Phenocell is a biotechnology company created in 2013 by Brigitte Onteniente from Inserm (National Institute for Health and Medical Research). Phenocell’s mission is to promote research and therapeutic development in the field of rare diseases. Brigitte Onteniente's group has been a leader in stem cell therapy for neurological disorders and wished to foster this expertise by creating the first-in-kind company creating iPSC-derived cellular models for rare diseases. Phenocell has extensive experience in iPSC derivation from patients with genetic disorders and the production of iPSC-derived differentiated cells, and has developed an innovative platform for using iPSC-derived models in phenotypic assays.

Main tasks attributed in the project

Phenocell brings this expertise to WP 01 in the RELENT project with the creation of unique iPSC lines from samples donated by patients and of related cells to study the role of autophagy in immune disorders. Partner Phenocell will participate in WPs 01, 03 and 05 to develop phenotypic assays for compound screening and drug discovery. Brigitte Onteniente will be a member of the Innovation and Exploitation Advisory Panel (IEAP).

Main personnel involved in the project

Brigitte Onteniente, PhD, is CEO and founder of Phenocell. Brigitte is an internationally recognized expert for brain plasticity, neurodegenerative disorders and stem cell therapy. After receiving her Doctorate in the University of Montpellier, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Anatomy Department of Shiga Medical School, in Japan, before entering Inserm. She coordinated the European program STEMS (Stem cell therapy for Stroke) in 2006, and took the challenge to leave academia for entrepreneurship in 2013. Brigitte qualified from the Challenge+ management and business training of HEC Paris in 2013.

Julien Maruotti, PhD, is Chief Scientific Officer and shareholder. Julien graduated from the AgroParisTech engineer school and has 8 years of experience in stem cell research. His skills include generation and differentiation of pluripotent stem cells, cell based high-throughput screening and drug discovery. Rich of an international experience (China, USA), Julien specializes in retinal pigment epithelium and skin components differentiation from iPSC.

Marion Albouy, Engineer, currently leads the R&D differentiation platform. Her expertise range from ectoderm to mesoderm-derived cell types.

Anaïs Bobier, Engineer, is responsible for the rare diseases-iPSC generation platform. She has strong expertise in reprogramming.

Inès Lahlah, Technician, has recently joined the R&D team and will particularly focus on the RELENT project.