Francois has garnered deep expertise in Strategic Marketing in the biopharmaceutical industry and has led operational teams across cultural and language lines.
Francois worked with UCB, Eli Lilly, MSD, Pharmacia. He has been closely involved in the management of four blockbusters (Prozac, Zyrtec, Keppra and Cimzia) at various stages in their lifecycle, and has developed successful go-to-market strategies for top Pharma companies as well as small biotech companies.
Francois currently serves on the Board of Directors of two Belgian biotechs.

Professional background

Francois has spent almost 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry, almost equally divided between Europe and the United States, and between operational and staff functions.
He joined Eli Lilly in 1989 and spent ten years in the company, lastly as Director of Sales and Marketing for Lilly in Belgium (1994-1997) and Director of Global Marketing for the brand ‘Prozac’ at Lilly headquarters in Indianapolis (1997-1999).
Francois then went to Merck, Sharp & Dohme, Whitehouse Station, NJ where he was Senior Director, Asia-Pacific Marketing, before joining Pharmacia, where he was Senior Director, US and Global CNS Marketing.
He joined UCB in Feb. 2003 at the company’s global headquarters in Brussels, first as Vice-President of Global Marketing and Global Medical Affairs, then in 2005 became Senior V-P, Commercialization, in charge of UCB’s Commercialization Center of Excellence, which included Market Research and Marketing Services, New Product Planning and Portfolio Management, Government Affairs and Pricing & Reimbursement, as well as Global Sales Force Effectiveness and Sales & Marketing Training. While at UCB, Francois initiated the set-up of a Global Medical Affairs function separate from Global Marketing, and created the Global Market Access department.

Education and qualifications

Francois holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from ‘Reims Management School’ (France), a Master’s degree in International Relations from ‘Université de Paris-I Sorbonne’, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the ‘Stern School of Business’ at ‘New York University’.

Personal

Francois is a French national and lives in Belgium and France. He is fluent in French, English, German, Dutch and Italian. He conducts his workshops in English and French.