About Dr. Lacoste
Dr. Arnaud Lacoste is Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer at Aurion Biotech, where he leads the company’s strategic vision and scientific innovation in regenerative cell therapy for corneal disease. With deep expertise in cell and gene therapy development, Dr. Lacoste brings over two decades of experience translating cutting-edge science into clinical therapeutics.
Before founding Aurion Biotech, Dr. Lacoste spent 12 years at Novartis, where he directed cell and gene therapy programs and established multiple pioneering therapeutic platforms, including induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC), CAR-T, and ophthalmology cell therapy technologies. Under his leadership, his team successfully advanced clinical candidates from early discovery through clinical development stages, building a robust pipeline of innovative therapies.
Prior to Novartis, Dr. Lacoste served as Director of Rockefeller University’s stem cell facility and was Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Inseron, a biotechnology company focused on developing genetic biomarkers for drug discovery and pathway profiling.
Dr. Lacoste holds a PhD in Life Sciences from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), an MBA from Boston University, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Bordeaux.