Vivet Therapeutics is dedicated to developing innovative gene therapy treatments for orphan diseases. General counsel and finance director since February 2017, Susan Coles explains the unique role in-house lawyers can have at start-up companies: ‘My role is broader than you would expect for a “traditional general counsel”, covering legal but also finance, HR and other administrative matters.  The company has grown a lot since 2017 when the business really began, and now have a team of 26 employees based in France and in Spain.’

Coles thrives on the challenge of this multidimensional role, remarking, ‘I’ve been out of my comfort zone a lot. New areas are fascinating and a great opportunity for continued learning”.  Coles also held the role of general counsel for Inventiva SA from 2019 to 2021, which was an exciting and challenging experience, particularly during Inventiva’s Nasdaq IPO in 2020.  Before Vivet Therapeutics, Coles was group general counsel at global biopharmaceutical company Stallergenes Greer for three years. There, she managed a five-person legal team earning praise for her contribution to Stallergenes’ cross border merger with Greer, the first ever cross border France-UK merger.

Prior to this Coles, enjoyed notable in-house roles including as general counsel at Inventiva, and senior counsel in charge of licensing and acquisitions for Laboratoires Fournier, and subsequently for Solvay Pharmaceuticals after its acquisition of Laboratories Fournier. A Canadian national, Coles obtained her first legal qualification, an LLB from the University of Toronto in 1990, and is an attorney of the Ontario and New York bar.