Christoph Westphal

Partner at Longwood Fund

Speaker

Dr. Westphal is co-founder and General Partner of Longwood Fund and has spent over 20 years as a biotech CEO, entrepreneur, and investor. Dr. Westphal has been the co-founder, CEO, and lead investor of seven biotechnology companies that have completed initial public offerings (IPOs) and created sustained market value of over $45 billion and have developed and received FDA approval for over 10 important drugs. These include: Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA, acquired by J&J in 2020), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY), Acceleron Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLRN, acquired by Merck in 2021), Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRT, acquired by GSK in 2008), Verastem (NASDAQ: VSTM), and TScan Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TCRX).

Dr. Westphal was also co-founder of Alnara Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Eli Lilly in 2010); cofounder/CEO of DEM Bio Pharma; co-founder/CEO of Immunitas Therapeutics; co-founder/Chair of Solu Therapeutics; co-founder of Tome Biosciences; co-founder of Pyxis Oncology (NASDAQ: PYXS); and cofounder of Concert Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CNCE, acquired by Sun Pharma in 2023).

Companies founded by Dr. Westphal have created thousands of jobs in the Boston area.

Dr. Westphal and Longwood partners have founded over 20 biotech companies, received FDA approval for over 20 important drugs, including the first RNAi therapy; for currently incurable cancers; the largestselling heparin in the United States; a therapy for MS; for Beta Thalassemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome; and several experimental medicines: for cystic fibrosis (phase 3); for serious inflammatory disorders (phase 2), and created sustained market caps of over $100 billion.

Dr. Westphal earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University; and he graduated with a B.A. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University. Dr. Westphal has served or currently serves as a member or director of: the Boston Commercial Club, the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s (BIO) Emerging Companies Section Governing Board, the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School, and the Board of Trustees of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; he is also a member of the ownership group of the Boston Celtics. Dr. Westphal has been the lead or senior author on several patent applications and scientific papers in journals such as Cell, Nature, and Nature Genetics. Dr. Westphal has been featured on 60 Minutes with Morley Safer, CNN’s Vital Signs with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, an ABC News Special hosted by Barbara Walters, and as the subject of Fortune, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal cover articles. Dr. Westphal has generally avoided media interviews since 2010.