Chantal Pichon

Chantal Pichon is a Full Professor at the University of Orléans (France) and holds the Innovation Chair of Excellence at the Institut Universitaire de France (Paris). She leads interdisciplinary research at the intersection of chemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology, with a particular focus on nucleic acid therapeutics.

She has over 20 years of expertise in developing delivery systems for nucleic acid-based therapies based on chemical vectors and ultrasound/microbubble-assisted delivery. Her lab was a pioneer in grafting histidine residues and imidazole groups onto chemical vectors to enhance nanoparticle escape from endosomes, a key challenge in gene delivery.

Over the past decade, her research has centered on messenger RNA (mRNA) delivery and production, with a strong emphasis on vaccine development, protein replacement therapies, and immune cell engineering. She has produced innovative mRNA formulations for therapeutic applications and patented a groundbreaking mRNA bioproduction technology—a paradigm shift from traditional in vitro synthesis. This revolutionary approach leverages yeast as a cell factory to establish a cost-effective and scalable biotechnology platform for high-quality mRNA therapeutics. The vision is to democratize access to cutting-edge biopharmaceuticals and reduce global health disparities.

Since 2023, Chantal Pichon has been leading a dedicated R&D laboratory at Inserm (French National Institute for Health and Medical Research), focused on the development and translation of mRNA technologies. This initiative fosters collaborative projects bridging academia, clinicians, and industry, with the overarching goal of advancing RNA-based innovations for global health impact.