Elvire Gouze

Dr Gouze is founder and CEO of Innoskel.

In 2020, Dr Gouze founded InnoSkel, a pioneering platform biotechnology company developing therapies for rare skeletal diseases, where she serves as CEO. Dr. Gouze holds a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology, and her work focuses on the development of biotherapies for skeletal dysplasia and other rare bone disoders.

Dr Gouze has over 20 years of experience in bone and cartilage diseases. After a 2 year post-doctoral position at Harvard Medical School, she became an Instructor in Orthopedic surgery in the Center for Molecular Orthopedics directed by Christopher H Evans, who conducted the first gene therapy trial for rheumatoid arthritis. She then spent 4 years as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Florida. She is an expert in gene and cell therapy for musculoskeletal disorders.

Dr Gouze was recruited on a tenured track position at Inserm in 2009 to develop her research program on achondroplasia, a rare genetic disease causing short stature. In 2013, researchers in Dr. Gouze’s lab published a seminal paper in Science Translational Medicine that showed a soluble decoy version of FGFR3 increased bone length and reduced complications associated with achondroplasia in mice that have the same genetic mutation as humans with achondroplasia. From 2016, Dr. Gouze was team leader at the institute Biologie Valrose in Nice where her team focused on the development of innovative biotherapies for skeletal dysplasia.

In 2014, she founded TherAchon, a developer of innovative therapies for achondroplasia, with Versant Ventures and Inserm Transfer Initiative. In 2015, TherAchon closed a $35 million Series A round. OrbiMed led the Series A financing and was joined by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), along with existing investors Inserm Transfert Initiative (ITI) and Versant Ventures. Orphan Drug Designation were granted end of 2017, and phase I clinical trial started early 2018. In July 2019, Pfizer acquired TherAchon for $340 million with an additional $470 million in additional payments contingent on the achievement of key milestones in the development and commercialization of TA-46.