Partners

  • Corey Goodman Corey Goodman, PhD
  • Kurt von Emster Kurt von Emster, CFA
  • Paul Brooke Paul Brooke
  • Robert Adelman Robert Adelman, MD
  • Behzad Aghazadeh Behzad Aghazadeh, PhD

  • Corey Goodman, PhD

    Corey Goodman, PhD is a co-Founder and Managing Partner of venBio. Dr. Goodman is a renowned scientist, entrepreneur, educator, CEO, and corporate executive. He was formerly President of Pfizer Inc.'s Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center, and a member of Pfizer's Executive Leadership Team. Dr. Goodman was a co-founder of Exelixis Inc., Renovis Inc., Second Genome Inc., and Ossianix Inc., and CEO of Renovis until its acquisition by Evotec. He is a former professor at Stanford University and UC Berkeley, co-founder of Berkeley's Wills Neuroscience Institute, an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and currently an Adjunct Professor at UC San Francisco. Dr. Goodman is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. His honors include, amongst others, the Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Board, Canada Gairdner Biomedical Award, March-of-Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology, Reeve-Irvine Research Medal, and Trinity College Dublin Dawson Prize in Genetics. He is on the Board of the California Council on Science and Technology, the Pacific Institute, and former chair of the National Academy of Sciences' Board on Life Sciences. He is an advisor to several university innovation centers and disease foundations. He is Chairman of the Board of several companies, including Solstice Biologics, Labrys Biologics, Oligasis, Ossianix, and Second Genome, and a member of the Board of several others, including NeuroTherapeutics Pharma Inc. and Mirna Therapeutics Inc. Dr. Goodman is located in venBio's San Francisco office.

  • Kurt von Emster, CFA

    Kurt von Emster, CFA is a co-founder and Managing Partner of venBio. Mr. von Emster has been an institutional biotechnology and health care analyst and portfolio manager for 22 years. He is a member of the board of directors of Cytos AG and Metabolex Inc., a former member of the board of Facet Biotech Corporation (sold to Abbott Laboratories in 2010) and Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (sold to Pernix Therapeutics in 2013), and a former board observer of Acceleron Pharma. Mr. von Emster's investment career started in 1989 at Franklin Templeton where he founded and managed several health and biotechnology funds in the 1990s, each achieving a 5-star Morningstar ranking. In 2000, he was managing over $2B in biotech and health care funds for Franklin Templeton. In 2001, Mr. von Emster became a General Partner at MPM Capital, a leading biotechnology private equity firm, and launched the MPM BioEquities Fund, a cross over public and private biotechnology hedge fund. He was the portfolio manager of this fund from inception in 2001 until his departure in 2009. He also co-founded the MPM Biogen Idec Strategic Fund during his tenure at MPM. Mr. von Emster is based in venBio's San Francisco office.

  • Paul Brooke

    Paul Brooke is a co-Founder and Managing Partner of venBio. Mr. Brooke has over 30 years’ experience in life science analysis, investing and management. He is Director of ViroPharma Incorporated, Incyte Corporation, Cytos AG, Cheyne Capital International Ltd and Manning & Napier. Mr. Brooke was an advisor to MPM Capital and a Member of the Board of Directors of the MPM Bio Equities Fund. He was the Global Head of Health Care Research and Strategy for Morgan Stanley and headed up Strategy and Economics for the Pacific Basin including Japan. Mr. Brooke was also a Managing Director of Tiger Management responsible for health care investing. Through his role as Chairman and CEO of Ithaka, he structured the purchase of Alsius Corporation and successfully sold its assets to Zoll Medical Corporaton in 2008. Mr. Brooke is located in venBio's New York office.

  • Robert Adelman, MD

    Robert Adelman, M.D. is a co-Founder and Managing Partner of venBio. Dr. Adelman has a 26-year history of founding, investing in, and managing companies in the life sciences. Before joining venBio, he had a seven-year tenure as a Private Equity Partner at OrbiMed Advisors. There he was part of a team that invested $1.1B in both public and private companies across three venture capital funds. Dr. Adelman has founded a number of biotechnology companies including Operon Technologies Inc. (sold to Qiagen Inc. in 2000), Sientra Inc., and most recently Roka Bioscience (a spin out of Gen-Probe). Dr. Adelman has served on the Boards of Volcano Corporation, Aryx Therapeutics Inc., Cerimon Pharmaceuticals Inc., and ViewRay Incorporated. In addition, he currently serves on the Board of Directors of Aragon Pharmaceuticals and Solstice Biologics. Dr. Adelman is located in venBio's San Francisco office.

  • Behzad Aghazadeh, PhD

    Dr. Aghazadeh has over 15 years of experience in the healthcare sector as an investor, management consultant, and scientist. Before joining venBio in 2011, Dr. Aghazadeh was with Sio Capital Management, a New York-based global long/short equity healthcare fund. Previously, Dr. Aghazadeh was an analyst with AllianceBernstein, a $400B asset management firm, where he covered US and European healthcare stocks for Bernstein Value Equities. Prior to Bernstein, Dr. Aghazadeh was a Principal in the healthcare practice of Booz Allen (now Booz & Co.). During his six years at Booz, Dr. Aghazadeh served clients across multiple healthcare verticals as well as consulted for the FDA on strategic and operational issues. In addition, he helped launch and was the co-lead of the firm's Pharma R&D effectiveness platform. Dr. Aghazadeh received a PhD in Biophysics and Biochemistry from Cornell University, and a Masters in Physics from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany. Dr. Aghazadeh is located in venBio's New York office.