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Dr Rafaèle Tordjman, MD PhD, has been an investor in life sciences for almost 20 years. She joined Sofinnova Partners, a Paris-based venture capital firm, in 2001, as an analyst. She became co-leader and partner with €1.5 billion in assets under management, which she held until 2017.

Rafaèle has invested in and served on the boards of a number of life science companies, including DBV Technologies [DBV], Ascendis [ASND], Lysogene [LYS], MedDay, Enyo Pharma, Nucana Biomed [NCNA], Flexion Therapeutics [FLXN] and Preglem, before the company was sold to Gedeon Richter.

In 2018, Rafaèle founded Jeito Capital, an independent investment company dedicated to biopharma/biotech to establish a model of continuous financing and to invest in the next generation of leaders in medical innovation. The company was approved by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) at the end of 2019 as a portfolio management company.

To engage more women in the life sciences industry, in 2010 she founded the association W.I.T.H. (Women Innovating Together in Healthcare) that now has a global membership of 500 women representing the full chain of medical innovation.

In September 2020, she was awarded Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest distinction, for her achievements. Prior to joining Sofinnova Partners, Rafaèle worked as a physician and researcher in haemato-oncology. After five years working at the Paris University Hospitals as a medical doctor specialising in internal medicine and clinical hematology, she presented her doctoral thesis on Haematopoiesis and Angiogenesis, which she obtained in 2000. She then completed her post-doctoral work in immunology at INSERM, Cochin Hospital, and published in Nature Immunology among others. In 2002, she also completed a management training course at INSEAD.