A message from DNDi Executive Director Dr Luis Pizarro: 

We are deeply saddened by news of the passing of Dr Yves Champey.  

Yves played an essential role in the creation and development of DNDi. He was a member of the “DND-working group” from 1999 to 2003 which led to the creation of DNDi, and then became our first Board Chair, until 2007.  

Yves designed our innovative R&D model, serving to benefit the most vulnerable affected by neglected diseases. With his expertise in pharmaceutical development, he was the first to be convinced that the best science could also benefit the most neglected. He wrote the first business plan, organised the first DNDi hires, and created the legal entity in Geneva. With an unparalleled power of conviction, he engaged the founding institutions of DNDi as well as our first major institutional donors.

His 40 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, at Pfizer and Rhone Poulenc Rorer (which became Sanofi), allowed DNDi to lay the foundations of a solid R&D organisation and to very quickly gain respectability among pharmaceutical companies. Yves was a true precursor of public/private models to meet the needs of forgotten populations, convinced that everyone had to contribute. Yves continued his commitments to biotechnology companies and became the president of Genethon.

His enthusiasm, unfailing optimism, passion for Africa (his continent of birth), and his thirst to seek innovative solutions through science, allowed DNDi not only to overcome the difficulties inherent in new organisations but also to remain unique in the world of public health.

Yves remained a faithful friend of DNDi, continuing to keep himself informed of our journey. On behalf of the whole DNDi team, I express my deepest condolences to his family, colleagues, and friends.

Watch Dr Champey tell the story of DNDi’s creation at DNDi’s 10 Year Anniversary event [in French]: