Memorabilia II
KU Leuven Degrees
Professor Collen’s office wall with his professional diplomas: MD, July 1968; MSc in Medical Sciences, September 1969; MSc in Chemistry, September 1969; PhD in Chemistry, January 1974; Aggregation Higher Education in Medicine, July 1974; and his professional certification as a clinical chemist, January 1974.
Cessna Centurion T210N, 1994
In June 1994 Professor Collen bought in Kalamazoo, Michigan a secondhand Cessna Centurion, built in 1982 and registered in the USA with call sign N9808Y. This single piston engine non pressurized Cessna was acquired for USD172,000. After the purchase he flew it over the Atlantic Ocean in 4 stages, with the help and guidance of experienced co-pilot Michel Notelaars. Overnight stops were made in Bangor, Maine, in Goose Bay Canada, and in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The plane was registered in Belgium with call sign OO-TPA, recognizing the origin of its financing. Collen flew some 650 hours with his Cessna, until it was sold for €65,000 in 2014 and exported to Brazil
Retirement from KU Leuven, 2008
At the occasion of Désiré Collen’s official retirement, his main employers, KU Leuven and VIB, organized a symposium on October 6, 2008 in Leuven, Belgium. There “The t-PA Story” was retold by most of the main players who had made it happen.
At the reception after the meeting, Désiré Collen was celebrated by his then active collaborators with the attached poster.
Lijst Rijkste Belgen, 2020
In 2018 Désiré Collen was ranked, without his request nor collaboration, on a list of wealthiest Belgians, with an estimated fortune of €43.2 million. This is actually less than the share of the Genentech royalties of the t-PA patent that he was entitled to and could have claimed on the basis of his agreement with LRD of February 11, 1976.
Most of these rights were however irrevocably donated to The Collen Charitable Trust and to The Colesta Trust. Both Désiré Collen and DCS/DCF are potential discretionary beneficiaries of the latter but not of the former trust. The rights of The Collen Charitable Trust were subsequently sold or transferred to Thromb-X and/or ThromboGenics (mostly below fair value).
Donations
to DCS/DCF from The Collen Charitable Trust and from The Colesta Trust
presently approach €60 million (as described in this website).