Frank Kalkbrenner
Current role
Frank is the Global Head of the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and has been involved in several investments of the fund. He served as board member of STAT Diagnostica in Barcelona, which was sold to Qiagen in April 2018 and Amal Therapeutics, which was sold to Boehringer Ingelheim in July 2019. Currently, he is on the Boards of Acousia Therapeutics in Tübingen, RinRi Therapeutics in Sheffield, Aelin Therapeutics in Leuven, eTheRNA in Niel, T3 Pharmaceuticals in Basel and Brainomix in Oxford. In addition, he is member of the Supervisory and the Advisory Board of Inserm Transfer Initiative, a French Seed Investment Fund based in Paris.
Professional Background
Frank studied Medicine, did his PhD in Pharmacology and specialized in Pharmacology and Toxicology. He spent more than 10 years in academic research in the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin and in the Institute of Pharmacology of the Freie Universität, Berlin. His academic research focused on gene regulation by transcription factors and signal transduction mediated by ion channels and G proteins.
In 1997, he began his industrial career by joining Schering AG as senior scientist in Experimental Dermatology. In 1999, Frank moved to Boehringer Ingelheim and joined the department of Pulmonary Research. In 2005, he took over the responsibility for the Licensing Department. In this function, he was responsible for the licensing activities of the German Boehringer Ingelheim organization in various indication areas. In addition, he built up the NBE Research unit at the German Research site in Biberach.
In 2010 - shortly after its initiation - Frank joined the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund.
Sebastian Kreuz
Current role
After joining the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in June 2019, Sebastian serves as a board member of Rewind Therapeutics in Leuven and Abalos Therapeutics in Essen, a recently founded company specialized on virus-based approaches for the treatment of cancer patients. In addition to contributing to the Venture Fund portfolio in the areas of immune oncology and regenerative medicine, Sebastian is focusing on strategic opportunities in the infectious diseases space.
Professional Background
Sebastian studied Technical Biology at the University of Stuttgart and holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Immunology. In 2004, he started his career in Pharmaceutical Industry as a scientist at Boehringer Ingelheim. Since then, Sebastian held various positions in different functions within the BI research organization covering responsibilities as Laboratory Head and Project Leader ranging from early stage drug concept work to advanced drug discovery projects in various disease areas. From 2015 to 2019, before joining the BI Venture Fund, Sebastian was working in the Research Beyond Borders department to implement an integrated R&D strategy for virus-based Gene Therapy as a novel treatment modalitiy for BI.
Detlev Mennerich
Current role
Over the last six years, Detlev led several investments of the therapeutics fund. He served as board member of RinRi Therapeutics in Sheffield, HepaRegenix in Tübingen and ViraTherapeutics GmbH in Innsbruck, which was acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim in September 2018. Currently, Detlev serves at the Board of Imcheck Therapeutics in Marseilles, Topas Therapeutics in Hamburg, T-knife in Berlin, Oncomyx in Phoenix, Tacalyx in Berlin, as well as of NBE Therapeutics in Basel. In addition, he is member of the Strategic Committee of Innobio 2, a BPI fund based in Paris.
Professional Background
Detlev studied Chemistry in Braunschweig and Bordeaux and holds a PhD in Cell & Molecular Biology. In 2001, he started his industrial career at metaGen Pharmaceuticals and Schering AG in Berlin as a scientist in Oncogenomics focusing on target validation and biomarker research. In 2005, he joined Boehringer Ingelheim in Biberach where he held several positions in Research: He started as Laboratory Head in Genomics for new drug concept nominations. In 2009, Detlev moved to Ridgefield, CT as Project Leader for an anti-inflammatory antibody project. In 2011, he returned to Biberach heading the Target Validation Technologies Group supporting all disease areas in new drug concept creation.
Beginning of 2014, he joined the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund investing in clinical translation of pioneering therapeutic approaches, i.e. in the field of immuno-oncology, immuno-tolerization and regenerative concepts.
Ilka Wicke
Current role
Over the last years, Ilka has been involved in several investments of the fund. She served as board member of Promethera Bioscience in Brussels, AgoMab in Ghent and Pcovery in Copenhagen. She is currently on the Boards of Metabomed in Tel Aviv, Cardior Pharmaceuticals in Hannover and Anagenesis in Strasbourg. In addition, she is member of the Investment Committee of the High Tech Gründer Fund (HTGF III), the largest publicly backed Seed Investment Fund in Germany based in Bonn.
