is listed on Euronext Brussels since July 2021. The company is based in the biotech cluster in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on www.biotalys.com.