Dr. Clarissa Desjardins is the founder of Congruence Therapeutics, a computationally-driven biotechnology company building a unique pipeline of small molecule correctors rationally designed to rescue aberrant protein function.

Previously, Dr. Desjardins was the founder and CEO of Clementia, a clinical-stage company focused on developing therapies for rare pediatric bone diseases. Clementia was a Nasdaq-listed company until its acquisition by Ipsen in 2019 for $1.3 billion. Clementia’s lead product, Sohonos® (palovarotene), was approved by the FDA and Health Canada and is the first and only treatment for Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva, a debilitating and progressive rare bone disorder.

Dr. Desjardins is an award-winning entrepreneur with more than 25 years of biotechnology experience. Prior to her current venture, she has founded three successful biotech companies, leading all aspects of company creation, including conception, financing, team building and governance. As a graduate student, she founded Advanced Bioconcept, a research reagent and diagnostics company sold to NEN Life Sciences (Perkin Elmer) in 1998. Dr. Desjardins also co-founded Caprion Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on proteomic biomarker discovery and drug development, where she was Executive Vice-President of corporate development. Caprion, now CellCarta still operates in Montreal and employs more than 700 hundred people. Prior to Clementia, Clarissa was CEO at the Centre of excellence in Personalized Medicine, a federally-funded think tank created to promote personalized medicine research and policies.

Dr. Desjardins is the recipient of the 2018 Bloom Burton Award for her contribution to Canada’s innovative healthcare industry, the BRIO award for outstanding contributions to the biotechnology industry from the Quebec Biotechnology Association and was named one of 2017’s Fiercest Women in Life Sciences by FiercePharma. Dr. Desjardins currently sits on the board of INSMED (Nasdaq:INSM) and was previously a board member of Bellus Health (Nasdaq:BLU) and Xenon Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:XENE). Dr. Desjardins earned a doctorate in Neurology and Neurosurgery from McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine with a minor in History and Philosophy of Science.