Giovanni Mariggi, Director
Giovanni is Partner and a member of the co-founding team of Medicxi. He serves on the boards of several biotech companies, including Vicebio, Vaderis, Gadeta and Aura Biosciences (AURA).
Prior to co-founding Medicxi, Giovanni was a Principal at Index Ventures. Giovanni received a BSc in Biochemistry from Imperial College London and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University College London and conducted research on vascular biology and angiogenesis at Cancer Research UK’s London Institute (now the Francis Crick Institute).
Sakae Asanuma, Director
Sakae Asanuma has been running Taiho Ventures as founding President and CEO since its inception in 2016.
Prior to joining Taiho, he was President and CEO at Astellas Venture Management and US Head of Astellas Innovation Management. Prior to Astellas, he worked for Yasuda Enterprise, a Japan/US-based VC firm. He has invested in several dozen biotech companies, the majority of which achieved IPOs or M&As. During his tenure at Taiho and Astellas, he executed dozens of research collaboration deals with academia and biotech ventures, including several build-to-buys or spin-outs.
Sakae holds an MBA in Finance, Accounting and Entrepreneurship from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.
Cord Dohrmann, Director
Cord is Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec and member of its Management Board as well as a member of the Supervisory Board of Eternygen.
Cord has over 25 years of biomedical research experience accumulated through working with leading academic and biotech industry organisations. He has been repeatedly called upon to advise the European Commission, the Max Planck Institute and has been appointed to the German Council of Science and Humanities.
He holds a PhD from Harvard Medical School.
Juan Jaen, Director
Juan is President, Co-Founder and member of the Board of Directors of Arcus Biosciences.
Prior to this, he co-founded Flexus Biosciences, a preclinical-stage company that was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb for $1.25 billion in 2015. Over the course of his nearly 40 years in drug discovery and development, Juan has co-authored over 100 scientific papers and is an inventor on over 50 issued U.S. patents. He has also actively participated in the discovery and advancement of over 30 novel molecules into clinical development.
Juan holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Michigan.
Gorjan Hrustanovic, Observer
Gorjan is Managing Director of BVF Partners, a strategic life science-focused fund, based in San Francisco, which primarily invests in biotech companies.
Gorjan serves as a Board member for several public and private biotech companies around the globe.
Gorjan received his PhD in Cancer Biology and Cell Signalling at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Seiji Miyahara, Observer
Seiji is a Senior Investment Director at Taiho Ventures and serves as board member or observer for multiple Taiho portfolio companies.
Prior to joining Taiho Ventures, he worked at Taiho Pharmaceutical for 12 years mainly in oncology, where he played a critical role in advancing multiple programs into the clinic.
He received his PhD in life science from Hokkaido University, Japan.
MODULATING DNA DAMAGE RESPONSES TO CURE CANCER
