SV Health Investors announces the appointment of Christian Jung, PhD as Partner in the Dementia Discovery Fund
Former Principal at Wellington Partners Life Sciences appointed to drive Fund’s European investments
London, 09 September 2019 - The Dementia Discovery Fund (“DDF” or “the Fund”), a venture capital fund delivering both high-impact therapeutics for age-related dementias and financial returns by investing in, creating, and supporting innovative companies, is pleased to announce the appointment of Christian Jung, PhD as Partner.
Christian will be responsible for expanding the Fund’s investment portfolio in Europe by leading investments in new and established companies that are pursuing the development of highly promising and differentiated novel therapeutics and platforms in dementia with the aim of providing meaningful, disease-modifying treatments for patients. In this role, he will also work closely with the Fund’s existing portfolio companies at a strategic and board level. Christian will join DDF’s leadership team and contribute to developing and driving DDF’s investment strategy.
Angus Grant, CEO of the Dementia Discovery Fund, said: “We are extremely pleased to welcome Christian to DDF. His experience and proven track record in international venture capital investment and fundraising in life sciences will be invaluable to the Fund as we continue to provide investment in, and support to, innovative companies driving novel dementia research.”
Christian Jung, Partner at the Dementia Discovery Fund, said: “I am delighted to join the DDF. With dementia fast becoming one of the world’s greatest health threats, DDF’s investment strategy to selectively build and back companies in this field is perfectly set to enable us to progress ground-breaking science and genuinely novel therapeutic concepts to the clinic. I look forward to bringing my international expertise and network to the DDF team.”
Christian joins DDF from Wellington Partners Life Sciences, a leading European venture capital firm investing in early- and growth-stage life science companies. In his role as Principal, Christian helped to raise Wellington’s fifth-generation fund which was closed at €210 million, making it the largest life science dedicated fund raised by Wellington Partners to date. While at Wellington Partners Life Sciences, he was focused on investing in opportunities covering novel therapeutics and medical devices. Christian served on the Boards of TRiCares GmbH and Uromems SAS.
Prior to joining Wellington Partners Life Sciences, Christian was a Senior Investment Manager with High-Tech Gründerfonds, Europe’s leading seed fund with €896 million under management. There, Christian completed and led the investments in nine seed- and early-stage companies, including Amal Therapeutics SA (acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim in 2019 for up to €325 million), Rigontec GmbH (acquired by MSD in 2017 for up to €464 million) and Senostic GmbH, a German diagnostic company active in the field of neurodegenerative disorders. Christian holds a PhD in Medical Science and Technology and a Master of Sciences in Molecular Biotechnology from the Munich University of Technology.
Since completing its fundraising in 2018, with £250 million ($350 million at the time of completion) raised from an influential group of strategic investors including industry, private, government, and impact investors, the DDF has made significant progress building a portfolio of investments in drug discovery companies and projects, predominantly in the UK and US, in four key areas including neuroimmunology, trafficking of molecules in and around cell membranes, mitochondrial health and brain synapses.
For further information, please visit the DDF website at www.theddfund.com
Contacts:
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott, David Daley, Melissa Gardiner
DDF@consilium-comms.com
+44 20 3709 5700
About the Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF)
The DDF is a venture capital fund which invests in projects and companies to discover and develop novel, effective disease-modifying therapeutics for dementia. Seven leading pharmaceutical companies (Biogen, Eli Lilly and Company, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Otsuka (Astex), Pfizer and Takeda), AARP, Aegon, Bill Gates, British Patient Capital, NFL Players Association, Quest Diagnostics, UnitedHealth Group, the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care and charity Alzheimer’s Research UK among others have invested in the DDF. Heads of Neuroscience represent many of these strategic investors on the DDF Scientific Advisory Board and work closely with SV’s dedicated team of neuroscientists and experts to identify and evaluate novel approaches for the treatment of dementia. SV won the bid to become Manager in a competitive selection process held in 2015. www.theddfund.com
About SV Health Investors
SV Health Investors, formerly named SV Life Sciences, is a healthcare and life sciences venture capital and growth equity firm. SV targets early-stage opportunities in biotechnology; early-stage and revenue-stage opportunities in medical devices; and growth equity investments for later-stage businesses in healthcare services and digital health. Over the past 25 years, SV has invested in more than 175 companies. The firm currently has over $2.9 billion in capital commitments raised across seven private venture capital funds and one publicly listed fund. SV Health Investors has offices in Boston and London. For more information, please visit www.svhealthinvestors.com.