Healthcap Strengthens Senior Team

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthCap, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, is delighted to announce that Dr. Mårten Steen, MD, PhD, has been appointed Co-Managing Partner alongside Founding Partner Björn Odlander.

Mårten became a Partner at HealthCap in 2010 and has been instrumental in many of HealthCap´s most successful investments including Ultragenyx and Wilson Therapeutics. He currently serves as a director of several important new biotech ventures including Hemab and Vivet. Mårten previously worked in business development at Merck Serono, and obtained his MD, PhD, and BSc degree in Business Administration from Lund University.

Kristina Ekberg has joined HealthCap as Partner and General Counsel as of September 2021. Kristina joins from a position as Partner in the M&A practice group at one of Sweden's largest law firms, Vinge, where she also led the law firms Life Sciences and Healthcare sector group.

Carl Kilander is promoted to Partner. Carl is an MD PhD from the Karolinska Institutet, a surgeon with scientific focus on cancer epidemiology and tumor biology pathways who joined HealthCap in 2019. Carl has a leading role in several of HealthCap's recent investments including SynOx and Adcendo.

Georg Vo Beiske has been promoted to Venture Partner. Georg was recently appointed CEO of Tribune Therapeutics AB, an Oslo based company created by HealthCap, Novo Seeds and its scientific founders. Georg holds a Master's degree in Pharmacy and has previously worked at Merck Serono and Bayer.

Alex Valcu, currently Principal at HealthCap, has been promoted to Partner. Alex will continue to supervise the firms IT-operations and assumes responsibility for general administrative practices. Alex joined HealthCap in 2004.

Björn Odlander, Founding Partner of HealthCap, said: "This year HealthCap celebrates 25 years of operations.  We have backed and built over 100 companies which has led to more than 25 pharmaceutical products and 50 innovative medical device products available to patients.

"Mårten, Kristina, Carl, Georg and Alex will expand and strengthen HealthCap's reach and capabilities, and together with the current Partner group, form an investment team ready to take on future opportunities from a solid position based on continued excellence, experience and knowledge. These appointments ensure we will continue our leading role in the Life Sciences Venture Capital ecosystem."

"Mårten has a successful track record in backing and building stellar companies and he will bring tremendous value to our firm in his new role. On a personal note, it is a true joy working together with him."

Dr. Mårten Steen, Co-Managing Partner of HealthCap, said: "We are in an exciting time for the life sciences and healthcare sector and are eager to continue playing a significant role in this rapidly developing sector. I am delighted to be working alongside Björn and the excellent team at HealthCap to create and support the next generation of companies developing breakthrough therapies that have the potential to be transformative for patients around the world."

HealthCap's investment strategy is focused on precision medicine and addressing high unmet medical needs, working with the most promising companies and therapies for the future. Recent Series A investments by HealthCap include Adcendo (US$ 62M), Aro Biotherapeutics ($88M), Hemab (US$55M), SynOx (EUR 37M) as well as the launch of Tribune Therapeutics.

About HealthCap

HealthCap is a European venture capital firm investing exclusively and globally in life sciences. The investment strategy focuses on diseases with high unmet medical needs and breakthrough therapies that have the potential to be transformative and change medical practice, and the lives of patients suffering these conditions.

SOURCE HealthCap