Eric Halioua

Founder and Managing Partner at CarKath srl

Speaker

Eric Halioua is a serial biotech entrepreneur combining strong strategic, technological, and managerial expertise, with a proven track record in deal-making, fundraising, and company building. Throughout his career, he has led teams that successfully advanced four drug candidates from research to the clinic (up to Phase IIb). He has raised more than €170 million from venture capital firms and strategic partners across Europe, the USA, Japan, and Korea, and contributed to multiple successful M&A transactions and IPOs in the biotechnology sector.

He is currently Managing Director of CarKath srl, a strategic consulting firm, and serves on the boards of Essenscia (Bio.be), Ergosture, and is Chairman of the Board of Biosenic. He previously served as Chairman of Cell Matters (acquired by Cryoport), and as a board member of Vivalis/Valneva, Bioxodes, the Wallonia Health Cluster (BIOWIN), and the European Biotech Enterprises Association (EBE).

He served for nearly 10 years as CEO of PDC*line Pharma and for 6 years as CEO of Promethera Biosciences/Cellaïon, and is co-inventor of the first GMP-approved mobile manufacturing unit for cell therapy (WO 2014049151 A).

He also spent 12 years as a Principal at Arthur D. Little, leading international projects in strategy, M&A, and innovation management for major pharma and biotech companies.

As an entrepreneur, he co-founded four biotechnology ventures:

· Myosix – a tissue engineering company acquired by Genzyme, focused on muscle cell regeneration for cardiac repair.

· Murigenetics – a biotech developing therapies for genetic disorders.

· Digital Orthopaedics – a digital health company providing AI-driven clinical decision support for musculoskeletal pathologies (selected by Dassault Systèmes’ 3DExperience Lab).

· HairClone – a biotechnology company developing cell-based hair regeneration treatments and follicle banking services.

Earlier in his career, he worked at IsoHealthcare Group (later acquired by Monitor Group) as Senior Consultant in healthcare strategy, as Strategic Marketing Manager for the Centre Européen de Bioprospective, and as Project Leader in corporate R&D at Zeneca (UK).