Wednesday, October 27, 2010

2010 All-Stars

MHT All-Star Frederic Chereau: Working to make lives better

Who he is: As CEO for Pervasis Therapeutics Inc., Frederick Chereau navigates the brave new world of drug-device combination therapies. The company develops cell-based therapies that induce tissue repair and regeneration, and the company’s lead development programs are focused on two areas of vascular disease: improving arteriovenous access procedures for hemodialysis patients, and reducing the longer-term problems that limit the success of angioplasty or stent implants for peripheral arterial disease.

Track record: Prior to becoming CEO of Pervasis in 2008, Chereau was the vice president and general manager of Genzyme Cardiovascular, a business unit of Genzyme Corp. There, he worked both on commercializing a Genzyme cholesterol drug, called Cholestagel, and on developing a gene therapy program in peripheral arterial disease. He worked in France for Genzyme from 1999 to 2005, and has been working in Cambridge since then. In his early career, Chereau worked for a French medical device retail company.

Education: Bachelor of science in physics from Paris University; graduate management degree from La Rochelle Business School and an MBA from INSEAD.

What drives him: “It gives me a lot of satisfaction to know I can contribute to making other people’s lives better. After La Rochelle (management master’s program), my father had a heart attack. I spent a lot of time taking care of him. He survived. That is something that really drew me to health care because, by training, I was a physicist. I worked for a few years in medical devices and then I moved to biotech because there was more innovation there. So it’s a little ironic that many people consider us a device company. I consider Pervasis to be more of a biotech company.”

Biggest achievement: “When I was at Genzyme I grew the cardiovascular department, and I did a big deal in 2008, acquiring a product from Isis Pharmaceuticals, called mipomersen. I didn’t do everything my way. I worked with my team and I convinced them that it was a good acquisition.”

What else he might have done: “When I was young, one thing I actually wanted to do was to be a sales rep for (French plane manufacturer) Airbus. One thing I’m very interested in now is modern interior design, including 1970’s Scandinavian design. So if I had to re-do my career, maybe I would be an interior designer.”

What he’d like his legacy to be: “I’ve spent 10 years doing cell therapy. I’d like to be able to tell my grandchildren that I was part of the story of cell therapy in some way, that I added to the research in this area addressing unmet medical needs.”

— Julie M. Donnelly

Tom Mathers on Frederic Chereau
CEO of Cambridge-based biotech company Peptimmune Inc., Mathers has known Frederic Chereau for many years, having served as his boss when the two worked at Genzyme Corp.

Greatest strength: “He’s a charismatic guy. His ability to disarm people in personal and professional situations really sets him apart. I wouldn’t call it French charm, that might be giving him too much credit. But he has a salesman’s luminous personality.”

Something people don’t know: “Like a lot of French people, he will eat anything, and he has a special palate for rognons – sheep’s kidneys. Also, one of his most prized possessions is a very modern glass and metal coffee table that he made.”

A weakness: “His English. Once he is in France for 24 hours, his English becomes completely unintelligible. We joke about it all the time.”