In the pharmaceutical industry, it’s easy to focus on data, strategy, and performance metrics. But behind every decision are real people. For Guillermo Castillo Acero, Head of European Mid-Sized Markets at Ipsen, that reality became clear during a precise moment in his career.
Early on, Guillermo describes his role as driven largely by delivering results. That changed during an awareness campaign on spasticity, organized in partnership with a patient association. The initiative, a race designed to raise visibility and promote inclusion, brought together patients, families, and healthcare stakeholders around a shared cause.
During a disease awareness event, Guillermo had the chance to speak directly with families. He expected conversations about treatments or clinical outcomes. Instead, what he heard was far more personal. They spoke about everyday challenges, getting dressed, eating, managing routine tasks, things often overlooked but deeply impactful for people living with spasticity.
The experience was emotional. Guillermo recalls struggling to hold back tears as he watched families connect, share, and find joy simply in being part of a supportive community. That moment stayed with him and reshaped how he viewed his work, not as a business responsibility, but as something that directly affects lives, both for patients and those around them.
Since then, Guillermo approaches his role with a stronger sense of purpose. The work is no longer just about outcomes on paper, it’s about enabling better daily lives. Sometimes, it only takes one moment to change how we see what we do. For Guillermo, it was listening, truly listening, to patients and their families, and realizing the human impact behind every decision.
By Christelle Huguet, EVP & Head of R&D, Ipsen
For too long, modern medicine has treated diseases as if they were uniform, defined by a label rather than by their underlying biology. Today, we have an unprecedented ability to interrogate the molecular drivers that shape each person’s cancer, and in doing so, we’re transforming how we diagnose, develop and deliver the medicines that matter most.
At the heart of this transformation lie biomarkers. What mutations are driving disease progression? How do tumor cells distinguish themselves from healthy cells? And importantly, how can these biological signatures guide us to the people with the highest unmet need? The ability to answer these questions allows us to focus our efforts on the most compelling science—science with purpose.
However, biomarkers are only one part of the story. As we unlock deeper insights into disease mechanisms, we must also equip ourselves with the right tools to act on them. That is why Ipsen is building a multimodality R&D engine, grounded in precision immune‑modulation and our expertise in the MAPK pathway. Each modality is designed with purpose: to act on well‑defined biology as a potential best‑ or first‑in‑class medicine.
What makes this progress truly powerful is its real‑world impact on patients. It opens doors to more targeted, and potentially more effective, options. But it’s equally important to recognize where the pathophysiology drivers are less clear and more work is required. Many cancers lack clear biomarkers, and too many patients continue to face conditions that remain under researched or poorly understood. This is exactly why we must continue to push the boundaries of innovation—so that scientific progress translates into real change.
At Ipsen, our ambition is clear: to develop a pipeline defined not by the limits of traditional medicine development, but by the possibilities of precision. Precision medicine is not a new concept—it is here, reshaping what we can deliver for patients today and redefining what will be possible for generations to come. And as science advances, we will continue to act with agility, focus and purpose to turn breakthrough insights into real solutions for the people who need them most.
“To succeed at this, you need to have some tolerance for failure and risk taking.”
At the heart of Ipsen’s early discovery efforts is a question of fit—how a molecule interacts with a disease-relevant protein, and what that means for therapeutic potential. Alexis Cocozaki’s team focuses on that exact space, applying biophysical and structural biology techniques to evaluate and optimize new assets at the atomic level.
“We isolate specific protein targets and run in vitro biochemical assays to identify molecules that inhibit those targets,” Alexis explained. Once a compound shows promise, they move into structural validation. “We determine the structure of the protein bound to the molecule to help guide the chemists in how to improve it.”
This work is foundational to structure-based drug design and early asset triage. By the time a compound reaches exploratory development, much of the molecular logic has already been built. “It’s about reducing uncertainty early—so later-stage teams can move with confidence.”
Early on, Alexis worked in hospital diagnostics—processing patient samples, analyzing infections, and generating data. That clinical exposure gave him a lasting sense of urgency. “It made me want to understand what was really going on at the molecular level. That’s where change begins.”
Structural biology, he believes, is undergoing its own shift. Tools for predicting protein structures, and the collective resource of artificial intelligence are beginning to accelerate a field once defined by months of trial and error. “The idea that we could pool together all of what’s out there into collective open source resources to help guide us on what we should focus on next will keep the industry moving forward at a fast pace.”
Through his efforts to anchor structure in strategy, Alexis is helping shape Ipsen’s approach to precision discovery—where insight builds momentum, and every atom mapped is a step toward what matters next.
