Carreer
1972: Pharmacist, Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)
1975: PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)
1976-1977: Post doctoral research position, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich
(ETH) (Switzerland)
1978: Assistant Professor, Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)
1980 : Agrégation of « Enseignement Supérieur », Université Catholique de Louvain
(Belgium)
1980 : Assistant Professor, Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)
1984 : Full Professor of Pharmacy, Université Paris-Sud (France)

Current position
- Since 1998 : Director of the Department “Physico-Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Technology
and Biopharmacy” (UMR CNRS 8612), a Multidisciplinary Research Center depending from
the University Paris-Sud and from the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS). This
Center is specialized in drug delivery and targeting (110 researchers).
- 1999-2006: Director of the Doctoral School “Therapeutic Innovation” which gathers
together 300 PhD students arising from 87 different laboratories located in the South Parisian
region.
- Since 2005: Member of the Executive Committee and responsible for the “Drug Discovery”
theme of the pole of competitivity MEDICEN
Research and main research achievements
The research performed is at the interface between the Physics of Colloids (Langmuir, 2003;
The Journal of Physical Chemistry B letters, 2005; JACS, 2006a; JACS 2006b; Nano Letters
2006; JACS 2007), the Polymer Chemistry (Macromolecules, 2003; Bioconjugate Chemistry,
2005) and the Pharmacology (IOVS, 2002; JPET, 2002; CMLS, 2005; CMLS 2006). It
concerns the conception of new systems for drug delivery and the targeting (nanoparticles,
liposomes, nanoemulsions, prodrugs); it has lead into:
- 315 international peer review publications,
- 99 review articles and chapters of books,
- 6 books,
- 45 patents,
- 170 invited conferences, mainly in international congresses,
- 51 PhD thesis.

Main research achievements:
- Discovery in 1977 that nanotechnologies may be used for the intracellular delivery of drugs
(Febs Letters, 1977)
- Discovery in 1978 of polyalkylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles, the first biodegradable
nanoparticles for human use (J. Pharm. Pharmacol, 1979 and US and European patent, 1978)
- First discovery that insulin may be administered orally using nanocapsules (Diabetes, 1988)
- Discovery that doxorubicin loaded onto polyalkylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles may overcome
the multidrug resistance and first clinical trials (British Journal of Cancer, 1997)
- Use of nanoparticles for the delivery of antisens oligonucleotides (Pharm Res, 1992; BBRC,
2000)
- Use of PEG coated polyalkylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles for ocular and brain delivery
(Europ. J Neurosci., 2002; JPET, 2002; Europ. J Immunol, 2004; CMLS, 2005; CMLS 2006)
- Cubosomes (J Phys. Chem. B letters, 2005; JACS, 2006; JACS 2007)
- Discovery of new anticancer and antiviral compounds from the “squalenization” of
nucleosidic analogues (PCT Patent, 2005; NanoLetters 2006; JCR 2007)
Commercialization
P. Couvreur is President of the scientific board of the start-up company BIOALLIANCE
which has been created to scale-up the technology of the doxorubicin-loaded
polyalkylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles and to lead it to clinical trials. This company has now
72 employees and entered the stock market on December 7th 2005.
International Responsabilities
- 1990-1994: Member of the Board of Governors of the Controlled Release Society (CRS)
- 1991- 2001: Member of the board of APGI, responsible for International Affairs
- 2000: Chair of the 27th International Symposium on Controlled Release of Bioactive
Materials, Paris, 9-13 July 2000
- 1998-2002: Member of the Executive Committee of the International Consortium ULLA
(Universities of Uppsala, Leyden, Amsterdam, London, Copenhagen and Paris)
- 1996-2002: Expert Member of the Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences, International
Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)
-2004: Member of the Academic Scientific Committee for the evaluation of the Dutch
universities (VCNU)
- Since 1985-: Extraordinary Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)
- Since 2004- : President of the Committee for Academic Research and Relations (CARR) of
the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Sciences (EUFEPS)
- Field Editor of “Pharmaceutical Research” and Editor for Europe of the “Journal of
Nanoparticle Research”
- Member of the Editorial Board of numerous other international journals (incl. Bioconj
Chemistry, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Journal of Controlled Release, Biomedical
Pharmacotherapy, Journal of Drug Targeting, European Journal of Pharmaceutics and
Biopharmaceutics, etc.)

National Responsabilities
- 1993-1994: Expert by the Ministery of Industry
- 1987 -1995: Member of the National Council of the Universities (CNU)
- Since 1990: Expert by the National Agency for Innovation (ANVAR)
- Since 1996: Expert by the Ministery of Education and Research
- 2000-2002: Member of the « Bureau » of the National Committee for Sciences (“Comité
National”)
- Since 2005: Member of the Scientific Council of the “Région Centre”
- Founder President of the “Groupe Thématique de Recherche sur les Vecteurs” (GTRV), a
French scientific society on Drug Delivery and Targeting
- 2005: One of the founder members of MEDICEN, one of the five French “Poles of
Excellence”

Academies
- Member of the Academy of Technology (France)
- Member of the Academy of Pharmacy (France)
- Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium

