Businessman Marc Coucke has invested 40 million euros in the Liège pharmaceutical company Mithra. Coucke is now the second largest shareholder, behind his Walloon counterpart, CEO François Fornieri. Coucke was appointed as chairman of the Strategic Committee of Mithra Pharmaceuticals on January 26th, to prepare the IPO of the company. The money will be invested in the R&D activities of the group. The company’s showpiece is the contraceptive pill Estelle, based on the natural hormone esterol.