Lucia Faccio

Lucia joined us in 2018 as a partner in the Sofinnova Telethon Fund, bringing her extensive experience in technology transfer and business development in the life sciences sector.

Prior to joining Sofinnova Partners, Lucia was the director of research & development at Fondazione Telethon, an Italian charity whose mission is to develop therapies for patients affected by rare and genetic diseases. Fondazione Telethon is Sofinnova’s partner in the Telethon Fund, Italy’s largest biotechnology fund.

“Recent history is telling us that we need to dare more,” Faccio says, adding that it takes venture capitalists with scientific backgrounds to really “get” the technology, science and innovation happening in the rare diseases space.

“There has to be more willingness to invest in the early stage,” she said. “Consider that if nobody had invested in mRNA vaccine technology 10 years ago, I don't think we would have had the Covid vaccine in less than one year.”

Lucia has over 20 years of experience in business development in life sciences, with an exceptional track record for identifying projects with strong translational potential, and developing them through solid intellectual property positions, technology transfer, regulatory affairs, and license agreements with industry partners.

Before she joined Fondazione Telethon, Lucia was the director of technology transfer of San Raffaele Hospital, the largest private hospital in Italy and a leading national research center.

Lucia has a degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Padua in Italy and a PhD in biotechnology from the University of l’Aquila, Italy, in association with the Harvard Medical School and conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.