Nikola is a Partner at SV Health Investors in the Biotech team having joined SV in January 2022. Previously, Nikola was a Partner at Pfizer Ventures, Pfizer’s corporate venture capital group. There he was responsible for investments in emerging companies developing transformative medicines spanning all therapeutic areas and modalities alignedwith the future directions of Pfizer. In prior roles at Pfizer, Nikola held responsibilities for R&D technology investments, R&D strategy and early clinical portfolio management within the R&D organization. Nikola joined Pfizer from McKinsey & Co., where he served as an Associate Principal and senior member of the Pharmaceuticals Practice, advising top pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare companies on a range of strategy, corporate finance andcommercial topics across geographies and therapeutic areas. Nikola received his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Columbia University, and holds a Diploma in Biochemistry from Goethe University Frankfurt.
Team Category: Board of Directors
Frank is Chief Executive Officer of Pacira BioSciences and has more than 30 years of global experience in product development and commercial leadership across a wide range of therapeutic areas. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of Forma Therapeutics through its acquisition by Novo Nordisk. He also served as senior vice president, global product strategy and therapeutic area head for the immunology, ophthalmology, and infectious diseases at Genentech. At Genentech, he also served as vice president of the HER2 /Breast Cancer Franchise, which included Herceptin®, Perjeta® and Kadcyla®. As vice president of oral oncolytics, Frank held P&L responsibility for Tarceva®, Zelboraf®, Erivedge® and Xeloda®. Prior to joining Genentech, Frank spent approximately thirteen years at Novartis, Janssen and Eli Lilly in various engineering, manufacturing, sales and marketing and business development roles. He holds a BS in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the Wharton Graduate School of Business. Frank also serves as executive chairman of the board of directors of privately held Therini Bio, Inc. and is a member of the board of directors of Bolt Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Miles Gerson joined Takeda Ventures, Inc. (TVI) in April 2020, as a Partner, and is based in Cambridge, MA. He has more than 15 years of experience in life science venture investing, business development, licensing, technology transfer, and corporate engagement for innovation. He has specialized in company formation and investment diligence for both US and European-based venture firms and has served as strategic advisor to startup executives and board members. He has held multiple operational roles spanning founding management, finance, business development, and legal for venture-backed and publicly traded companies, and previously served as UCLA’s Managing Officer of Business Development. Miles holds both a BS and an MS in Neuroscience from Wesleyan University and a JD/MBA in Strategic Management in Life & Engineering Sciences from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Alvin joined Catamaran as President and CEO in February 2021. He is an experienced physician and biopharma executive with a track record of building and leading companies that develop therapeutics addressing significant unmet medical needs. Most recently, Alvin was CEO of Disarm Therapeutics, a private neuroscience company that was acquired by Eli Lilly in 2020. Prior to Disarm, Alvin was CEO of Enzyvant Therapeutics, a company developing cell/tissue-based regenerative medicines for rare diseases. He previously held senior leadership roles at Retrophin and Pfizer, where he was the Chief Operating Officer of the Pfizer Rare Disease Research Unit. Alvin began his industry career as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Co. and LEK Consulting. He holds an MD from the University of Alabama, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, and a BA from Vanderbilt University. Alvin completed his residency training in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Kevin is a Venture Partner at SV Health Investors and President and CEO of Enara Bio. Prior to joining SV, Kevin was Chief Strategy and Business Officer and a member of the executive leadership team at Immunocore Ltd. In this role, he was responsible for shaping the company’s corporate, R&D and growth strategies, as well as for overseeing business development. Kevin was also co-head of the company’s Infectious Disease Unit and helped lead the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation investment of up to $40 million. Prior to joining Immunocore, Kevin was President, Chief Executive Officer of Quartet Medicine, a company he co-founded in late 2013 while working as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Atlas Ventures. Kevin was also the Chief Operating Officer of Annovation Biopharma, another Atlas Ventures-funded company, which was sold to the Medicines Company in January 2015. He has also held senior executive R&D and corporate development roles at several venture capital-backed companies, including Vice President of Corporate Development at Kala Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALA) and, earlier in his career, spent time as an investment associate at PureTech Health (LSE: PRTC) an early stage venture capital firm. Kevin holds a BA from the University of Colorado Boulder, and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Caroline is a principal with Lightstone Ventures based out of the firm’s Dublin office. She serves as a director or observer on the boards of ALX Oncology, Carrick Therapeutics, Cerevance, and FIRE-1. Prior to Lightstone, Caroline consulted for multiple biopharma and medtech start-ups. Prior to that, she served on the board of senior management for Bayer Ltd. Ireland as head of market access and reimbursement and was responsible for health economics, health technology assessment applications and reimbursement/pricing negotiations for new drugs. Prior to Bayer, Caroline held roles in regulatory affairs, product management, marketing and strategic business development. Caroline holds a BS in Pharmacy from Trinity College Dublin, MS in Pharmaceutical Medicine from Trinity College Dublin, and an MS in BioInnovation from National University of Ireland, Galway.
Maina is a partner with Sofinnova Partners. Maina joined the firm in 2018 and has a long track record as a successful healthcare investor. Prior to joining Sofinnova Partners, she was Director of Healthcare Investment at Touchstone Innovations (formerly Imperial Innovations) in London (UK), where she led or co-led investments in the UK. Previously, she worked in the R&D teams of several UK and US biotech companies, including Celltech, Oxford Glyco Sciences, Chimeric Therapies and GeneMedicine. Maina holds a BS from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the Imperial Business School. Maina’s current investments include Sitryx Therapeutics, Cincor, and Enyo Pharma.
Houman is a Managing Partner at SV Health Investors based out of their London offices. He has founded seven SV companies: Mestag Therapeutics, Sitryx Therapeutics, Enara Bio, Zarodex Therapeutics, TrexBio, Alchemab Therapeutics and Cellinta. Houman is also a member of the Investment Committee for the Dementia Discovery Fund and serves as a Director of Karus Therapeutics. Most recently, Houman was Vice President and Head of the Clinical Science group with UCB. Prior to joining UCB, he co-founded and served as a Director for both Cardiac Report and Heart Metabolics. He is Visiting Professor and Head of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Oxford. Following his cardiology training, Houman was appointed as an honorary Consultant Cardiologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Houman holds a BM BCh and a DPhil from the University of Oxford.