Who we are

AndzonBio2 translates leading academic research into novel neuroinflammation therapies
through innovative mechanisms, disciplined development, and partnership-driven execution.

The company currently advances two programs targeting:

A central regulator of innate immune response, interferon signaling and neuroinflammation pathways.

An emerging target centrally involved in lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis pathway with a key role in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.

Both mechanisms present compelling opportunities to intervene upstream of neuronal dysfunction and disease progression across multiple CNS indications.

Our Team

Experienced leadership team with track record in neuroscience,
drug development, venture creation, and strategic partnerships.

Loic Lhuillier, PhD

Chief executive officer
and co-founder

Loic is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in strategic, operational, and scientific leadership in the life sciences industry. His expertise spans new healthcare technology evaluation, venture creation, preclinical and clinical program leadership, investment portfolio oversight across different therapeutic areas, and fundraising.

Loic held pivotal roles in biotech and research organizations. As Chief Scientific Officer at AndzonBio1, he led project evaluations for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic indications, selecting and shaping discovery plans for its programs. At Exonate Ltd, where he served as Chief Operating Officer, he oversaw all R&D delivery in multiple therapeutic areas, including a Phase 1b trial for diabetic eye disease, while contributing to securing funding from Janssen Pharma and the Wellcome Trust.

He co-founded a Cambridge (UK)-based company focused on neurodegenerative diseases and managed a multi-peptide immunotherapy project for type 1 diabetes at King’s College London, raising funding and advancing it through preclinical and clinical stages, including licensing to a European corporate partner.

Earlier positions include Programme Manager for Precision Medicine at InnovateUK, where he managed a £200 million portfolio, created a Precision Medicine Roadmap, and developed funding competitions for vaccine development and global epidemics.

His foundational roles involved managing discovery biology at Lectus Therapeutics for chronic pain, and Novartis on allosteric modulators for mood disorders.

He studied neuroscience in Paris, France and holds a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology (neurobiology) from the University of Houston.

Simon Loiodice, PhD

Chief Operating Officer
_

Simon has a PhD in neuropsychopharmacology with a strong entrepreneurial and business-driven mindset. He has 15 years of experience (gained in pharma, CRO and biotech) in early drug development with a primary focus on neuroscience. He also has significant experience in operational and strategic leadership as well as a track record in implementing and leading research collaborations with academic groups and biotech/pharma companies in the CNS space.

Simon previously founded and led 2 CNS biotech companies and is a biotech entrepreneur since 2020. Throughout his entrepreneurial journey, he gained significant experience in company building/structuring, project search & evaluation, deal making/negotiation and business development.

Prior to his entrepreneurial experiences, Simon worked 5 years (2016-2021) in a CRO as Head of CNS Pharmacology and was involved in multiple CNS drug development programs with leading European and US-based biotech/pharma. Before that, Simon notably had positions at UCB Pharma and Sanofi where he gained pharma experience in nonclinical pharmacology / drug safety evaluation.

Throughout his career, Simon has designed and executed multiple CNS drug development programs and led multiple translational neuroscience projects. His work notably resulted in various 1st author publications which were co-authored with leaders in the field.

Mounia Azzi, PhD

Chief Business Officer

Mounia is a Life Sciences Executive with over 20 years of experience at the interface of research, industry and early-stage investment.

Mounia studied Neuroscience in France then moved to Canada to pursue postdoctoral research at the University of Montreal where she later became a research associate. After, she transitioned to industry, joining Bellus Health (formerly Neurochem) as head of the cell biology group.

In 2009, she entered the world of life sciences investment as Investment Manager at MSBi Valorisation, before joining CQDM as Program Director where she helped structure major collaborative R&D initiatives.

In 2012, she contributed to the launch and growth of the NEOMED Institute as Director of Scientific Affairs and then of Nexelis (ex NEOMED-LABS), where she served successively as Vice President of Corporate Development and Chief Business Officer.

In 2019, she joined adMare BioInnovations as Vice President of Program Development and Partnerships before becoming Vice President Corporate Development, leading strategic partnerships, government relations, communications, and the development of emerging biotech ventures.

John Christopher, PhD 

Project Lead

John has more than 25 years industrial medicinal chemistry and project leadership experience in multiple therapeutic areas including CNS, inflammatory, respiratory, oncology and anti-viral and has led drug discovery campaigns across a diverse range of protein target classes.

He has held senior positions in large pharmaceutical (GlaxoWellcome, GSK) and biotech companies (Heptares, Sosei Heptares, Sitala Bio), leading projects in the hit discovery, hit to lead, lead optimisation and early preclinical development stages. John has significant experience managing external resources in the CRO sector and collaborating with partnered biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Most recently John was Head of Chemistry at Sitala
Bio, and prior to that he was a Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Heptares Therapeutics / Sosei Heptares (now known as Nxera Pharma). John is currently a Drug Discovery consultant, providing strategic Medicinal Chemistry and Project Leadership input to several European and UK based biotech companies.

After graduating with a first-class BSc (Hons) in Chemistry with Bioorganic Chemistry (University of Birmingham) John gained a PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (Glasgow University) and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Chartered Chemist and Chartered Scientist. John is the author or inventor on more than 75 manuscripts, reviews, book chapters and patents.

