Hervé Girsault has extensive experience in business development and licensing in the pharmaceutical industry. Until July 2005, he held a number of senior positions at Novartis, including senior vice president and global head of partnering and out-licensing at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Basel, global head of business development & licensing for Novartis Consumer Health and general manager of Novartis Consumer Health in Benelux. Before joining Novartis, Hervé was the general manager of Gerber Products Company in France from 1990 to 1995. He started his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand Management Consultants, culminating in the position of director of the food & healthcare practices, based in Paris. He earned an master's of business administration with honors from Columbia Business School in New York and has a master's degree from a leading business school in Paris