Professional Background
Ilka has studied Organic Chemistry and obtained her PhD from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt. Following her graduation she spent a year in academic research as a postdoctoral fellow at the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York investigating retroviral gene therapy approaches. She joined Boehringer Ingelheim in 1996 as head of an interdisciplinary research laboratory specializing in new drug discovery approaches. Thereafter, Ilka spent more than 13 years in the Corporate Licensing Division of Boehringer Ingelheim where she was responsible for the evaluation, negotiation and the management of several global licensing transactions. In 2009, Ilka participated in the creation of the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund as a strategic component of Boehringer Ingelheim and has since then been an active Investment Manager in the Fund.
Johannes Zanzinger
Current role
Johannes joined the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in 2019 with 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D and Business Development, which he led for Cardiometabolic Diseases at Boehringer Ingelheim over more than ten years. He serves as board member of HepaRegenix in Tübingen, DiogenX in Marseille, Eyevensys in Paris and AgoMab in Ghent. In addition, he is member of the Supervisory and the Scientific Advisory Board of Advent France Biotechnology, a French Seed Investment Fund based in Paris.
Professional Background
Johannes studied Animal Sciences and Biology, and earned a PhD in Animal Sciences (Dr. sc.agr.) at the University of Hohenheim in 1992, followed by postdoctoral positions at the Medical Faculties of the Universities of Freiburg and Heidelberg, where he completed a postdoctoral thesis (Habilitation) and was appointed Associate Professor (Privatdozent) for Physiology in 1998. Johannes then started his industrial career in 1999 as a Group Leader for in vivo Pharmacology at Pfizer Global Research & Development (Sandwich, UK). He joined Boehringer Ingelheim in Research Coordination in 2002, and became Global Head of Business Development and Licensing for Cardiometabolic Diseases in 2009. In this function, he identified, championed and negotiated multiple partnerships with pharma, biotech and academia, and served on the Therapeutic Area Leadership Committee for Cardiometabolic Diseases. In addition to his role at Boehringer Ingelheim, Johannes still continues to act as an adjunct (Apl) Professor of Physiology at the University of Ulm.
Martin Heidecker
Current role
Martin joined Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in 2010 in Germany and moved to Boston, MA in 2013 to open US offices for the fund. He served as board member of ArmaGen Technologies, Inc. and of Tilos Therapeutics, which was acquired by Merck in June 2019. Currently, he serves as board member of Sentien Biotechnologies in Lexington, Abexxa Biologics in Arlington and Rgenta Therapeutics in Cambridge.
Professional Background
Martin started his career as investment professional by joining BayernKapital in 2002 to focus on seed investments in biotechnology companies. He held several Marketing positions at Solvay Pharmaceuticals and Boehringer Ingelheim in CNS and Oncology and was involved in the launch of various drugs in the CNS space. Martin joined Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in 2010 and established US offices for Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in 2013 in Cambridge, MA. His focus is on early biotechnology startups in the United States. Martin holds a PhD in Biology from University at Würzburg and an MBA from FernUniversität Hagen.
Kanad Das
Current role
Kanad joined Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in 2018 and is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. He serves as Board Member of Oncomyx in Phoenix and Actym Therapeutics in Berkeley.
Professional Background
Kanad joined Boehringer Ingelheim from Merck (MSD) where he was Director, Business Development and Licensing in their West Coast Innovation Hub. He evaluated assets in Immuno-Oncology, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases and Ophthalmology in the preclinical space up to human proof of concept. Kanad started his career at Genentech as a post-doctoral fellow. He then worked as a medicinal chemist at KAI Pharmaceuticals, where he was an inventor of Parsabiv, approved in 2017 for the treatment of Secondary Hyperparathyroidism. After KAI, Kanad worked at Stanford University’s SPARK program, an academic accelerator designed to take basic science discoveries and bring them to fundable assets. He received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a B.Sc. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley.
Fei Shen
Current role
Fei is an Investment Director in the Boehringer Ingelheim Corporate Venture Fund. She joined the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in 2020 and is located in Boston, MA.
