Excelya CEO François Moisson on Building a Full Service CRO

Author: Excelya Marketing Department | originally published in La Jaune et la Rouge
Published on: 20/04/2026

Estimated Reading Time: 10 min

Excelya’s Growth Vision

Introduction

With a background in engineering from Arts et Métiers and a master’s in business administration from IAE Paris, François Moisson co-founded Excelya in 2014. More than a decade later, the company has grown into a full service CRO with a strong European footprint, headquartered in France and operating across Greece, Germany, the Benelux region, India, and the United States.

In this interview, François explains how the Excelya CRO model brings together clinical operations services, pharmacovigilance CRO expertise, medical writing services, biostatistics, regulatory affairs, clinical data management, and eTMF management. He also shares his thinking on clinical trial consulting services, functional service provider (FSP) models for FSP clinical trials, late phase CRO delivery for late phase clinical trials, and the long-term ambition to become a leading European CRO for sponsors that need both scale and specialist expertise.

Jump to section

1Leadership Insights

2What Sets Excelya Apart

3Beyond Pharma

4The Roadmap

5Start the Conversation

6FAQ

Leadership insights

Meet Co-Founder & CEO François Moisson

François Moisson, Co-Founder & CEO, Excelya.

Can you tell us about your background and the genesis of Excelya?

I am an engineer by training, and that education gave me a method for structuring complex topics. I then completed a master’s in business administration at IAE Paris because I wanted to put myself in a position to create a company. I come from a family of entrepreneurs, so building a professional adventure where people are well treated and, because they are, give their best was always important to me. In 2013, with Frédéric Paqueville, another Arts et Métiers alumnus, we decided to take the leap. Excelya was founded in 2014 after a market study we carried out in the evenings and on Sundays, without a pre-existing network. Looking back, I am very happy with that decision.

What is your role in the development of a new medicine?

We step in when a molecule can be administered to a human being. Excelya can organise a project end to end or intervene on specific segments. We draft the clinical trial protocol (who, when and how to administer), help select investigator sites, prepare the documentation and consent forms, monitor the conduct of the study, collect the data, then analyse and report on it.

You describe Excelya as a “conductor.” What does that orchestration actually cover?

A clinical trial mobilises around ten specialist professions. Physicians design the protocol; data management teams build the database; statisticians define the analysis methods; medical writers produce the documentation required by the authorities; and operational teams sit at the interface with hospitals. Drug supply logistics is one part of the picture, but only one. Our role is to coordinate the whole, so the trial is compliant, traceable, and exploitable, while supporting investigators over the long run.

“Our role is to coordinate the whole so the trial is compliant, traceable, and exploitable.” — François Moisson

Portrait of François Moisson, Co-Founder and CEO of Excelya, featured in Excelya’s blog on building a full service CRO in Europe.

François Moisson, Founder & CEO, Excelya.

What sets excelya apart

What Makes Excelya a Distinctive European CRO

Where does your responsibility end and the sponsor’s begin?

François shares

The sponsor remains responsible for the molecule and for the demonstration of its efficacy. We are responsible for the quality of the clinical data and for the safety of the patient. In practice, we verify the consistency of observations, the reliability of measurements, the completeness of case report files, and we follow up on every reported event. The framework is demanding, and it must be: the final decision, whether positive or negative, is built on that data.

Why are sponsors outsourcing more of these activities?

Because clinical development has become a specialist’s trade. Thirty years ago, internal teams did more in-house. But regulatory complexity, data volume, and pressure on certain talent pools make it difficult to sustain every capability internally. We help our clients pool expertise and intervene in three main modes:

Mode 01

Expertise reinforcement

Mode 02

Dedicated teams

Mode 03

Complete end-to-end engagement

This flexibility is why we partner equally well with large pharmaceutical companies, mid-sized laboratories, and emerging biotechs, adapting our level of intervention to their maturity and their needs.

Which milestones best illustrate Excelya’s growth?

We grew out of France, then across Europe. We have also structured a hub in India, and we began our expansion into the United States in 2022, on the East Coast. Among the projects that marked us, we contributed to several clinical trials for vaccines in France during the Covid crisis.

Collaborators

~800

Soon 1,000

Countries

15+

Europe & beyond

US expansion

2022

East Coast

Footprint

France: Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Montpellier · Europe: Belgium, Netherlands, Germany · Eastern Europe hub: Athens · Delivery hub: India

You opened your capital to Eurazeo. What is the objective?

We have been a trusted partner for European sponsors for about a decade. The ambition is now to become the reference, and that requires acceleration. An investor brings capital, but also experience and access to an ecosystem. Eurazeo supports mid-sized businesses stepping up; our international project and our purpose weighed heavily in that decision.

Eurazeo partnership unlocks

Technology investment · Structured external growth · Strategic guidance

What role do AI and automation play at Excelya?

