He was director of DevGen and CropDesign and is a director of the biotech companies Ablynx, Peakadilly, Actogenix, EMBLEM (technology transfer company of EMBL) and FlandersBio. He is also co-founder of ASTP (Association or European Science and Technology Professionals) and visiting professor innovation and management at the University of Ghent.
Career
Dekeyser holds a master's degree in zoology and a PhD in molecular biology from Ghent University. [1] He was a co-founder of the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) in 1995 and served as its managing director for 17 years, with responsibility for all business development.[1] Under his leadership VIB built a large patent portfolio, signed hundreds of license and R&D agreements with companies worldwide, and established about a dozen start-up companies that raised more than €500million.[2] Companies established during this period include Devgen (acquired by Syngenta), CropDesign (acquired by BASF), Ablynx (acquired by Sanofi),ActoGeniX (acquired by Intrexon) and Multiplicom (acquired by Agilent).[1]
He was also instrumental in building the bio-incubators and bio-accelerators of the Flemish life-sciences cluster and the 350-member biotech association FlandersBio.[2] He co-founded the Association of European Science and Technology Transfer Professionals (ASTP) and chairs EMBLEM, the technology-transfer arm of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), and the EMBL's Technology Transfer Board.[1][2]
Venture investing
In 2012 Dekeyser joined the life-sciences investment firm LSP and became managing partner of its Health Economics Funds, which invest in private European and U.S. medical device, diagnostics and digital health companies.[1] He has served on the boards of companies including Curetis, Sequana Medical, Lumeon, reMYND and Celyad.[1]
References
Caplan A, Dekeyser R, Van Montagu M, Selectable markers for rice transformation, Methods Enzymol. 1992;216:426–41.
Claes B, Dekeyser R, Villarroel R, Van den Bulcke M, Bauw G, Van Montagu M, Caplan A, Characterization of a rice gene showing organ-specific expression in response to salt stress and drought, Plant Cell. 1990 Jan;2(1):19–27.
Dekeyser R, Claes B, Marichal M, Van Montagu M, Caplan A, Evaluation of Selectable Markers for Rice Transformation, Plant Physiol. 1989 May;90(1):217–223.
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