Yes, the mood has undoubtedly improved in comparison to last year’s gathering of the healthcare investment community around the “old clock” at Union Square in San Francisco. But given the overall depression of last year this was perhaps not all that difficult to achieve. I have mulled over all the conversations I had during the … Continue reading “Between a Rock and a Hard Place—JP Morgan Afterthoughts”
Author: Jens Eckstein
Jens Eckstein joined TVM Capital in 2004 and is a general partner in the firm’s life sciences practice, where he focuses on earlier-stage investments. He is a member of the Board of Directors of CoNCERT Pharmaceuticals, Magen Biosciences, and Ascent Therapeutics, and served as an Advisor to Sirtris Pharmaceuticals.
As director, Lead Discovery and Research IT, at Enanta Pharmaceuticals, he directed the company's lead discovery and knowledge management programs for novel therapeutics in hepatitis, asthma, psoriasis, and other autoimmune disorders. Prior to joining Enanta, Dr. Eckstein managed research groups in biochemistry, structural biology, and computational chemistry at Mitotix (now GPC-Biotech).
Dr. Eckstein earned his doctorate, summa cum laude, in biological chemistry at the University of Konstanz and Harvard University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California in San Francisco and is an alumnus of the Kauffman Fellows Program. The author of more than 20 scientific publications, Dr. Eckstein also holds several issued and pending patents. He is managing editor of Frontiers in Bioscience “Current Topics in Lead Discovery” and serves as an editorial board advisor for IDrugs. Dr. Eckstein is also an Advisor to the Alzheimer Research Forum (ARF) and a founding member of the Cure Dystonia Initiative Advisory Council (CDIAC).
What Boston’s Life Sciences Community is Taking for Granted
I spent an enlightening week in Tokyo earlier this month participating in the Kauffman Fellows Japan Summit. This summit was the brainchild of three visionary Kauffman Fellows who are on a mission to instill entrepreneurship into the Japanese culture. During the three days we heard about the current (dismal) status of venture capital and entrepreneurial … Continue reading “What Boston’s Life Sciences Community is Taking for Granted”
Who’s Driving Innovation in the Life Sciences Ecotope? Some Ideas for Keeping Early-Stage Venture Alive
New England is indeed a fertile ground for new technologies in healthcare and the life sciences, but the number of VCs doing the early and risky stuff is dwindling. We will probably see the number of start-ups in our space dive this year. Keeping to ol’ Darwin’s creed of adaptation, we simply have to find … Continue reading “Who’s Driving Innovation in the Life Sciences Ecotope? Some Ideas for Keeping Early-Stage Venture Alive”
Thinking Globally, Acting Locally…It Works In Basketball and Investing
“Thinking Globally, Acting Locally…” … this was a headline in the New York Times the other day reflecting on the recent March Madness Cinderella story of Davidson College and Coach Bob McKillop. Struggling to compete for players against bigger, more entrenched basketball programs like Duke and Georgetown, Coach McKillop started recruiting aggressively in Europe and … Continue reading “Thinking Globally, Acting Locally…It Works In Basketball and Investing”