Board of Directors

Pascale Augé

Learn more

Pascale Augé

Pascale Augé is a recognized expert in life sciences and health innovation, with nearly 30 years of experience in research valorization, entrepreneurship, and strategic development. Since 2014, she has served as Chair of the Executive Board of Inserm Transfert, where she drives a culture of excellence to accelerate the transfer of innovations from public research to industry and patients.

Pascale Augé has held strategic positions at the heart of the biotechnology and health startup ecosystem. Before joining Inserm Transfert, she led the Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship Department at the Institut Pasteur in Paris from 2011 to 2014. Her expertise also extends to business development and preclinical/early clinical development (Neurotech, Entomed, AB Science), as well as operational strategy consulting, particularly at EY, where she managed life sciences and health technology activities for France.

From 2008 to 2011, Pascale chaired the evaluation committee for the French National Research Agency’s (ANR) program on “Emerging products, technologies, or services with high valorization potential.” Since 2015, she has served on the Board of Directors of LFB SA, a leading French pharmaceutical company, and has been actively involved in the Supervisory Board of Inserm Transfert Initiative (seed fund) and EMBLEM Technology Transfer GmbH, the technology transfer subsidiary of EMBL, since 2022. Since 2019, she has been an expert for the EIC Accelerator and Transition programs.

In 2022, Pascale Augé facilitated Inserm Transfert’s entry into the AFB Fund II managed by AdBio Partners, strengthening support for innovative health startups. In 2024, she co-founded AndzonBio® with Alain Huriez, a “pipeline company builder” platform designed to accelerate the development of promising academic projects in life sciences and digital health. Two companies have already emerged from this initiative: AndzonBio1 (focused on cardiovascular, metabolic, and renal diseases) and AndzonBio2 (focused on neuro-inflammatory diseases), where she serves as a strategic board member.

Pascale Augé holds a PhD in molecular pharmacochemistry, experimental pharmacology, and metabolism (Université Paris Cité) and is a chemical engineer (École de Chimie de Strasbourg).

Alain Huriez

Learn more

Alain Huriez

Alain brings over 30 years of experience in Life Sciences and finance. He started his career as a General Practitioner (GP) and then spent ten years in biotechnology drug development and regulatory strategy as vice president of Quintiles (IQVIA) Europe. From 2002 to 2012 he was a life sciences entrepreneur, associate partner at Truffle Capital, and CEO of Neovacs (vaccines) and TcLand-Effimune (now OSE-immuno) (molecular diagnostics, biologics). Alain has successfully founded five French biotechnology companies, including Theravectys (lentivirus vaccine platform) and Samabriva (enabling technology platform). He has been involved in personalized medicine initiatives at the European level, as founder and chairman of EPEMED, the European PErsonalized MEDicine association.

Alain joined the VC firm Advent Life Sciences in 2012. He founded AdBio Partners (formerly Advent France Biotechnology) in 2016.

Alain was the first investor in Orphalan, a commercial stage EU/US company in rare diseases.

He has been chairman of the board between 2015 & 2022.

Alain’s medical and biotechnological background, his experience as a serial entrepreneur and a leading executive, his expertise in clinical development as well as his networks, are critical to identifying early-stage biotechnology projects and to mentoring managers towards building successful businesses.

Savita Bernal

Learn more

Savita Bernal

Savita Bernal is Director of the Innovation Acceleration and Entrepreneurship  Department at Inserm Transfert. She has nearly 20 years of experience in business development, corporate strategy, and operational management in the biotech sector. She has contributed to several licensing agreements and fundraising rounds (Series A, IPO), notably having held the positions of acting Chief Operations Officer (COO) for a medical device company and Chief Business Officer (CBO) at MaaT Pharma and Director, Business Development and Strategic 

Adrien Clavairoly

Learn more

Adrien Clavairoly

Adrien Clavairoly is a Principal at AdBio Partners, where he has been investing since 2017. He brings a strong scientific background spanning molecular and integrative biology, supporting the rigorous evaluation and development of innovative therapeutic programs across a broad range of modalities and indications. He currently serves as a board member and board observer for several AdBio portfolio companies. Adrien holds a PhD in Neurosciences from the Brain and Spine Institute (ICM) and Master’s degrees in Molecular Biology and Integrative Biology from Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC).

Our Scientific Advisory Board

Top-tier experts in the field, bringing strong
experience in CNS drug and clinical development

Michael Heneka, MD/PhD 

Dir. of the Luxembourg Center 
for Systems Biomedicine 

Robert Hodgson, PhD

Biotech Consultant, 
Drug discovery & Dev. 

Carol Routledge, PhD

Independent Advisor, 
Drug Dev & investment 

Declan Jones, PhD

Independent Consultant, 
Drug Discovery & Investment 

Jonathan Savidge, Phd

Biotech Entrepreneur, 
CNS-focused 

Marion Wittmann, PhD

Independent Consultant, 
Drug discovery & Dev. 

Prof. Isabelle Le Ber

Principal
Investigator