Michel van Agthoven started his career in 1998 as a scientific researcher in Health Technology Assessment at the Erasmus University and defended his PhD in 2004. In 2005 he started working for Janssen, where he held many functions in the Netherlands, Benelux and in international roles. He worked for Gilead Sciences for 2 years prior to returning to Janssen as management board member in 2016. As of 2022, Michel is Head of the Campus Johnson & Johnson the Netherlands. He is also a board member at the Leiden BioScience Park, at the Economic Board South-Holland, at Biotech Booster and he is a member of the advisory board of the pharmaceutical association VIG.