Emmanuel Lacroix works at the cross-section of science and industry, as Senior Director of Global Business Development for UCB, a Brussels-headquartered global biopharmaceutical company.

With a PhD from EMBL’s Structural and Computational Biology Unit, Emmanuel began his career in the biopharma industry in 2001 as project leader and later head of a research group at a biotech company in Paris. Emmanuel further graduated with an MBA in 2006, and from here, returned home to Belgium in 2007, where he now seeks, assesses and negotiates potential partnerships and product licensing opportunities for UCB’s Neurology pipeline and global portfolio.

“My work in business development is intense and varied,” he reveals. “It requires not only interfacing with multiple parties outside UCB, but also leveraging UCB’s own internal strengths and expertise from every function. That’s where a combined background in science and business proves very valuable.” He enjoys this diversity, but moreover, finds the work extremely rewarding: “At UCB, we aim to contribute significantly to the lives of patients in strong need, especially those with severe, disabling and chronic conditions in neurology and immunology.”

Asked how EMBL has shaped his career, Emmanuel says: “EMBL’s facilities – its lab resources, leaders and experts in many areas – helped me accomplish lots of good research during my PhD and postdoc, which I could immediately put to use in the biotech industry. EMBL is a well-known and respected institution, not least in industry: alumni have good credibility, which is very helpful, as in my case, when a scientist turns to business.”