About the authors
Jo Bury, Johan Cardoen and Dirk Reyn have been closely involved in the development of the Flemish biotech industry as the driving forces behind the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) and flanders.bio. When they realized that some of the iconic pioneers of the Flemish biotech story were quietly retreating and becoming less visible, they decided to write down the story of Flemish biotech in this book.
Jo Bury
Jo Bury is founder and former Director of VIB, the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology. From November 1995 to March 2022, he was Managing Director of VIB. At VIB, 1,800 scientists and technicians study the molecular mechanisms of growth and development of various organisms (humans, plants, microorganisms) in normal (healthy) and abnormal (disease, stress) conditions. The focus is on strategic basic research with potential applications (long-term) in molecular medicine and molecular agriculture. VIB operates at several sites integrated into the campuses of the universities of Ghent, Leuven, Brussels, Antwerp and Hasselt, based on a joint venture agreement between VIB and these five partner universities. Strong results have enabled VIB to become a center of excellence in terms of life science research in Europe.
Jo Bury holds a Master's degree in Pharmacy and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Ghent University). He holds an MBA from the Vlerick School for Management in Ghent.
He spent several years as a researcher in the field of atherosclerosis and then built a career in science policy. He was Operational Director of VLAB (Flemish Biotechnology Action Program) and scientific advisor to federal and regional bodies such as IWONL-IRSIA, IWT.
Jo Bury served on the Board of Directors of several research intensive companies (Seghers Genetics and Nutrition nv, Vitamex nv, Oystershell nv), research institutions (Temasek Life Sciences Laboratories - Singapore, ITG), and supporting bodies (Hercules, EIC, FWO). He was / is SAB for several research centers in the life sciences: IIMCB (Warsaw), HCEMM (Budapest), IGC (Lisbon), MDC (Berlin), CRG (Barcelona) and DRI (London).
Johan Cardoen
Johan Cardoen holds a PhD in Biology from KU Leuven (1987) and a Business Degree from KU Leuven (1990). Today he is an independent consultant and entrepreneur in the life sciences.
From June 2012 to May 1, 2020, he was Managing Director of VIB. There he was responsible for the Innovation and Business Team and introduced VIB to numerous biotech companies. Until July 1, 2020, he was also Chairman of the LP Board of V-Bio Ventures, a dedicated life sciences investment fund focused on early stage investments in life sciences. He served on the Board of Directors of several biotech companies, including argenx (from 2008 to 2011), Applied-Maths (now bioMérieux, from 2010 to 2016), and GST (Global Stem Cell Technologies, now Boehringer Ingelheim, from 2019 to 2020). Furthermore, from 2007 to May 2012, he was Chairman of flanders.bio, the umbrella organization for the life sciences and biotechnology sector in Flanders.
Today, he is independent Chairman of Meiogenix (a spin-off of the Institut Curie) and independent member of the Board of Directors of Biotalys (BE), Complix (BE), Protealis (BE), PBL Technology (UK) and Aphea.Bio (BE).
Until May 31, 2012, he was CEO of CropDesign nv (today part of BASF, Ghent). He developed and implemented a two-track strategy (IPO/trade sale), which led to BASF's acquisition of CropDesign in June 2006. From 1988 to 1999, he worked for Plant Genetic Systems (PGS) as Technology Acquisition Manager and Business Development Manager.
Before joining CropDesign in July 1999, he was Global Head Technology Acquisition of AgrEvo Hoechst Schering/Aventis (now Bayer CropScience), where he was responsible for all biotechnology-related acquisitions. Today, he advises V-Bio Ventures and Astanor Ventures.
Dirk Reyn
Dirk Reyn is a pharmacist and MBA with marketing, sales, project team, crisis management, business development and general management / biotech CEO skills with investor know-how acquired in the international pharmaceutical and biotech industry over a period of more than 35 years.
He was a key player in several pharmaceutical licensing deals, mergers and acquisitions in his capacity as global head of the gastrointestinal business and head of Business Development for Europe while working for Janssen Pharmaceutica in Beerse.
He is the founder (2006) of Movetis (Turnhout), a biopharmaceutical spin-off company of Janssen Pharmaceutica, which was acquired by Shire in 2011 after a major series A round and a successful IPO on Euronext in 2010. Prucalopride, Movetis' pivotal product, is now available in more than 40 countries. He is also co-founder and ex-CEO of eTheRNA (immunotherapy/Niel) and co-CEO/co-founder of Spectricity (Mechelen), a promising imec spin-off with the smallest spectrometer in the world.
He is currently one of the three managing partners of Bioqube Ventures, which manages a biotech fund with more than ten European biotech investments. He has also been Chairman of flanders.bio, the umbrella organization of Flemish biotech companies, since 2019, and is an active member of Rotary club Turnhout and a sapphire Paul Harris Fellow.
Dirk lives in Vosselaar, is married to Kristin Snick and (grand)father of two children and two grandchildren. He is a recreational athlete, organizer of several music events and lover of German vintage cars.