Désiré Collen

Désiré, Baron Collen (born in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, 21 June 1943) is a Belgian physician, chemist, biotechnology entrepreneur and life science investor. He made several discoveries in thrombosis, haemostasis and vascular biology in many of which serendipity played a significant role. His main achievement has been his role in the development of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) from a laboratory concept to a life-saving drug for dissolving blood clots causing acute myocardial infarction or acute ischemic stroke. Recombinant t-PA was produced and marketed by Genentech Inc as Activase and by Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH as Actilyse, and is considered biotechnology's first life saving drug.

In 2008 Collen reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 years as Professor of the Faculty of Medicine at KU Leuven (Belgium), where he served as Director of the Center for Thrombosis and Vascular Research (now Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology) and the VIB Department for Transgene Technology and Gene Therapy (now VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology). He authored and co-authored over 650 research papers in peer reviewed international journals which have been cited over 70,000 times, and 39 US Patents. He ranked among the 100 most cited scientific authors of the 1980s listed by Current Contents and among the top 100 living contributors to biotechnology in polls conducted by Reed Elsevier in 2005. In 2012 SciTech Strategies placed him among the top 400 most influential scientists in biomedical research for the period 1996–2011.

In 1988, Désiré Collen founded the 'D. Collen Research Foundation vzw', a not-for-profit organization with the mission to invest the mayor part of the royalties earned from Genentech on the t-PA patent in scientific research. The Foundation was renamed in 2007 into 'Life Sciences Research Partners vzw' of which Collen remained the Statutory Chairman until 2019.

In 1991 he spun out the company Thromb-X nv from the KU Leuven in Belgium. The primary focus of Thromb-X was in the cardiovascular space with an initial effort to develop staphylokinase as a more affordable thrombolytic medicine compared to t-PA ("poor man's t-PA"). With the constitution of ThromboGenics Ltd in Ireland in 1998, the company expanded its R&D scope to include cardiovascular, oncology and ophthalmology programs. ThromboGenics developed ocriplasmin, a truncated form of plasmin, for the treatment of vitreomacular traction in the eye. Disappointed by the, in his opinion inadequate strategic and commercial governance of the company, Collen left ThromboGenics as Chairman and board member in December 2013.

With the help of Chris Buyse, his CFO and "companion de route" during their 7 years at ThromboGenics, he co-financed the start of Fund⁺, an ever-green investment fund that currently manages over 200 million euro . Fund⁺ is a private Fund for long term equity investment in innovative life sciences companies with a strong patient-centered approach aiming at both a financial return and a tangible societal impact.

King Albert II of Belgium awarded Désiré Collen hereditary nobility, with the personal rank of Baron in 2013. He was also recipient of the Belgian Francqui Prize in 1984, Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine in 1986, Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Cardiovascular Research in 1994, Interbrew-Baillet Latour Health Prize in 2005, Insead Innovator Prize in 2009, Robert P. Grant Medal of the International Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis in 2011, Lifetime Achievement Award of the Belgian-American Chamber of Commerce (BelCham) in 2013, and Lifetime Achievement Award of Scrip in 2013. He received honorary doctorates from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands in 1988; Free University of Brussels (VUB), Brussels, Belgium in 1994; University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States in 1995; and Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France, in 1999.