Sylvain Cottens is the Global Head of the Center for Proteomic Chemistry at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR).  The Center for Proteomic Chemistry combines NIBR’s world class screening capabilities with an integrated target class focus.
 

Sylvain obtained a degree in organic chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1985, and then took a postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. P. Dervan at the California Institute of Technology in the USA.
 
Sylvain joined Sandoz in 1987 as Laboratory Head in the Nervous System Research Department.  From 1990 to 1994 he was a Program Head in the Immunology Research Department, coordinating the chemistry activities of a macrolide program. Sylvain then served as Unit Deputy Head and Chemistry Unit Head in the Novartis Transplantation Research Department. From January 2000 to May 2002 he was ad interim Therapeutic Area Head of Transplantation Research. More recently Sylvain was a founder of the Kinase and Protease Platforms, cutting-edge drug discovery groups including chemistry, biology and macromolecular structures.
 
Over the years Sylvain contributed to the discovery and development of Certican, played a key role in the licensing and early development of FTY720, and invented AEB071 which recently achieved Proof of Concept as a T-cell inhibitor.