Prior to joining Therachon in 2015, Dr. Santarelli spent 12 years at Roche, most recently serving as the Senior Vice President and head of Neuroscience, Ophthalmology and Rare Diseases, as well as Small Molecule Research at Roche in Switzerland. He completed his MD and Psychiatry Residency at the University of Turin, Italy and a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University. His work has been published in high impact journals including Nature, Science, Nature Neuroscience, Archives of Neurology and JAMA Psychiatry.

At Therachon, Santarelli will be responsible for advancing the company’s pipeline, including its lead programme in achondroplasia, the most common form of short-limbed dwarfism.

Bpifrance’s Chahra Louafi has also joined the company’s Board of Directors.