In this new series, we are introducing the new additions to the OMass Board of Directors following our latest round of financing. The aim is to learn a bit more about our new board members and why they were excited to join OMass’s journey.

Laia is a Partner at Sanofi Ventures and is based in the Paris office. She focuses on biotech investments and company creation. Prior to Sanofi, she served as Investment Director for Ysios Capital, where she led investments and served on the board of multiple early stage biotech companies. Earlier in her career, Laia was part of the European New Business Development team of Janssen-Cilag, a pharmaceutical company part of the Johnson & Johnson group, where she assessed commercial and scientific licensing opportunities.

What attracted you to OMass initially?

The potential to access previously hard to drug targets using OMass’ novel and differentiated platform was what triggered our interest in the company.  The scientific and management team of the company impressed us from day one and we are excited about the prospect of OMass delivering new therapies to help patients – which is always the driver for our investments.

What makes OMass unique?

OMass’ unique proposition lies in the ability of its proprietary Native MS platform to access complex biology with precision, fidelity, and throughput that conventional development tools lack. This allows the company to explore exciting and important areas in biology that have previously been unattainable.

What excites you most about the company over the next couple of years?

OMass is at a very exciting point. In the next couple of years, we will see the consolidation of all the great work the team has achieved since inception and the development of a strong pipeline across several diseases that are not well covered with existing therapies. I look forward to supporting this excellent team to improve people’s lives.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself.

Ever since returning from living in Cambridge, I support Cambridge in the boat race. It’s now a family tradition to watch the race with our kids. I think now I may have to switch sides or maybe not: I would be happy every year regardless of the outcome!