Christoph Westphal

Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D., co-founded Sirtris Pharmaceuticals in 2004 with David Sinclair and served as Chief Executive Officer until April 2010.^[1] Dr. Westphal also founded the Longwood Founders Fund ^[2] and was previously the President of SR One, the corporate venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).^[3]

Current Position

Westphal is currently the executive chairman of Verastem. Westphal was previously the President of SR One, which is a GSK venture capital firm that invests globally in emerging life science companies. Dr. Westphal is a Founder and General Partner of the Longwood Founders Fund, a venture capital fund based in Boston. In addition, he serves as the Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of Sirtris.

Westphal currently serves on the Board of Directors of Ovascience (Nasdaq OVAS) and Verastem (Nasdaq VSTM), and the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School and the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Westphal has been the lead or senior author on several patent applications and scientific papers in journals, including Cell, Nature and Nature Genetics.^[4] l

Background

A serial biotech entrepreneur,^[5] Westphal has been recognized for his rare ability to combine cutting-edge science with business acumen.^[6] He has cofounded 5 companies as largest investor and CEO—Alnylam, Momenta, Sirtris, Acceleron, and Verastem (Nasdaq ALNY, MNTA, SIRT, XLRN, VSTM).

In 2004, Westphal co-founded Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, which is developing new drug candidates that target the sirtuins, a recently discovered family of enzymes that appear to control aging to treat diseases of aging including Type 2 diabetes, inflammatory disorders and cancer. In 2007, Westphal led the company through its initial public offering, resulting in recognition by the Boston Globe as one of the Globe 100 top companies that year.^[7] In June 2008, GSK acquired Sirtris for $720 million.^[8]

Westphal has been featured on 60 Minutes with Morley Safer,^[9] CNN’s Vital Signs with Dr. Sanjay Gupta,^[10] an ABC News Special hosted by Barbara Walters,^[11] and as the subject of a Fortune cover article.^[12] In April 2010, Fortune named Westphal one of their Fortune Visionaries, along with Academy Award winning director James Cameron and Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi.^[13]

Prior to his role at SR One, Westphal served as the Senior Vice President of GSK’s Centre of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (ceedd).^[14]

Westphal was previously a partner at Polaris ventures, where he was a co-founder and CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, (NASDAQ: ALNY), Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MNTA) and Acceleron Pharma. He was also co-founder of Concert and Alnara (sold to Lilly in 2010). Prior to establishing Sirtris, Westphal was a general partner at a venture fund and a consultant with McKinsey & Company.

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.

In 2002, he was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.^[15]

Personal life

Westphal has visited over 130 countries and plays the cello. He is also fluent in English, German, Spanish and French.

Honors

• Stevie Award for Executive of the Year from The 2009 American Business Awards ^[16]
• 2009 E-3 Public Company Science & Technology Company Executive Award at the annual Emerald Investment Forum ^[17]
• 2008 Outstanding Individual of the Year Award at the annual Laguna Biotech CEO Meeting ^[18]
• 2008 Corporate Leader Award of Distinction from the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) ^[19]
• Recognition in the Pharmaceutical Executive “45 Under 45,” 2008 ^[20]
• Recognition in the PharmaVOICE 100, a list of the 100 most inspiring people in the life-sciences industry, 2008 ^[21]
• Mass High Tech All Star Award in 2007 ^[22]
• Ernst & Young’s New England Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Biopharmaceutical category in 2006 ^[23]
• Named one of Fortune's Fortune Visionaries in 2010 ^[24]

References