BGVappointsElena Ritsou as Venture Partner and Andree Blaukat as SeniorAdvisor
Amsterdam, The Netherlands -8 November2022 - BioGeneration Ventures ("BGV"), a leading early-stage VC in European biopharma, today announces the appointments of Dr. Elena Ritsou as Venture Partner and Dr. Andree Blaukat as Senior Advisor, further expanding its team, network and expertise in company creation and building.
Dr. Ritsou brings 20 years of experience in Corporate and Business Development in pharmaceutical and biotech companies, most recently as the Chief Business Officer of Gamma Delta Therapeutics leading its acquisition by Takeda in Q2 2022. Prior to Gamma Delta, Elena was Global Head Oncology Business Development at Ipsen Pharma where she was instrumental on late and early-stage transactions and acquisitions. Earlier in her career she held Business Development roles of increasing responsibility at Sanofi and Genzyme. Elena holds a BSc in Immunology from the University of Edinburgh, UK, a Masters in Finance from the HEC in Paris, France, and a PhD from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany. On joining BGV she will work with the team on deal flow selection and due diligence. Elena has assumed the role of the Chief Corporate Officer at BGV portfolio company VectorY and will take up other board positions and advisory roles at BGV portfolio companies in due course.
Dr. Blaukat brings extensive experience to several advisory boards for academic institutions and biotech companies. He worked at Merck KGaA for more than two decades, leading several oncology and immuno-oncology teams. Under his leadership at Merck, several drug candidates were successfully discovered and developed, key strategic collaborations and licensing deals were executed, and the core focus areas of the company were established, in precision oncology, DNA damage response and antibody-drug conjugates. He obtained his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Universities of Mainz & Darmstadt, Germany in 1997, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Uppsala, Sweden. He has published more than 60 scientific manuscripts and book chapters and has more than 30 patents.
Dr. Andree Blaukat, newly appointed SeniorAdvisor at BGV added: "BGV has one of the leading most experienced early-stage life sciences venture teams in Europe. With its wide range of resources and network, I look forward to working with the team to deliver meaningful investments by imparting our knowledge and expertise into promising early-stage companies."
Dr. Elena Ritsou, newly appointed Venture Partner at BGV commented: "Europe has been particularly strong in life sciences innovation and the industry is expanding and maturing fast. It is an exciting time to become part of the BGV team and I am keen to apply my experience to support the creation and growth of the company's portfolio of early-stage life science businesses."
Edward Van Wezel, Managing Partner at BGV noted: "Both Elena and Andree are experienced leaders in the life sciences industry. We are delighted to welcome them to the team and look forward to putting their expertise to use to accelerate BGV's strategy of supporting companies that focus on areas of high unmet medical need."
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About BGV
BioGeneration Ventures.
