Team & values

Management team

Dr Hugues Contamin, DVM, PhD
Founder and CEO

Hugues Contamin, is a veterinarian and PhD in microbiology. He specialized in the study of infectious diseases at the Pasteur Institute, where he worked as a researcher for 15 years. He also managed various experimental platforms such as the animal facility and primate breeding of the Institut Pasteur in French Guyana as well as the experimental animal laboratory of the French BSL4 high security laboratory located in Lyon. After 3 years as head of the veterinary activity of a regulatory toxicology center, he founded Cynbiose in 2008.

Dr Contamin has authored more than 50 publications in international journals.

Dr Joachim Confais, PhD
CSO

PhD in Cognitive Neurosciences, Joachim spent more than ten years studying the sensorimotor system of non-human primates, in France and in Japan. Following this academic career, he enters a training program in preclinical research and becomes in 2018 the CSO of Cynbiose. As such, Joachim ensures the scientific excellence of our services, and manages the internal and collaborative R&D programs of our company.

Dr Confais has authored 10 scientific publications in international journals and more than 30 communications in international congresses.

Dr Marc Essodaigui, PhD, MBA
CBO

Marc Essodaigui holds a PhD in Molecular Biophysics and a Master’s degree in Strategic Marketing.

He has held sales management and general management positions for over 25 years. He was VP of Marketing & Sales at Ipsogen in Marseilles, COO of Endodiag in Paris, and CEO of Active Biomarkers in Lyon before the company was acquired by KCAS Bio group. Marc has been a member of Cynbiose’s Strategic Committee since 2024 and joined the company as Chief Business Officer in June 2025 to bring his strategic vision and scientific & commercial expertise to support the company’s development.

Marie Jacolot, DVM
Veterinary Manager

Marie has been a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine since 2013 and holds an advanced studies certificate in veterinary public health. She spent seven years working within the DDPP, where she served as a head of service (animal protection and food safety). She then continued her career as a clinical veterinarian before contributing to the coordination of veterinary projects across several African countries.

In 2026, Marie joined Cynbiose as Veterinary Manager. In this role, she oversees the technical team and ensures the medical and surgical follow‑up of the animals, as well as their overall welfare.

Axelle Piot
Administrative and Financial Director

With over 15 years’ professional experience in various financial functions, acquired in particular with Arthur Andersen accounting firm and the Mérieux Nutrisciences Group, Axelle joined Cynbiose in 2013 as Administrative and Financial Director.

Highly committed to the entrepreneurial project, she has been supporting Hugues Contamin for 10 years in the development and structuring of the company’s activities.

Marie Pierre Allauzen
Human Resources Director

With over 25 years’ experience in Human Resources, Marie Pierre has worked in diverse industries, in international groups (food, pharmaceuticals) and notably at Sanofi Pasteur, where she brought her expertise to both production and R&D teams. Marie Pierre also has dual skills as a coach and HR manager.

Since 2022, she has been supporting Cynbiose in the development of its Human Resources.

Our teams

Based on our extensive experience, Cynbiose’s teams offers support and guidance all along your projects.

• Scientific advice and technical support
• Customized protocol design
• Close customer relationship all along the process
• Flexible studies

Our teams combine complementary expertise, essential to the implementation of all our services :

• A study direction team, including qualified scientific and trained staff for the management of safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacology studies.
• A veterinary team comprising technicians and veterinarians specialized in veterinary surgery, animal welfare and laboratory animal science. Our scientific and technical staff handles all the technical and medical aspects of a study.
• A Quality Assurance department, which guarantees the compliance of the studies with our clients’ requirements (e.g. Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and AAALAC).
• An R&D team able to initiate and lead research programs thanks to its wide scientific background and expertise.
• A network of scientific experts from the academia and industry who provide valuable insights into each research area.

Our values

“Explore and innovate” drives our mission. We believe that our global understanding of our sponsors’ challenges, combined with our expertise and agility leads us to go further, together. We explore the potential of your drugs and innovate by proposing flexible protocols, novel in vivo models and translational readouts.

Our corporate values drive our company since the beginning:

• Trust: we trust in the value of our teams, we care about our customers and partners. Building long-lasting relationships and delivering reliable data are a key to trust: our business track record demonstrates clients’ confidence.
• Address challenges: as R&D figures in our core business, we continuously address new challenges and we love it!
• Create value: we are convinced that through our partnerships, scientific expertise and passion, the innovation we deliver creates value for human health.
• Act with integrity: it’s about being honest, open-minded and respectful in our daily interactions with our collaborators, partners and clients.