Invectys Inc. is led by a team of experienced industry professionals, combining vision, scientific knowledge and management skills.
Dr. Jake Kushner, President & CEO, Invectys Inc.
Dr. Jake Kushner is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Invectys, Inc. Dr. Kushner also serves as Medical Director for McNair Interests, a private equity firm in Houston, Texas. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Dr. Kushner completed his MD at Albany Medical College, pediatric residency at Brown, pediatric endocrinology fellowship at Harvard, and a research fellowship at the Joslin Diabetes Center. He then held full-time medical school faculty appointments at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and lastly Baylor College of Medicine, where he was Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology and also a McNair Scholar. Dr. Kushner is an internationally renowned type 1 diabetes researcher with extensive previous NIH and JDRF funding. He has served on numerous review panels for industry, the NIH (DDK-B study section chair), and foundations including the JDRF and the ADA. Dr. Kushner has received numerous honors, including awards from the March of Dimes, the Hood foundation, and the NIH, elected membership to the ASCI, and served as President of the Society of Pediatric Research.
François Lescure, Pharm.D., Ph.D., General Manager, Invectys SAS
François is the General Manager of Invectys Inc.’s R&D subsidiary, Invectys SAS. Dr. Lescure is a veteran of the healthcare industry with a career spawning over more than 30 years. In 2010, he founded MédecinDirect, a healthcare access platform connecting patients to healthcare practitioners. In 2019, MédecinDirect was acquired by Teladoc Health with Dr. Lescure remaining with the Company as General Manager, France. Prior to Teledoc, Dr. Lescure has served as Director of Pharmaceutical Development and as a Senior Operations Manager at both UPSA Laboratory, Bristol Myers Squibb, and several other innovative biopharma companies.
Julien Caumartin, Ph.D., CSO, Invectys SAS
As the CSO of Invectys SAS, Julien ensures the scientific integrity of the company’s research operations. He has 15+ years of R&D experience in immunology, 9 of which he spent leading a research team developing new immunotherapies against cancer. Before working at Invectys, he first worked at the Scripps Research Institute, where his research was focused on anti-tumoral vaccination. He then worked at the French CEA, studying the interaction between the immune system and the replication of prion, before going back to anti-tumor vaccination by joining Intelectys, and finally Invectys. He has worked in both public and private structures, and has been involved in 13 publications and 5 patents related to immuno-oncology and currently leads Invectys’ anti-HLA-G CAR-T cell project. Julien earned his Ph.D. in immunology from the Paris Diderot University.
Rosemary Williams, CPA, Vice-President for Administration and Controller, Invectys Inc.
Rosemary has over 35 years of experience in accounting and financial oversight ensuring sound and efficient accounting policies and procedures. Before joining Invectys, she worked as the Vice-President Finance and Head of HR for Sandhill Therapeutics, just after serving as Vice-President of Finance and Controller for Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, where she orchestrated the scale-up of the company as well as its successful IPO. Rosemary has also occupied financial, accounting and consulting positions at Cathexis Oil & Gas, Horn Solutions, Accretive Solutions, Capital Guidance and The Mischer Corporation, in which she oversaw the coherent accounting function of multiple sub-groups and -entities across several different fields of activity. She earned her BA in Accounting from the University of Utah and is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas.
Melissa Yang, Ph.D., Vice President, Scientific Affairs, Invectys Inc.
Melissa pilots the scientific development of Invectys. She has nearly 20 years of experience in R&D across a broad range of indications. While launching Lexicon’s first drug to market, she has had a full experience in every stage of the program from target validation, in vivo pharmacology through IND filing, approval, commercialization and life cycle management. Her background ranges from field scientist, with hands-on know-how of laboratory operations, to Senior Director of R&D Programs, managing R&D portfolio, budgets and timelines, conducting business development, competitive intelligence, and alliance management. Her experience also includes 8 years’ experience in managing cross-functional teams, which include preclinical, CMC, clinical, safety, regulatory, quality, medical affairs, HEOR, marketing. Melissa earned her B.S. in Biochemistry from the Wuhan University, and her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from the MD Anderson Cancer Center UT Health Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS).
Jian Cao, Ph.D., Vice-President, Pharmaceutical Development, Invectys Inc.
As Invectys’ Vice-President, Pharmaceutical Development, Jian facilitates the development of the company’s pipeline. Dr. Cao brings in extensive experience in biological drug development and GMP manufacturing support of IND through BAL submissions. Before joining Invectys, he was the Acting General Manager for Alvotech & CCHT Biopharmaceuticals Inc., where he led the cGMP manufacturing including process development, manufacturing, QA, QC, regulatory affairs, preclinical and clinical development. Prior to that, he worked at Sorrento Therapeutics and was responsible for multiple antibody drug development programs. Dr. Cao received his Ph.D. in Protein Biochemistry from the University of New Mexico and completed his postdoctoral studies at the University of California, San Diego.