Exemple of recent publications
1. Bochot A, Fattal E, Boutet V, Deverre JR, Jeanny JC, Chacun H, Couvreur P
«Intravitreal delivery of oligonucleotides by sterically stabilized liposomes»
Invest. Ophtalmol. Vis. Sci., 43, 253-259 (2002). IF : 4,67
2. Calvo P, Gouritin B, Villarroya H, Eclancher F, Giannavola C, Klein C, Andreux JP,
Couvreur P
«Quantification and localization of PEGylated polycyanoacrylate nanoparticles in brain and
spinal cord during experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in the rat»
European Journal of Neuroscience, 15, 1317-1326 (2002). IF : 4,22
3. Brigger I, Morizet J, Aubert G, Chacun H, Terrier-Lacombe M.J, Couvreur P, Vassal G
«Poly(ethylene glycol)-coated hexadecylcyanoacrylate nanospheres display a combined effect for
brain tumor targeting»
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 303, 928-936 (2002). IF: 4,33
4. de Kozak Y, Andrieux K, Villaroya H, Klein C, Thillaye-Goldenberg B, Naud M-C, Garcia
E, Couvreur P
« Intraocular injection of tamoxifen-loaded nanoparticles : a new treatment of experimental
autoimmune uveoretinitis »
Europ. J. Immunol, 34 , 3702-3712 (2004). IF : 4,87
5. Sonvico F, Mornet S, Vasseur S, Dubernet C, Jaillard D, Degrouard J, Hoebeke J, Duguet E,
Colombo P, Couvreur P
“Folate-Conjugated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Solid Tumor Targeting as Potential Specific
Magnetic Hyperthermia Mediators: Synthesis, Physicochemical Characterization, and in Vitro
Experiments.”
Bioconjug Chem., 16, 1181-1188 (2005). IF: 3,94
6. Barraud L, Merle P, Soma E, Lefrançois L, Guerret S, Chevallier M, Dubernet C, Couvreur P,
Trépo C, Vitvitski L
« Increase of doxorubicin sensitivity by doxorubicin loading into nanoparticles for hepatocellular
carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo”
J. Hepathology, 42, 736-743 (2005). IF: 4,93
7. Aktas Y, Yemisci M, Andrieux K, Gursoy RN, Alonso MJ, Fernandez-Megia E, Novoa-Carballal
R, Quinoa E, Riguera R, Sargon MF, Celik HH, Demir AS, Hincal AA, Dalkara T, Capan Y,
Couvreur P
“Development and Brain Delivery of Chitosan-PEG Nanoparticles Functionalized with the
Monoclonal Antibody OX26”
Bioconjug Chem.,16, 1503-1511 (2005). IF : 3,94
8. Garcia-Garcia E, Gil S, Andrieux K, Desmaële D, Taran F, Georgin D, Andreux JP, Roux
F, Couvreur P
« A relevant in vitro rat model for the evaluation of blood-brain barrier translocation of
nanoparticles»
Cellular and Molecular Life Sci. (2005). IF : 5,03
9. Di Marco M, Port M, Couvreur P, Dubernet C, Ballirano P, Sadun C
« Structural characterization of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) particles in aqueous
suspension by energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXD)”
J Am. Chem. Soc., 128, 10054-10059 (2006) IF: 7,42
10. Angelov B, Angelova A, Papahajopoulos-Sternberg B, Lesieur S, Sadoc JF, Ollivon M, Couvreur
P
“Detailed structure of diamond type lipidic cubic nanoparticles”
J Amer. Chem. Soc., 128, 5813-5817 (2006). IF : 7,42
11. Couvreur P, Stella B, Harivardhan LR, Hillaireau H, Dubernet C, Desmaële D, Lepêtre-Mouelhi
S, Rocco F, Dereuddre-Bosquet N, Clayette P, Rosilio V, Marsaud V, Renoir JM, Cattel L
“Squalenoyl nanomedecines as potential therapeutics”
Nano Letters, 6, 2544-2548 IF: 9,95
12. Kim HR, Gil S, Andrieux K, Nicolas V, Appel M, Chacun H, Desmaele D, Taran F, Georgin D,
Couvreur P
“Low-density lipoprotein receptor-mediated endocytosis of PEGylated nanoparticles in rat brain
endothelial cells.”
Cell Mol Life Sci., 64, 356-364 (2007) IF : 4,65

Awards
-Lauréat du Prix des Assurances Générales de France (1981)
-Lauréat du Prix Alvarenga de l'Académie Royale de Médecine de Belgique (1983)
-Lauréat du Prix Quinquennal (1984-1989) des Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Thérapeutiques,
Académie Royale de Médecine de Belgique.
-Forcheimer Fund of Israël (1990).
-Lauréat 1990 du «Young Investigator Award for Excellence in Research» de la «Controlled Release
Society», USA.
-Vinci d'Excellence du Prix «Science pour l'Art» de LVMH (Paris 1993).
-«Pharmaceutical Scientist of the Year 1996» de la Fédération Internationale Pharmaceutique (FIP)
(Jérusalem, 1996).
-1998 Glaxo Wellcome International Achievement Award.
-Prix de l’Innovation et du Transfert de Technologie décerné par «Paris Ile-de-de France-Capitale
Economique» pour la création de la Société «start-up» BIOALLIANCE (1999).
-Prix Barré 2003 de l’Université de Montréal (Canada).
-2004 Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress Award (Kyoto, Japon)
-Lauréat 2006 du 8ème concours national d'aide à la création d'entreprises de technologies innovantes
pour sa découverte sur la squalénisation des nucléosides.
- Host Madsen Medal 2007