New Leaf Venture Partners Appoints Dr. Srinivas Akkaraju as Managing Director and Lead of the Firm’s West Coast Biopharmaceuticals Practice
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– New Leaf Venture Partners (NLV Partners) announced today the appointment of Srinivas Akkaraju, M.D., Ph.D., as Managing Director and lead of NLV Partners’ West Coast biopharmaceuticals practice. Dr. Akkaraju’s appointment is effective immediately.
“Dr. Akkaraju will be a tremendous addition to NLV Partners, and we are delighted to welcome him to the team,” stated Philippe Chambon, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Director of NLV Partners. “We expect his broad network of contacts and extensive experience in the biopharma industry will prove invaluable for the firm and to our portfolio companies, particularly on the West Coast.”
Dr. Akkaraju commented, “I am excited to join NLV Partners. The depth, quality and cohesiveness of NLV Partners attracted me to the firm, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue developing as an investor in a dynamic and creative environment.”
Dr. Akkaraju brings over 11 years of experience in life sciences investing and business development. Prior to joining NLV Partners, Dr. Akkaraju was a co-founder and Managing Director of Panorama Capital. Before forming Panorama, Dr. Akkaraju served as Partner of J.P. Morgan Partners, LLC, where he was responsible for leading venture investing in biotech companies. Previously, Dr. Akkaraju held business and corporate development positions at Genentech, where he was responsible for worldwide partnering activities, in-licensing of therapeutics and out-licensing of development projects. In addition, Dr. Akkaraju was a founding member of BioStreet, an online marketplace for biotech opportunities.
Dr. Akkaraju currently serves on the Board of Directors of Amarin Corporation, Seattle Genetics and Pharmos Corporation, as well as several private companies. He is the author of a number of peer-reviewed articles, including in Science and Nature. He received B.A. degrees in both Biochemistry and Computer Science from Rice University and M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in Immunology from Stanford University School of Medicine.
About NLV Partners
NLV Partners is a life science-dedicated venture capital firm with offices in Menlo Park and New York. Founded by an experienced team of venture capitalists with deep healthcare industry experience, NLV Partners invests primarily in companies focused on clinical-stage biopharmaceutical products, early-stage medical devices and molecular diagnostics. NLV Partners manages over $1.3 billion of assets, including NLV-I, NLV-II and the healthcare technology portfolio of Sprout Group. For further information, visit the NLV Partners website at www.nlvpartners.com.
Contacts
Burns McClellan on behalf of NLV Partners
Justin Jackson, 212-213-0006
jjackson@burnsmc.com