Mary Jane Hinrichs, Global Head of Early Development
Redefining the next chapter of cancer innovation
Working in early development, I have the privilege to see the next generation of therapeutic science take shape – and few areas are more compelling than immuno-oncology (I-O). From first data points in the lab to breakthroughs in the clinic, it is clear that we are entering a new era with the potential to deliver transformative outcomes for patients.
That progress reflects a deepening sophistication – not only in our understanding of the immune system and its interaction with cancer, but in how we respond to real-world challenges faced by healthcare professionals, patients and families. Despite significant I-O breakthroughs, patient responses remain variable and immune-related toxicities widespread, underscoring the need for more refined and targeted approaches.1
From ‘releasing the brakes’ to targeted approaches
First-generation I-Os showed that releasing the brakes on immune cells can drive meaningful responses, but also exposed the limits of broad immune activation. These learnings are now shaping next-generation approaches that engage the immune system more precisely: targeting specific pathways and cell types for a more coordinated, tailored immune response.2
By coordinating the immune systems rapid front-line defenses and it’s more targeted, lasting response, these emerging therapies have the potential to deliver deeper anti-tumor activity while carefully managing safety.2,3
It’s this promise that shapes how we work at Ipsen. Grounded in precision, selectivity and deep cancer biology insight, we are advancing a growing I-O pipeline, spanning solid tumors and blood cancers with T cell engagers, T cell activators together with targeted antibody-drug conjugate therapies. I am especially driven by how next generation I-O approaches has the potential to deliver better tolerated options to patients living with acute myeloid leukemia, where unmet need remains so high.
Looking ahead
The pace of progress in I-O is remarkable, but the measure of success isn’t scientific sophistication. It’s whether that precision reaches patients living with cancers like AML, where current options remain inadequate. The tools are becoming sharper. The question now is how fast we can close the gap.
Nick Gagnon, Vice President and Head of Late Stage Partnering
Why late-stage partnering demands a clearer lens
Late-stage partnering is unforgiving — high-stakes, capital-intensive, and fiercely competitive. The cost of a poor partnership isn’t just financial; it’s the lost opportunity to advance a program that could have changed patient outcomes but didn’t get the right partner at the right moment.
Without a purpose-driven philosophy, even well-resourced organizations risk chasing novelty over impact and deal volume over value. That is the trap Ipsen is deliberately designed to avoid.
Ipsen’s strategy: purpose as a competitive differentiator
For us, partnering starts with purpose. We focus on impact, asking “is this science truly transformational for patients?” and “are we the right organization to accelerate it?”. Underpinned by this purpose, we apply a filter that is intentionally demanding, looking for strong scientific rationale with the potential to redefine standards of care. That calls for partners who, at their core, share our ambition and conviction, whilst aligning with our therapeutic expertise and infrastructure across Oncology, Rare Diseases, and Neuroscience.
This past year, I have continued to see the clarity of this partnering strategy come to life. The decisions we have taken haven’t always been easy, but we have stood by our principles, ensuring we stayed committed to programs with the highest potential for meaningful patient impact.
The future of biopharma collaborations
The future of partnering lies in intentional, high‑quality decisions. At Ipsen, we’re focused on whether the programs we champion reach patients who need them, and that our involvement meaningfully accelerated that outcome.
Patients don’t feel the impact of the deals we sign — they feel the medicines that reach them. And that is what science with purpose looks like in practice.
For many people at Ipsen, the impact of their work becomes clear through patient stories, scientific breakthroughs, or moments shared with colleagues. For Emilie Manier, Senior Executive Assistant, that realization came in a much more unexpected situation: a dinner with friends.
Emilie joined Ipsen in 2022 and works in the international team, supporting the Executive Vice President, Head of International and coordinating teams across different countries. As a Senior Executive Assistant, she helps with organization tasks for the team to facilitate collaboration, and enable leaders to focus on key priorities. While she doesn’t work directly with patients, as an integral part of team she helps empower leaders and teams to make decisions that ultimately impact people’s lives.
Emilie recalls the moment everything clicked about the impact of her work at Ipsen.
An evening, during a casual dinner with friends, the conversation turned to health. One of her friend mentioned that her doctor had prescribed a treatment. An Ipsen treatment.
“I was like, ‘Oh, this is real, actually.’”
Another friend at the table then shared that she had also taken an Ipsen treatment. In that moment, Emilie realized that the people benefiting from Ipsen’s medicines are not just distant patient stories. They can be the people sitting right across from you.