Professional Background
Fei received her Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and a B.Sc in Biochemistry from East China University Science & Technology. In 2007, she started her industrial career at Theravance Biopharma as an in vivo pharmacologist and led a lab in driving multiple research projects from exploratory, lead optimization to development candidate nomination, including TD-1473 in Ulcerative Colitis, Ampreloxetine in Fibromyalgia, Velusetrag in Gastroparesis, TD-8954 in Post-operative Gastrointestinal Dysfunction. In 2015, she joined Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. Global Immunology and Respiratory Disease Research in Ridgefield where she started as a Laboratory Head and became the Head of in vivo Pharmacology group in 2016. From 2015 to 2020, before joining the BI Venture Fund, Fei led a group of ~20 in vivo pharmacologists supporting the Immunology and Respiratory Portfolio for small molecule, antisense and antibody projects.
Mark Ralph
Current role
Mark Ralph is an Executive Director in the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund focusing on Digital Health Investments.
Professional Background
Most recently, Mark was Global Head of the Contract Negotiations and Alliance Management (CAM) team, responsible for enabling collaborations with academic partners and platform technology companies. In addition, he was the US Head of Business Development & Licensing and acted as the lead business development professional supporting the Research Beyond Borders (RBB) organization. Mark has over 18 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with roles spanning small molecule drug discovery research, operations, finance and business development.
Debbie Lin
Current role
Debbie joined Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in 2018 and is based in Boston. She serves on the Board of Wellth, which is based in New York City and Bodyport, in San Francisco.
Professional Background
Debbie is a trained scientist with a PhD in Pharmacogenomics and Bioinformatics from University of California San Francisco. She also has a Masters in Health Policy from UCLA and a Masters in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
In 1999, Debbie began her career as a health policy consultant working to implement US State Medicaid Policy. After her graduate studies, she joined Boehringer Ingelheim in a variety of roles. She worked as field based Medical Affairs with key opinion leaders in Women’s Health. She then joined field based Health Economics and Outcomes Research working with the sales account teams and various payer and provider systems on the West Coast. She ran the US Making More Health program for Boehringer Ingelheim’s initiative with Ashoka, a social entrepreneurship organization. In 2015, she joined Corporate Strategy and Development in Germany where she lead a large stroke rehabilitation clinic development project. In 2018, Debbie joined the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, leading the US Digital Healthcare efforts.
Oliver Reuß
Current role
Right after his start in 2018, he has been involved in the first two digital healthcare investments, Brainomix and Wellth. Oliver is responsible for the Digital Healthcare investments in Europe and Israel. He serves as Board Member of Dopavision in Berlin.
Professional Background
Oliver is a trained biologist and did his PhD in Molecular Biology with a focus on Infectious Diseases. Oliver spent 5 years in academic research at the Institute for Molecular Infection Biology at the University of Würzburg, where he focused on the characterization of oligopeptide transporters in pathogens.
After some time in business consulting, Oliver joined Boehringer Ingelheim in 2008. After various roles in business analytics, business development, in-licensing and strategy, Oliver built the Business Model and Healthcare Innovation group in 2014. The team was solely dedicated to scout, identify and pilot digital healthcare solutions for Boehringer Ingelheim’s pill business globally. In 2018, Oliver joined the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in the newly created Digital Healthcare investment arm.
Alexander Ehlgen
Current role
Alexander joined Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in 2019. He is responsible for Digital Healthcare investments in Europe and Israel.
Professional Background
Alexander is a physician, who received his medical degree from the University of Bonn, Germany. He also conducted academic research on myocardial perfusion and stress echocardiography at the University of Oxford, UK.
Alexander worked at a biotech start-up and major pharmaceutical companies in a variety of roles in clinical drug development. His focus was on novel imaging tracers and drugs in the cardiovascular and metabolic diseases areas. Alexander joined Boehringer Ingelheim in 2012 in Translational Medicine and in 2014 was appointed global head of the Translational Medicine and Biomarker Experts group responsible for translational medicine and biomarker aspects of novel pharmaceutical compounds at Boehringer Ingelheim. Together with the Boehringer Ingelheim Digital Lab he also developed a novel digital product that enables precision medicine concepts with biomarker data.