Our priority is to structure, analyse and present data better, so that we meet the expectations of regulators and sponsors. We are scaling an internal AI Lab, but the goal is not to build a general-purpose language model. We are developing agents and tools adapted to our processes, in close interaction with our scientific experts: physicians, PhDs, and statisticians. The aim is to move faster without compromising quality, and to secure every critical step, from data collection to reporting.

BEYOND PHARMA

Beyond Pharma: Medical Devices, Nutrition & Cosmetics

Beyond the pharmaceutical industry, what other fields apply?

François shares

Pharmaceuticals remain our industry of choice, but our competencies transpose wherever there is a clinical protocol and a safety stake. The frameworks differ, but the methodological logic is close.

Industries we serve today

Core Industry

Pharmaceuticals

Industry of choice

Adjacent

Medical Devices

Including implantables

Adjacent

Nutrition

Clinical protocols

Adjacent

Cosmetics

Safety & claims

Same discipline, different name

For medicines

Pharmacovigilance

Collection, assessment, reporting of adverse events tied to a medicinal product.

For cosmetics

Cosmetovigilance

Comparable requirements around collection and reporting, tailored to cosmetic products.

“Our vision is to become the leader of clinical development in Europe, with the best employee experience.”

François Moisson

Co-Founder & CEO, Excelya

The Roadmap

A Leading European CRO with Global Reach

What is your five to ten year roadmap for Excelya?

Our vision is a dual ambition: reach reference level as a leader of clinical development in Europe, and do it with teams that flourish, because that is a precondition for quality.

“Our vision is to become the leader of clinical development in Europe, with the best employee experience.”

The plan rests on clear pillars that combine internal quality, regional expansion, operational scale, and long-term global reach.

Strengthen the internal experience

Build the best employee experience as a direct driver of quality and consistency.

Broaden the European footprint

Expand the commercial presence across Europe and deepen regional leadership.

Scale from 800 to 2,000

Within 5 years

Grow headcount while continuing to improve quality across the organisation.

Accelerate AI and automation

Invest in tools and workflows that improve speed, control, and data quality.

Integrate new companies

Use selective integration to strengthen expertise, scale, and market coverage.

Global Reach

Because clients’ programmes are global, this European leadership will be supported by consolidated activities in India and a progressive build-up in the United States.

Start the Conversation

Partner with Excelya

Whether you are an emerging biotech preparing a first-in-human study, or a global sponsor looking for a full service CRO, Excelya brings together a complete continuum of clinical development capabilities under a single, partner-centric delivery model.

Clinical Core

01Clinical trial consulting

02Clinical operations

03Late phase CRO

04FSP & clinical resourcing

05eTMF management

Scientific & Safety

06Clinical data management

07Biostatistics

08Medical writing

09Pharmacovigilance

10Regulatory support

Positioning
Full Service CRO
Leading European CRO
Trusted CRO in Europe

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Excelya do as a full service CRO?

Excelya is a full service CRO that supports pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device sponsors across the clinical development lifecycle. The Excelya CRO model combines clinical operations services, pharmacovigilance CRO support, medical writing services, biostatistics, regulatory affairs, clinical data management, eTMF management, and late phase CRO delivery for sponsors that need a scalable end-to-end partner.

Why does Excelya also position itself as a European CRO?

Excelya is a contract research organization that positions itself as a European CRO because its footprint, governance, and delivery model are rooted in Europe. Its European CRO services cover sponsors looking for a CRO in Europe with teams across France, Greece, Germany, the Benelux region, India, and the United States. That European base is also how Excelya plans to become a leading European CRO over the next five years.

How is a full service CRO different from an FSP model?

A full service CRO (or full-service CRO) manages a study end to end, from clinical trial consulting services and protocol design through clinical operations, clinical data management, biostatistics, medical writing, and pharmacovigilance. By contrast, a functional service provider (FSP) model places dedicated teams inside the sponsor environment, for example in FSP clinical trials monitoring, data management, or medical writing. Excelya offers both models plus a lighter clinical resourcing mode for short-term expertise reinforcement.

How does Excelya support pharmacovigilance CRO and medical writing services needs?

Excelya combines pharmacovigilance CRO capabilities with medical writing services to support both patient safety and compliant documentation. That includes safety case processing, oversight, signal-related support, regulatory writing, clinical study documents, and medical writing support across development milestones.

Where does Excelya operate?

Excelya France is headquartered in Paris, with additional French offices in Bordeaux, Lyon, and Montpellier. The company also operates through Excelya Greece in Athens (covering Eastern Europe) and Excelya India, with Excelya Bangalore playing a key delivery role, while continuing to expand its presence in the United States. This footprint supports European and global programmes with a flexible operating model.

What is the Excelya Eurazeo partnership?

In 2024, Excelya welcomed Eurazeo as a strategic investor, forming the Excelya Eurazeo partnership that supports technology investment, structured external growth, and the strategic guidance needed to step up from a trusted European partner to a reference player. Eurazeo regularly partners with mid-sized, internationally minded companies, and Excelya’s European project and purpose were central to the fit.