Gritstone Oncology announced the appointment of Jean-Marc Bellemin as Executive Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, effective January 5, 2018.
Bellemin will lead Gritstone’s finance, accounting and investor relations functions, as well as Human Resources and Information Technology. He will report to Andrew Allen, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of Gritstone Oncology, and will be based in the company’s headquarters in Emeryville, CA.
Bellemin brings more than 23 years of international experience in finance and operations management within start-up and global commercial pharmaceutical organizations. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Actelion Pharmaceuticals USA, providing strategic leadership, plus financial and operations management of an international, profitable, publicly-traded biotechnology company. He led the long-term strategic process for the finance, project management, information technology and market access functions at Actelion until its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in 2017.
His previous experience includes various leadership roles within the finance team over 11 years at Actelion in both Europe and the USA, and serving in financial management roles at GUERBET Pharmaceuticals, ELF AQUITAINE, Philips Electronic Company and Credit Lyonnais Bank. Bellemin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Management from Paris Dauphine University, a Master’s degree in Finance and Accounting at Paris Sorbonne University and an M.B.A. from Essec Business School in Paris.
“With a significant Series B financing raised last September, Gritstone is well-capitalized and will benefit particularly from Jean-Marc’s experience leading the finance function at Actelion USA, an internationally-renowned biotechnology company which grew from an R&D company into a very successful commercial one,” said Allen. “We are fortunate to have Jean-Marc join our team as we prepare for our lead personalized immunotherapy program to enter clinical development in 2018 and beyond.”