Yvonne Richter
Current role
supporting Sebastian Kreuz, Detlev Mennerich, Johannes Zanzinger, Ilka Wicke
Kathrin Rohschürmann
Current role
supporting Frank Kalkbrenner, Oliver Reuß, Alexander Ehlgen
Cathy Sylvain
Current role
supporting Kanad Das, Martin Heidecker, Debbie Lin, Stefan Pflanz, Mark Ralph, Fei Shen
Dragan Djuric
Current role
As member of the Corporate Finance/M&A department at Boehringer Ingelheim, Dragan is involved in financial due diligence, company valuation, and deal structuring activities of the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund.
Professional Background
Dragan holds 4 degrees in Management and Strategy (B.Sc., Dipl.-Kfm., PhD, MBA) from universities in Germany and the US.
He previously worked as Inhouse Consultant at Boehringer Ingelheim’s Corporate Division Strategy & Consulting gaining project experience in strategy development, digital healthcare, and organizational restructuring. Dragan joined Boehringer Ingelheim from PwC Strategy Group (Munich office) where he worked on commercial due diligence projects (both buy-side and sell-side) analyzing targets from a wide range of industries (e.g. pharmaceuticals, industrial goods, automotive, professional services) for private equity funds. In his role as Business Development Manager at a leading generics company he worked on pan-European in-licensing projects.
Viktor Dzimiera
Current role
Viktor is responsible for the financial management of the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund holding entities, financial structuring of the acquisition and divestment processes as well as the monitoring and controlling of the portfolio companies. Viktor participated in all acquisition and divestment transactions of the Venture Fund since its inception, and supports the deals teams in financial due diligence, appraising and negotiating investment and exit terms as well as refinancing of the portfolio companies.
Professional Background
Viktor holds a diploma in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Hannover. Subsequent to his graduation he spent 4 years with an international audit company and joined Boehringer Ingelheim’s internal audit team in 1990. There, he performed and headed audit and consulting activities in finance, marketing and manufacturing of the international pharmaceutical group. Viktor moved to controlling subsidiaries in 1994 and covered responsibilities in designing and managing the financial logistics as well as international transfer pricing topics. In 2000, he took over the lead of the Group Controlling Subsidiaries Europe and supported in this role also several Merger & Acquisition activities including company valuation and financial deal structuring. In 2010, he was assigned the responsibility of the Finance Director of the newly created Venture Fund.
Timothy Arnheim
Current role
Tim is Legal Counsel of the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and covers all legal aspects of the investments of the Venture Fund. Tim joined Corporate Legal Strategy & Governance as Senior Legal Counsel Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in the group Corporate Legal Governance and M&A in February 2019. Within Corporate Legal Governance and M&A, Tim will be fully dedicated to the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund.
Professional Background
Tim is a fully qualified English attorney (Solicitor) and obtained his LL.M from University College London. Following his graduation from Cambridge University and the College of Law, London, he joined the international law firm, Allen & Overy, in London and was a partner for 20 years. His experience covers international legal work across a range of sectors and continents, including acting for funds, project/acquisition companies, banks, bond arrangers, development finance institutions and export credit agencies. In addition, Tim worked for Allen & Overy in Germany for seven years and is a fluent German speaker.
Maximilian Stöhr
Current role
Max is a legal counsel advising the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in all legal aspects of its investments. Max joined Corporate Legal Strategy & Governance as Senior Legal Counsel in the group Corporate Legal Governance and M&A in April 2019. Within Corporate Legal Governance and M&A, Max is fully dedicated to the BI Venture Fund.
Professional Background
Max is a fully qualified German attorney (Rechtsanwalt) who studied law at the Universities of Bayreuth and Bordeaux. Following his graduation in 2012, he joined the international law firm, Hogan Lovells, in Frankfurt. Before working for Boehringer Ingelheim, Max was a legal counsel at Armacell in Luxembourg. His experience covers international legal work with a focus on corporate law, mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and other cooperations.
Stefan Pflanz
Current role
Stefan joined the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in 2020 and is located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Professional Background
Stefan accomplished his PhD in 1999 at the University of Aachen, Germany, and then completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at DNAX Research Institute in Palo Alto, California. He has since headed immunology research labs or groups at Micromet (2003-2006), Schering-Plough Biopharma (2006-2010), Gilead Sciences (2011-2016), and most recently at Boehringer-Ingelheim (2016-2020), across different indication areas including immune-oncology, infectious diseases, inflammatory conditions, and fibrosis.