“Being there at that table, hearing people talk about our treatments made me feel incredibly proud,” she says. “I felt really grateful to work for a company that truly impacts people’s lives.”
For Emilie, that evening was a powerful reminder that every role contributes to Ipsen’s mission. Even behind the scenes, helping teams collaborate and make decisions ultimately supports a shared goal: improving patient’s lives.
New in our A Life in Science series, we hear from Audrey Clapéron, Translational Biology Director, about the essential role of data in driving discovery forward. She shares how leading a team of pharmacologists and delivering high-quality evidence for clinical development keeps her motivated and close to the patients who may one day benefit.
“Data are clearly at the basis of everything. They provide evidence for decision-making in an objective way, and so they are very important for the project,” says Audrey Clapéron, Translational Biology Director at Ipsen.
Her work centers on ensuring that projects are driven by reliable results. “My everyday life is to make sure that all the pharmacological data are provided to the project. I’m also leading a team of in-vivo and in-vitro pharmacologists.”
Those data are not abstract—they are essential to moving discoveries forward. “We are very close to the patient because we are providing evidence and data for clinical development, and so the patients are almost right here.”
That sense of closeness to patients drives how Audrey and her team handle challenges. “When things get complex and challenging, I always come back to the key priorities for the project—to provide new, innovative medicine to the patients, make some prioritization if needed, communicate with the team, and provide a vision so they can work efficiently for the project to move forward.”
Audrey’s perspective highlights why data are more than information—they are the evidence that allows medicines to progress, with patients always in sight.
“We’re doing real science. For real people. And we’re doing it together. That’s what matters most to me.” – Alison Mason
The science behind cell culture and fermentation rarely makes headlines. But without it, no treatment would reach a patient. Alison Mason knows this better than most. She leads the cell line and upstream process development team and provides chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) leadership to support the biologics pipeline at Ipsen, helping turn early-stage science into ready-to-use clinical material.
Her work at Ipsen’s Wrexham site includes one of the company’s largest clinical development programs. “It’s a complex molecule, and we manufacture it in-house,” she explains. “We’ve developed the process from early development through to late-stage clinical production.”
Alison’s role blends precision and persistence. “You need to make sure the yield is right. The quality is consistent. That each batch can be trusted. And when something’s off, you fix it—not alone, but with the team.”
This mindset carries into her work on partnered assets too. She leads CMC input for several discovery-stage oncology candidates, including those from Ipsen’s collaboration with Marengo Therapeutics. “The partnership is really energizing,” she says. “We bring complementary skills to the table, and the science is pushing boundaries.”
What Alison values most are the people who work together to make Ipsen innovation happen. “You can have the best plan, but without the right people, it goes nowhere,” she says. “Here, at Ipsen, we have a team that shows up for the work and for each other.”
New in our A Life in Science series, we hear from Mary Jane Hinrichs, Senior Vice President and Head of Early Development, about her path from discovering a passion for pharmacology to leading drug candidates through first-in-human trials. She shares how balancing strategy, science, and a constant focus on patients motivates her to shape the future of medicines.
“I was inspired to get into science from a love of learning about how drugs impact the body,” says Mary Jane Hinrichs, Senior Vice President and Head of Early Development at Ipsen. “To be quite honest, when I was in early undergrad, I did not ‘love’ the basic hard science. And it was really one day when I took a course on pharmacology and I could see how chemicals, when they go in the body, have such an impact on our day-to-day lives. It was fascinating for me, and I was so excited to be able to pursue a career in this.”
Mary Jane’s work today is about taking drug candidates into early human trials. “My role at Ipsen as Head of Early Development is to take promising drug candidates through to early clinical proof of concept. And so, what that means is that we take the most promising modalities that we look at through external partners and shape them and develop the strategy to test them in humans for the first time.”
She has seen discoveries with both challenges and breakthroughs. “We had an asset that had amazing pharmacology that did something that nothing else that we’ve seen before has ever been able to do. The issue with it is that it had properties that made it so that it wasn’t going to be able to be orally available… we were able to transform it into a formulation that we could get benefit out of it, and it’s now in patients and doing very well.”
For Mary Jane, success in early development depends on one constant: “It is essential to keep the focus on the patient.”
The Ipsen S.A. 2026 Annual General Meeting will take place on 13 May 2026, in Paris, France at 3 pm at the Salons de l’Hôtel des Arts et Métiers, 9 bis avenue d’Iéna, 75116 Paris.