Mauna Kea Technologies Welcomes Benoit Chardon as Senior Advisor to Scale its Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Food Intolerance Business
Mr. Chardon is a recognized commercialization expert with a successful track record in new category creation in the health & wellness industry
Paris and Boston, February 7, 2024 – 5:45 p.m. CET – Mauna Kea Technologies (Euronext Growth: ALMKT), inventor of Cellvizio®, the multidisciplinary probe and needle-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (p/nCLE) platform, today announced that it has appointed Benoit Chardon as a senior advisor to scale its business where Cellvizio is now used to accurately diagnose food intolerance in patients suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Mr. Chardon is a recognized marketing and commercialization expert with a proven track record in the launch and scaling of successful new category creation in health and wellness, such as CoolSculpting® (acquired by Allergan, now part of AbbVie, for USD 2.5 billion) and FILORGA (acquired by Colgate Palmolive for EUR 1.5 billion).
Benoit Chardon's appointment is a strategic move to accelerate Mauna Kea Technologies' ambitious plan in the buoyant food intolerance market, leveraging over two decades of experience in wellness, medical aesthetics and direct to patient marketing approach, as well as the recent discovery and investment of Mauna Kea Technologies in a new clinical protocol to leverage Cellvizio’s unique imaging capabilities to help uncover a food intolerance in a large pool of patients suffering from IBS.
As the former Chief Commercial Officer of Allurion, Mr. Chardon oversaw Allurion’s global commercial operations and was instrumental in driving the company's expansion, achieving an impressive 100% annual sales growth, bringing sales from USD 3 million to USD 64 million in the last 5 years. His expertise in commercial strategy, go-to-market model, creating brand equity and partnering with providers to generate demand in the most cost-effective manner will be perfectly synergistic as Mauna Kea Technologies strives to meet the increasing demands of patients seeking food intolerance solutions.
“I have been fortunate to have leading roles in some of the most exciting hyper growth stories in medical aesthetics and wellness, launching new products which had a positive impact on the health and well-being of millions of patients worldwide. It is crystal clear to me that the new Cellvizio Food Intolerance Program will be to the world of IBS what Botox is to Facial Wrinkles: a blockbuster that will transform the lives of millions of patients currently desperate to understand the root cause of their digestive problems”, commented Benoit Chardon. “I am very much looking forward to partnering with the Mauna Kea team to jump-start the launch of this program. Can you imagine the vast market potential for this new IBS Program considering that in the United States, there are twice as many people searching for solutions for IBS than for weight loss?”
"We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Benoit in our team, as we work towards the scaling of our IBS and food intolerance application. Our aspirations in this indication are bold and potentially game-changing for our company, and it is crucial to have a team of exceptional caliber to navigate us towards success”, said Sacha Loiseau, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mauna Kea Technologies. “Benoit's unparalleled expertise makes him the ideal person for Mauna Kea as we embark on a patient-centric approach. His innovative leadership and strategic execution at Allurion have led to the Company's remarkable development, which fits with our ambition at Mauna Kea. With a clear strategy in place, we eagerly anticipate sharing progress updates with our stakeholders in the near term."
