With decades of success in the identification of breakthrough science, deal making and venture investing, Dr. Schoenbeck offers expertise and skill sets that align well with Canaan’s vision for partnering with entrepreneurs to create and support transformational companies
Firm adds fresh capital to support biopharmaceutical investment strategy; has now raised more than $1 billion since early 2023 to be deployed by healthcare and technology investment teams
MENLO PARK, Calif., April 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Canaan, a venture capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs with visionary ideas, announced the addition of Uwe Schoenbeck, Ph.D., to its healthcare investment team as a new Venture Partner. Dr. Schoenbeck’s impressive career has spanned more than 25 years in the life science and healthcare industry, as well as academia, providing him with an exceptional global network among leading research institutions, biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies, and venture firms. He is highly regarded for his contributions in enabling and translating emerging science into breakthrough therapies, reaching from scientific collaborations, licensing, and acquisition deals to venture investing. In joining Canaan’s healthcare investment team, Dr. Schoenbeck will help drive new investments and company creation from Canaan XIII, the firm’s latest fund, by bringing in deep scientific and pharmaceutical perspectives, while also serving as a valuable resource to companies across the firm’s existing biopharma portfolio. To this end, he has already facilitated his first investment as a member of the team, leading Canaan’s participation in the recently announced $132 million Series B financing for Alterome Therapeutics and being named a member of the company’s board of directors.
Most recently, Dr. Schoenbeck served as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer Emerging Science & Innovation (ES&I) in Pfizer’s Worldwide Research, Development & Medical (WRDM) division. In leading ES&I, he worked to harness external breakthrough science, assets, and technologies by leveraging a broad range of partnering vehicles. In addition to his business development activities, which included research collaborations, consortia, licensing, and acquisitions, he was also responsible for driving a cross-therapeutic portfolio via Pfizer’s dedicated academic partnering model, the Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI). Under his leadership, numerous CTI projects advanced into Pfizer’s clinical pipeline, providing critical Phase 2 and Phase 3 asset contributions to the portfolio. Others advanced to the point of successful spinouts, including the recently announced acquisition of the anti-TL1A inflammatory bowel disease asset for $7.1 billion. In his position, Dr. Schoenbeck also enabled the formation and advancement of dozens of early external companies through seed and equity investments, more than a dozen of which were acquired by or partnered with Pfizer or other large pharmaceutical companies.
“It is not often that we have the opportunity to add someone of Uwe’s caliber and track record to the Canaan investment team. He is a particularly good fit for Canaan as he shares our vision for how to identify breakthrough science, team with entrepreneurs, create and support biopharma companies, and, ultimately, advance patient care,” said Tim Shannon, M.D., General Partner at Canaan.
“We are thrilled to bring Uwe and his wide-ranging expertise on board. He will undoubtedly be instrumental in Canaan’s success as we continue to strategically deploy capital to drive impactful biopharma and therapeutic innovations on behalf of patients in need,” added Julie Grant, General Partner at Canaan.
“I am excited to join Canaan and bring my expertise and network to the team. Canaan’s outstanding reputation and track record of identifying and enabling cutting-edge science of high potential were key drivers in my decision to join the firm and I am looking forward to further expanding on both as part of the team,” said Dr. Schoenbeck.
Prior to his tenure with Pfizer, Dr. Schoenbeck served as Vice President, Emerging R&D Innovation for Wyeth, and Vice President, Cardiovascular Research for Boehringer Ingelheim. Before joining industry, he held an Assistant Professor of Medicine position at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He has served as a reviewer for multiple peer-reviewed journals and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, review articles, book chapters and abstracts with particular contributions in molecular and cell biology, cardiovascular research, immunology, and metabolism.
In additional news, Canaan today reported that it has expanded the size of its biopharma investment funds with the addition of more than $100 million in new capital. This brings the total amount of funds raised by the firm since early 2023 to more than $1 billion. Nearly half of this capital is earmarked for deployment by Canaan’s healthcare investment team, with the remainder being allocated to the firm’s technology investment team for new and existing portfolio companies in the enterprise software, frontier tech, financial tech, and consumer tech sectors.
“Our healthcare and technology teams have been diligently making progress executing investments in partnership with entrepreneurs to create and support transformational companies. The addition of Uwe and the new funds we raised will enable us to continue advancing today’s most innovative science to produce important new medicines capable of addressing significant unmet needs of patients around the world,” said John J. Pacifico, General Partner, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of Canaan.
In 2023, Canaan announced that it had raised a new fund, Canaan XIII, intended to support visionary entrepreneurs seeking seed and Series A funding with reserves to support companies through exits including merger and acquisition (M&A) activity and initial public offerings (IPOs). The healthcare effort for Canaan XIII is dedicated to the creation of biopharmaceutical and therapeutics companies and early investments in areas that Canaan believes represent highest unmet clinical and medical needs and in which new medicines can significantly enhance patient care and outcomes. This includes oncology, immunology, and neurology, along with larger therapeutic indications such as cardiology and respiratory, where promising clinical-stage assets are often overlooked or neglected within the industry. With Canaan XIII, the team will specifically seek to prioritize new modalities, including the latest genetically defined precision approaches that it believes are capable of producing impactful new medicines that drive meaningful clinical outcomes.
About Canaan
Canaan is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs with visionary ideas. With more than $7 billion under management, a diversified fund, and hundreds of exits to date, we partner with entrepreneurs building the next generation of technology and healthcare companies that will transform how we live, work, and thrive. To learn more about our people and our portfolio, please visit: www.canaan.com
Contacts:
Vida Strategic Partners (on behalf of Canaan Healthcare Team)Tim Brons
415-675-7402
[email protected]
SOURCE Canaan
