The Team behind VILLIGER VALUATION
Two paths, one vision: the story behind VILLIGER VALUATION
Over 15 years ago, 2 paths converged—shaping what is today VILLIGER VALUATION.
One began with a Swiss mathematician, raised in an entrepreneurial family in the city of Roche and Novartis. He grew up observing the evolution of drug development—patents, biotech breakthroughs, and the widening gap between innovation and generics. Early on, he thrived on modeling—predicting value from minimal data, even at the earliest R&D stages. A mind honed for portfolio strategy and sharp decisions in environments of scarce information.
The other began on the Atlantic coast, with a French strategist raised in a medtech entrepreneur family. Her father pioneered and led a global, innovative company —listed and later acquired by a U.S. giant. She absorbed that world early: its governing forces, behaviors and hidden signals. What took him decades, she mastered in years. She anticipates moves before they unfold and knows how to outsmart them. A venture guide through boardrooms, financing, M&A and markets. A game-changer in deal-making, critical times, and the long game.
We believed there was something powerful in that combination—cutting through noise to bring clarity.
Life Sciences, and High Growth/High Risk, are our natural terrain.
Modeling and valuation are tools—sharp ones, sure. But for us, the chessboard comes alive long before the numbers appear on the screen.
We know and value what matters in this field.
We see the world in detail, as structures in motion.
We see their patterns.
We distill what matters most in complex environments
—layered, subtle, and rarely loud.
Ralph Villiger
EPFL (Lausanne)
University of Oxford
St Petersburg State University
Technical University of Catalonia
Fascinated by the exploration of the unknown, Ralph built a deep foundation in mathematics to decode the algorithms behind business and behavioral patterns. Finance and Life Sciences became his favorite playgrounds—fields where he not only theorized but also pioneered new ways of thinking. He soon became a globally recognized thought leader in Life Sciences valuation.
The building of Bout d’Ouchée Sàrl (aka VILLIGER VALUATION) has been the high point of his mathematical adventure in Life Sciences. There, he brought together all his cumulated experience from stochastic processes to deal terms calibration to advise investment funds, starting with 6th Element Capital LLP, which he co-founded.
A passionate sailor and mountaineer, Ralph’s life was as exploratory as his mind. He inspired many and received the Vasey Vase in 2014 from the Ocean Cruising Club and was named Best Adventurer in 2015 by Outdoor Magazine.
His extraordinary journey was cut short on August 29, 2015, when a rockfall on the Gspaltenhorn—one of his homeland mountains—proved stronger than his risk assessment.
Marie Petit
Sciences Po (Paris)
Université Pierre & Marie Curie (Paris)
National University of Singapore
Rooted in a medtech entrepreneurial family, Marie grew up with an insider’s view of innovation—from idea to stock market dynamics. Her early exposure to both the strategic and emotional dimensions of building and scaling a healthcare company shaped her sharp instinct for High Growth / High Risk environments. Long before it became her profession, she understood action and decision drivers — and where misalignments can arise.
She stepped into negotiation early. Before graduating from a double-track in Sciences and Finance & Strategy, she had already closed her first LBO, worked in M&A alongside her studies, pitched her M&A professor and contributed to several transactions across both low and high-risk sectors. Not long after, she launched her own practice—and later VILLIGER VALUATION.
Practitioners around her often note her ability to see things with clarity already at sub-clinical stages.
Marie is also a keen observer of the natural world. A lifelong horsewoman, she loves gardening, producing her own food, and running/biking in the wild.
Get to know our Partners
Four decades at the intersection of medical innovation, finance and US-Europe-Asia dynamics
We have observed the evolution of the innovative Life Sciences sector over four decades, from early breakthrough therapies in indications such as lymphoma and melanoma to later-line, multi-therapy paradigms. In parallel, financial tools have evolved from virtually non-existent to highly sophisticated systems spanning financing, transaction structuring, incentive design, valuation and accounting complexity, alongside the emergence of global players from the US, Europe and Asia.
Over the past fifteen years, we have been continuously immersed in the accelerating convergence of science, finance and capital markets as they transition from still-immature to increasingly institutionalized frameworks. How science is advanced, medicine is practiced and patients or consumers of health products act evolves. Public policies too, with delay. And now, the beauty and the ugly of AI and inter-operating systems: in cost, capacity and speed, but also in invention, differentiation, defensibility and confidentiality.
Across these dynamics, what persists are asymmetries—within the industry, within companies, and across regions.
The central key question we consistently address for our clients: how to generate and re-generate alpha and how to generate beta in life sciences.
A long track record in innovative Life Sciences and High Growth/High Risk ventures
The VILLIGER VALUATION team examine around a hundred R&D projects each year and follows numerous innovative High Growth / High Risk and Life Sciences ventures—both privately held and listed—alongside several investment funds throughout their entire lifecycle. We have had the privilege of accompanying multiple unicorns from idea to exit, often recognizing inflection points and breakthrough platforms—such as mRNA and ADCs—long before they entered the spotlight.
Sharing knowledge has always been central to who we are. Each year, we bring this foresight into workshops and mentoring sessions for companies of all growth stages, incubators and innovation-supporting bodies.
Turning Complexity into Confidence
Trusted When It Matters Most