Gilles Divita
Chief Executive Officer Divincell
Gilles Divita is Founder and CEO of DIVINCELL SAS, a biopharmaceutical nanomedicine company developing next-generation drug delivery technologies for the treatment of cancer and genetic diseases. With more than 25 years of experience spanning drug delivery systems, peptide and protein therapeutics, and oligonucleotide-based medicines, Gilles is widely recognised as a pioneer in the field of intracellular therapeutic delivery.
His work led to the development of the groundbreaking non-covalentcell-penetrating peptide delivery strategy, helping establish new approaches for transporting therapeutic cargo into cells. He has also pioneered multifunctional nanoparticle platforms designed to improve the targeted delivery of drugs and diagnostic agents across a range of disease areas.
Prior to founding DIVINCELL, Gilles held senior research leadership positions at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), where he served as Research Director and Head of the Chemical Biology and Nanotechnology for Therapeutics team. Throughout his career, he has also conducted research at internationally renowned institutions including the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Germany and The Scripps Research Institute in the United States.
Gilles is the author of more than 180 peer-reviewed publications and15 patents, and holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of Lyon. His contributions continue to shape the development of innovative delivery technologies for advanced therapeutics.
Seminars
- Leveraging AI-driven peptide optimisation to design cell-specific targeting motifs and formulate peptide-based nanoparticles without antibody conjugation or additional surface modifications
- Improving targeting specificity and reducing off-target delivery through optimised peptide-based formulations, while supporting repeat dosing for therapeutic applications
- Demonstrating the versatility of peptide-based delivery through in vivo data on T-cell modification for CAR-T applications and protein replacement across tumour models
- Identifying “sweet spots” for mRNA-LNP therapeutics based on dosing frequency, administration route & immune considerations
- Focusing development on validated applications: Cancer vaccines, infectious disease vaccines, protein replacement & in vivo CAR-T
- Learning from clinical setbacks to understand biological & commercial limitations of the platform
