The quest of life sciences research represents one of the most exciting and challenging endeavors of our era. These last years the life sciences have gone through a technological revolution. The progress achieved in the genomic, functional genomic and proteomic areas has created fabulous opportunities for better understanding of basic biological processes and for the development of the next generation of medicines.

Our mission is to promote and accelerate this exploration by providing the innovative and efficient molecular delivery systems sought by scientists. The company has established a strong position in the field of molecular delivery systems with several patents that exploit revolutionary molecules and methods.

The founders of OZ Biosciences are experienced scientists in the area of molecular delivery systems and are internationally recognized for their expertise in this field. Our objectives are to develop the next generation of delivery systems for nucleic acids, proteins, peptides and other molecules for researchers in need of technologically advanced and efficient tools to carry on their studies . Our team is composed of experts who have already developed many popular and successful laboratory research reagents.

OZ Biosciences is located at the Luminy Scientific Park, the heart of important biological research activity in Marseille, in the south of France . We have many local, national and international partnerships and collaborations with academic and industrial research laboratories. The company has received several prestigious national and international awards.

OZ Biosciences develops a comprehensive line of specialty products for the delivery of molecules such as nucleic acids or proteins. For instance, our first reagents are nucleic acid delivery systems; Magnetofection™ represents a novel, simple, highly efficient and universal transfection technology. Ecotransfect™ represents the most economical transfection reagent for routine experiments and GeneBlaster™ increases gene expression level.

OZ Biosciences goal is to achieve a leadership position in molecular delivery systems and to be the privileged partner of life sciences researchers.

Olivier Zelphati , PhD
CEO - Founder

Dr. Zelphati has over 15 years of experience in drug delivery systems including 9 years in the USA. He obtained his PhD in Immunology from the University of Aix-Marseille II and conducted his postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco. He has a solid experience in various aspects of biomedical research; from 1996 to 1998 he led scientific projects at Vical Inc., San Diego, USA. He was one of the founders of Gene Therapy Systems Inc, San Diego, USA and undertook his development during almost 5 years. He is author and co-author on many scientific publications and patents in the field of molecular delivery systems. He received several scientific awards and research grants.

Christian Plank, PhD
Scientific Counselor - Founder

  Dr. Plank is the head of a research group at the Institute of Experimental Oncology, Technical University of Munich, Germany. His research is dedicated to the development of synthetic nucleic acid delivery systems that are designed by combining physical, chemical and biological principles . He obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Vienna , Austria and conducted his postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco. He received many grants and scientific awards. He is the co-inventor of Magnetofection™, a new technology that targets and enhances gene delivery . He is author and co-author of over 30 publications in the gene transfer and therapy field and of 6 patents.

Jean Haensler, PhD
Scientific Counselor - Founder

  Dr. Haensler directs since 1998 the formulation center of Aventis Pasteur in Marcy l'Etoile, France where he has been working for more than 10 years. He contributes to research programs on the delivery and formulation of adjuvants and vaccines. He obtained his PhD in Pharmacochemistry from the University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg. He conducted his 1st postdoctoral research in the cosmetic field and a second in synthetic gene delivery systems area at the University of California, San Francisco. He is author of many scientific publications and inventor of about 15 patents.
 

Dr Francis C. Szoka

Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, where he has been on the faculty since 1980 . He is Program Director of the new NIH-funded graduate program in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics . He obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from SUNY/Buffalo. He was a postdoctoral fellow with Demetri Papahadjopoulos at the Roswell Cancer Institute . He received many awards. The principle focus of his research group is to exploit biochemical, biophysical and physiological principles to devise novel drug carriers composed of polymers, peptides or lipids. He has published over 140 manuscripts and received 23 patents. Pr. Szoka is a founder of Sequus Pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson) that introduced sterically stabilized liposomes for anti-cancer drug delivery ( DoxilT) and of Valentis, a company developing gene therapies-based drugs to treat cancer and genetic diseases.

Dr Lee Leserman

Director of Research, CNRS, Head of the research group "cell biology of antigen presentation" at the Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille and Director of the CNRS Research Group "Immunotargeting of tumors". He received his MD and PhD at the University of Chicago After clinical training at Duke University he was an investigator in cancer immunotherapy at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda . He is a pioneer in the area of liposome targeting, in particular having developed the technique of attaching proteins such as antibodies to liposomes for the purpose of delivering their contents into selected cell types . He is author of more than 100 articles and reviews . He has been a consultant to several companies involved in drug delivery (Vestar, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, The Liposome Company) and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Inex Pharmaceuticals. His current research interests include control of the passage of protein from endocytic vesicles to the cytosol during the process of antigen presentation.

Dr Daniel Scherman

Director of Research CNRS, Director of the Chemical & Genetics Pharmacology Laboratory, U640 INSERM - FRE 2463 CNRS at the University of Renée Descartes, Pharmacy (Paris V) and at the Superior National School of Chemistry of Paris. Previously, he was Research Director and Head of the Molecular and Cellular Vectorology Laboratory (UMR 7001 CNRS- ENSCP - Aventis) in Vitry-sur-Seine, France. His main research interests involved all aspects of biochemical and physical non-viral gene delivery systems. He published over 125 manuscripts and many patents. In 1999, he received the prestigious Silver Medal from the National Scientific Research Center of France.

5 th National Awards for start up company with innovative technologies by the French Minister of Research, in the category creation-development, 2003.