#47 - 600% in 3 Days: the execution playbook behind Abivax’s breakthrough in IBD

Épisode de Pharma Minds par Nathalie Lahitte · 8 décembre 2025 · 59 min

“Within three days, we went from almost bankrupt… to one of the stars of the Nasdaq.”

In this conversation, I take you behind the scenes of a biotech journey that sounds almost unbelievable.

Marc de Garidel, CEO of Abivax, tells me how he rebuilt this French biotech from scratch, designed a strategy powerful enough to attract top US investors and executed one of the largest phase 3 programs in ulcerative colitis: a molecule from French public research (CNRS, Institut Curie and the University of Montpellier) which may have a major impact on patients.

This episode is a masterclass in leadership, execution, courage, and long-term thinking.

Here’s what you’ll hear about in this episode:

◾️ How Marc stepped into a company with almost no long-term plan… and why that turned out to be a surprising advantage.

◾️ The four pillars of a new strategy — and how one of them quietly set the stage for the breakthrough to come.

◾️ What it really takes to run a global phase 3 across dozens of countries — and why Abivax had to reinvent itself to pull it off.

◾️ A mechanism of action unlike anything else in IBD — and why this difference matters more than most people think.

◾️ The hidden lessons from a noisy phase 2 that helped transform the phase 3 into something no one saw coming.

◾️ A leadership philosophy built on transparency and speed, born from a single principle: in biotech, every day counts.

◾️ The unexpected market reaction that changed the fate of the company overnight — with numbers that almost don’t seem real.

If you want to hear a real behind-the-scenes story, hit play.

This episode is an exceptional inside look at what it truly takes to turn science into impact, stand your ground under pressure, and lead a biotech from survival… to breakthrough.

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Find Marc de Garidel:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-de-garidel-097982/

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Resources mentioned in the episode:

Abivax https://www.abivax.com/

Pharma Minds episodes mentioned:

His first interview in Pharma Minds in 2023: “CEO Marc De Garidel On Building Something Truly Impactful: Embrace Risks!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA3-OSltbwQ (in English)

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Bienvenue dans Pharma minds, le podcast qui vous emmène dans une aventure captivante à travers la Pharma et la Santé d'aujourd'hui ! Je suis votre hôte, Nathalie Lahitte. Mon objectif ? Découvrir comment des personnalités influentes ont contribué à façonner ce secteur. À chaque épisode, nous…

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