AN Venture Partners (ANV), a global biotech venture capital fund, is pleased to announce the appointment of four Advisors whose combined experience and knowledge will strengthen ANV in its mission to create promising biotech startups based on Japanese science.
Dr Vicki Sato is a former senior pharmaceutical executive and professor of biology who currently serves as a partner at ARCH Venture Partners and as chairman of Vir Biotechnology and Denali Therapeutics. Dr Sato advises multiple biotech and pharma firms and is currently a director of publicly listed companies Akouos and Allogene Therapeutics, having retired recently from the boards of Bristol Myers Squibb and BorgWarner. From 2006-2017, she was professor of management practice at Harvard Business School and professor of the practice, molecular and cell biology, on Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
As the former dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, Dr Paul Rothman oversaw both the School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Health System. A rheumatologist and molecular immunologist by training, he previously held senior positions at the University of Iowa and Columbia University. Dr Rothman is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and the ASCI. He is a member of the Association of American Physicians and served as President in 2014. He is a director of Merck and Co., Labcorp, USC Health System, and the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Saudi Arabia.
Jiro Seguchi is a veteran investment banker who brings a different set of skills to his advisory role at ANV. He began his career at Bank of Tokyo (now MUFG) in corporate finance and capital markets, working both in Tokyo and New York. In 1999, he joined Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America), where he held several senior roles. These included serving as the president of Japan Operations, head of Asia-Pacific Global Corporate and Investment banking and co-president of the bank’s entire Asia-Pacific operations. After retiring from Bank of America at the end of 2023, he transitioned to a role as a senior advisor at Hillhouse, as well as ANV.
A physician-scientist who boasts an illustrious career, Dr Hiromitsu Nakauchi’s innovative and impactful research ranges from pioneering single hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to groundbreaking interspecies organ generation. Previously he was a professor of stem cell therapy and a founding director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Tokyo. Since 2014, he has been a professor of genetics at Stanford University and also holds a cross-appointment as a distinguished professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Japan.
Ken Horne, Managing Partner of ANV, commented, "We are extremely pleased to be able to appoint a group of advisors with such incredible track records, who have each risen to the very top of their fields. They bring a range of skills to ANV that will be invaluable to our firm as we seek to combine Japanese science and US capital market experience to build successful startups and contribute to the evolution of a biotech ecosystem in Japan.”
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About AN Venture Partners
AN Venture Partners (ANV) is a Tokyo and San Francisco-based biotech venture capital firm. ANV is dedicated to building high impact global biotech companies and specializes in sourcing scientific opportunities from Japan. For more information, please visit www.an.vc.