Alain Mérieux, born on July 10, 1938, in Lyon, France, is the patriarch of a French dynasty that has dedicated over a century to global public health and medicine. His family's roots trace back to his grandfather, Marcel Mérieux, a student of the legendary scientist Louis Pasteur, who founded 'Institut Mérieux' in 1897.

Alain trained professionally to assume the family mandate. He holds a PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Lyon and served as an intern in Lyon hospitals. He further honed his commercial and strategic skills by attending the Program for Management Development (PMD) at Harvard Business School. The Mérieux family has also been marked by profound personal tragedy, including the untimely deaths of his middle son, Rodolphe (in the TWA Flight 800 crash), and his eldest son, Christophe, events that have deeply influenced the family's commitment to medical research and humanitarian work.

Alain Mérieux officially began his independent career in 1963 when he founded bioMérieux, a pure player specializing in 'in vitro diagnostics'. This move marked a strategic focus on disease detection and monitoring, leveraging the family's existing bio-industrial platform.

In the following decades, he led the family holding company, Institut Mérieux, expanding its interests into vaccines and diagnostics before making a decisive shift in 1994. He divested the vaccine business (which evolved into Sanofi Pasteur and Mérial) to concentrate the family’s efforts on a new bio-industrial pole that included diagnostics (bioMérieux), immunotherapy ('Transgene'), food safety (Mérieux NutriSciences), and health investments. He served as Chairman of bioMérieux until 2010 and today his son, Alexandre Mérieux, leads the group, while Alain continues to chair the family holding, Institut Mérieux, guiding its global public health mission.

Alain Mérieux’s legacy is as much humanitarian as it is commercial. His philanthropic work is carried out through the Fondation Mérieux, an independent family foundation recognized as being in the public interest. This mission is rooted in the family's history as pupils of Louis Pasteur.

The Foundation’s core mission is to fight infectious diseases in developing countries, focusing on strengthening biological diagnostic capacities which are often insufficient in vulnerable regions. Key initiatives include building new clinical laboratories, training local scientists, and supporting research in over 20 countries, including Haiti, Laos, and Mali. He has also been a key figure in building and strengthening the relationship between China and France in the healthcare sector, receiving the 'China Reform Friendship Medal' in 2018. In Lyon, he co-founded l'Entreprise des Possibles to pool resources to fight homelessness.

Alain Mérieux’s lifestyle is rooted in the high intellectual and cultural circles of Lyon, reflecting the reserved elegance of a French academic and industrial elite. His immense fortune is entirely dedicated to a mission larger than personal acquisition.

His public style is consistently professional—impeccably tailored suits that signal his status as a French Grand Officier of the Legion of Honor and a chairman of major global companies. His luxury is expressed through the scale of his global humanitarian network, which leverages capital and scientific expertise to fight infectious diseases in over 20 developing countries. Living in Lyon, the historical center of his dynasty, Mérieux’s life is defined by intellectual rigor, scientific pioneering, and a profound sense of family duty, navigating complex scientific challenges with the 'audacity and courage' of a true pioneer.