At Aurealis Therapeutics, our mission is to revolutionize the treatment of chronic wounds, cancer, and inflammatory diseases with our multi-target cell and gene therapy platform. Central to this mission is our incredible team, whose dedication and expertise drive our progress forward.
Through the Aurealis Therapeutics Team Interviews, we showcase the scientific advancements at our company while also introducing the people behind our successes. These interviews provide a closer look into their journeys, passions, and what excites them most about their work at Aurealis. We believe it’s important for our stakeholders to understand not just what we do, but who we are.
In this latest edition, we are excited to introduce Laurent Décory, our Chief Operating Officer (COO), whose leadership is vital to our global operations and strategic growth. The elements of this interview will also be shared in segments on our LinkedIn page, so be sure to follow us there for more insights.
Now, we invite you to enjoy the full transcript of the interview with Laurent, where we discuss his journey from academia to industry, his role in driving Aurealis toward commercial readiness, and the exciting developments happening at the company, including AUP-16 and global partnerships.
Laurent, please tell us about your career and what finally led you to Aurealis Therapeutics.
I’ve always been driven by curiosity. As a child, I was fascinated by insects, flowers, gemstones, and fossils. When I received a microscope, I discovered the world of microorganisms, which inspired me to study biology. I eventually completed my PhD in Neuroscience and Pharmacology, focusing on how the brain and sensory organs work. I was particularly interested in hearing and deafness, especially when caused by antibiotics or noise overexposure.
After a while, I realized the industry appealed to me more than academia. My goal shifted from advancing science through publications to developing treatments that improve patients’ lives in real-world settings. To bridge the gap in my knowledge—such as financial, digital, sales, and marketing skills—I pursued an MBA.
Throughout my career, I worked with mid-sized and large pharmaceutical companies like Sanofi and Takeda, launching and commercializing treatments for cancer and diabetes across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Later, I transitioned into MedTech, working with BSN Medical and ESSITY to expand the wound care business globally. I also co-founded a consulting firm, BlueJet Consulting, with experts in digital, finance, and regulatory fields.
Four years ago, I joined Aurealis Therapeutics, first as a board member, and then two years ago as COO.
What excites you most about working at Aurealis?
What excites me most is the opportunity to help transform the company—from being science- and discovery-focused to being commercially ready and securing its future. My role involves overseeing Business Development, Alliance Management, Health Economics, and Medical Marketing.
I need to understand the science behind our therapies, shape it when necessary, but more importantly, create compelling narratives that resonate with key stakeholders. This includes investors, MedTech and Pharma companies, key opinion leaders, clinicians, and, ultimately, the patients who will benefit from our therapies.
Convincing these groups to back our treatments is what drives me every day.
Could you share more about your participation in the European Wound Management Association (EWMA) conference held in London this past May?
Yes, of course. To start, I’d like to provide some context by highlighting Aurealis’ mission, which is focused on developing multi-target cell and gene therapies for chronic wounds, cancer, and inflammatory diseases. Our most advanced program is AUP-16, which accelerates the healing of chronic, non-healing wounds such as Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFUs) and Venous Leg Ulcers (VLUs).
Understanding how the Advanced Wound Care market is evolving and hearing from clinicians about unmet medical needs is essential. Additionally, visibility and networking with potential partners are very important. At EWMA, I had the opportunity to present our clinical data and demonstrate how AUP-16 is cost-effective compared to current treatments. I also met with leading wound care companies and shared promising preliminary results from our ongoing Phase 2 study, which confirms the efficacy of AUP-16 in DFUs. This was an exciting moment because we are very close to engaging a large partner to prepare for our next steps.
Aurealis is also a member of the EWMA Innovation Alliance, which allows small and large wound care companies to exchange ideas, build partnerships, and foster innovations. Last June, for example, I presented Aurealis’ €35 million investment round during an EWMA Innovation Alliance webinar.
Last May, together with our CEO Juha, you went on a partnering tour in Chin. Can you share some details about this trip?
Absolutely! China is a really fascinating country: it is very large but also incredibly agile. It’s now the second-largest pharmaceutical market globally, and there are millions of patients suffering from diabetes, chronic wounds or cancer.
Two years ago, we signed a licensing and development agreement for AUP-16 in Greater China with Xbiome, a leading company based in Shenzhen, Beijing, and Boston specializing in microbiome and AI-enabled discovery. We have had a great collaboration with Xbiome, involving our respective R&D, Regulatory, Clinical, CMC teams. Together we have already achieved IND approval for a Phase 2 study of AUP-16 in DFUs in China, set to begin in the coming months. This tour was a fantastic opportunity to meet in person with our Xbiome colleagues in Shenzhen, discover their facilities, understand their different programs, and ultimately reinforce our understanding and collaboration.
We also met team members from Huahai Pharmaceutical, a Chinese-US pharma company which has very impressive programs in different therapy areas including cancer, and which already has invested in Aurealis. We also spent great time with the Lynx Financial team, who are doing incredible work helping us identify, meet and approach potential partners and investors in China and beyond. Last but not least, we met a number of potential partners, usually several CDMOs, and were really impressed by their capabilities, facilities and global presence.
Overall, it was a very productive trip that allowed us to reinforce existing collaborations while laying the groundwork for new opportunities.
About AUP-16
AUP-16 is a genetically engineered Lactococcus Cremoris, a non-pathogenic, probiotic bacteria, expressing human basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2, bFGF), interleukin-4 (IL4) and macrophage colony stimulating factor (CSF1, mCSF) – all in one product and accepted as one active pharmaceutical ingredient from regulatory perspective. AUP-16 is topically applied on chronic wounds and covered by wound dressing (e.g. in diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers or other ulcer types). In the wound AUP-16 acts as millions of bioreactors producing the therapeutic proteins, which are designed to i) halt chronic inflammation in the wound, ii) induce growth of new blood vessels, and iii) promote granulation tissue formation and skin re-epithelization – all in one product.
About Aurealis Therapeutics
Aurealis Therapeutics AG is a Swiss-Nordic clinical-stage company developing scalable and low COGS multi-target cell and gene therapies allowing to modulate tissue microenvironment and tackle complex multi-factorial diseases such as chronic wounds, cancers, and inflammation. Aurealis modular gene therapy platform consists of non-pathogenic food-grade lactic acid bacterium Lactococcus Cremoris, genetically engineered to produce and release multiple human therapeutic proteins in the body: cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, antibody fragments. These living bacterium act as millions of nanoscale bioreactors at the site of the disease, allowing multi-targeting as one product, to treat multifactorial diseases. Aurealis pipeline includes Chronic Wounds (AUP-16, ongoing Phase 2), Oncology (AUP-55, pre-clinical stage), Inflammation (AUP-60, discovery stage).
For more information:
Laurent Décory, COO
Email: laurent@aurealistherapeutics.com
