BioGeneration Ventures B.V.. (7/19/23). "Press Release: Dr. Markus Kalousek and Dr. Andrew Lightfoot Join BGV as Venture Partners". Amsterdam.

	Organisation	BioGeneration Ventures B.V. (BGV)
	Organisation 2	Novartis (Group)
	Product	venture capital
	Product 2	pharmaceutical
	Person	Kalousek, Markus (BioGeneration Ventures 202307– Venture Partner formerly Novartis 201611 Global BD&L)

> Appointments further strengthen BGV panel of Venture Partners, offering significant industry and company-building expertise

> BGV promotes Diede Brunen, PhD (Principal), Karen Chan, PhD (Associate), Keno Gutierrez, PhD (General Partner) and Oskar Slotboom (Managing Partner)

> Announcement follows launch of BGV’s largest fund to date at €150 million, bringing total funds under management to over €400 million

BioGeneration Ventures (“BGV”), a leading early-stage VC in European biopharma, today announces the appointments of Markus Kalousek, PhD and Andrew Lightfoot, PhD as Venture Partners. The appointments follow the final close of BGV V at €150 million, the company’s largest fund since launching its first fund in 2006.

Markus Kalousek, PhD (Venture Partner)

With almost two decades of experience at Novartis, Dr. Markus Kalousek is an accomplished R&D and Business Development leader with a proven track record of identifying innovative science, developing it into differentiated medicines and negotiating partnerships and acquisitions. Dr. Kalousek also has experience in creating and mentoring biotech companies and building teams. As a seasoned strategist he pursued his career in mid-size and large pharma (CSL, Novartis) while supporting biotech startups in advisory and C-level roles such as the next generation gene therapy company, ViGeneron. Dr. Kalousek has a PhD in Oncology from ETH Zurich, and completed a Postdoc in Cancer Biology at the National University of Singapore.

“I have a passion for pioneering science and for translating it into patient value. In my recent roles I was responsible for Novartis’ endeavors to identify the best science to support strategic growth. Coming to BGV as a Venture Partner is an opportunity to further support the team as they select the best science, build startups and guide them to value inflection points that impact patients’ lives,” noted Dr. Kalousek who is currently also a lecturer for Translational Science in Health and Medicine at ETH Zurich.

Andrew Lightfoot, MBA, PhD (Venture Partner)

Dr. Andrew Lightfoot is a seasoned biotech CEO and board director with a track record in start up fundraising and biotech company building. He brings over 24 years of experience in drug discovery leadership. He spent over a decade at GSK as a Drug Discovery Program Leader before (co-)founding and growing his own companies including Revolo Biotherapeutics. Dr. Lightfoot has a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in organic synthesis from Loughborough University, completed his post-doctoral studies at the Max Planck Institute and received his MBA from Open University.

“I have an extensive track record of success in initiating companies, developing strategies and implementing plans from original concept through the early funding process to early phase clinical trials. I am looking forward to help BGV, its funds and portfolio companies to share my broad experience in drug discovery and knowledge of building early stage companies that create successful new products for patients,” explained Dr. Lightfoot.

Edward Van Wezel, Managing Partner at BGV said, “Markus and Andrew are experienced leaders in the life sciences industry and I am delighted to have them join us as Venture Partners. Following the announcement of our most recent fundraise, we are excited to get going with BGV V. That means finding the most innovative companies dedicated to delivering transformational treatments through our network. Having Markus and Andrew on board will help up in achieving our goals for the fund.”

BGV V will build on the successful investment strategy of previous BGV funds: dedication to early-stage ventures and company creation and seeking out therapeutic innovations that stem from truly differentiated science and are supported by convincing experimental data. BGV V expects to invest in approximately 12 companies focusing on drug discovery and development.

The appointment of Dr. Andrew Lightfoot and Dr. Markus Kalousek further strengthens BGV’s line-up of Venture Partners, all of whom bring a wealth of industry and company-building experience. Existing Venture Partners include Elena Ritsou (COO, VectorY), Wouter Verhoeven (CEO, Dualyx), Arnoud Dijkstra (CBO, VarmX), and Alexander Vos (Advisor, Synaffix, recently sold to Lonza).

Team promotions

In addition to the new Venture Partners, BGV has also made a number of promotions within its investment team.

Oskar Slotboom – Managing Partner

Since joining the company in 2016, Oskar Slotboom has played a pivotal role in the growth of BGV, bringing to bear his expertise from a broad background in biotech, pharma and consulting and playing a key role in building the portfolios of BGV III and BGV IV, as well as in the recent fundraise for BGV V.

Keno Gutierrez, PhD - General Partner

Keno Gutierrez, PhD joined BGV in 2021 and has managed portfolio companies including Fibrocor and Dualyx, as well as successfully adding new syndicated portfolio investments such as Fundamental Pharma.

Diede Brunen, PhD - Principal

Diede Brunen, PhD, joined BGV in November 2017 as an Analyst, having completed a PhD at the National Cancer Institute in Amsterdam. He has supported portfolio companies including Tessellate, Confo and Dunad.

Karen Chan, PhD - Associate

Karen Chan previously worked at M Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, as an Investment Fellow in the Biotechnology Team and supported deal flow management and due diligence processes.

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Notes for Editors:

About BGV

BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) is a venture capital company, with a focus on early-stage European biotech companies. With a strong track record of significant financial returns through its investments in healthcare innovations and providing the expertise to build world-class companies, BGV manages over €400 million of funds, and invests in areas where true scientific innovations, unmet medical needs, and the potential to demonstrate a significant proof of concept all converge. BGV strives to work with founding teams to progress science and build successful companies and uses its experience to guide progress into clinical trials, leading to successful drug development and value realization for its investors. BGV applies its expertise in a rigorous process to select the most compelling opportunities with the best prospects for exit.

BGV is the early-stage focused platform partner of Forbion, a leading European life sciences venture capital fund with €3 billion in capital under management, and is based in Naarden, The Netherlands. For more information, please visit: http://www.biogenerationventures.com.

Contact

BGV Communications
Laura Asbjornsen
Head of Communications
Email: info@biogeneration.vc

Brunswick Group
Ayesha Bharmal, Charis Gresser
Email: abharmal@brunswickgroup.com, cgresser@brunswickgroup.com

Record changed: 2024-01-20