François received his PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry at the Sorbonne University Paris, and has 25 years of experience in drug discovery. After 6 years at Pfizer in assay development and biochemistry for allergy / respiratory diseases, François joined Mutabilis in 2004 to explore the possibilities of inhibiting bacterial virulence. He also contributed to the development of a new class of antibacterials, the FabI inhibitors, and a new class of antiretrovirals, the allosteric inhibitors of HIV integrase. His current focus is on the development of the diazabicyclooctanes as a novel class of antibacterials targeting the Penicillin-binding proteins and showing outstanding stability to class A, B, C and D beta-lactamases. François is co-author of 24 articles and co-inventor of 11 patents.