Lars Ekman

Bio

Lars has more than 25 years in both senior executive, scientific, and clinical functions, as well as several clinical and academic positions in both the United States and Europe. Lars joined Sofinnova Ventures in 2008 as an Executive Partner to lend his extensive Life Science experience to the investment team in driving new companies toward success.Prior to joining Sofinnova Ventures, Lars held the position of President of Research and Development at Elan, and currently serves as an advisor to the Board of Directors. He continues to chair the Science and Technology Committee, which has as its charter to provide long-term strategic guidance and input to the Chairman and CEO on matters relating to Elan’s research platform and portfolio. Lars joined Elan in January 2001, and he is credited with advancing Elan\'s drug discovery pipeline during this period. Under his leadership, Elan received approval for four U.S. New Drug Applications, three European Marketing Approval Applications, and five Investigational New Drug Applications. These efforts resulted in bringing to market innovative drugs addressing Elan\'s Alzheimer\'s Immunotherapy Programs. Prior to joining Elan, he was EVP, Research and Development at Schwarz Pharma AG beginning in 1997. From 1984 to 1997, Dr. Ekman was employed in a variety of senior scientific and clinical functions at Pharmacia, now Pfizer. Lars sits on the Board of Directors of ARYx Therapeutics, Fremont, CA, and InterMune, Inc., Brisbane, CA. He is also CEO and Executive Board Member of Cebix, La Jolla, CA. Lars is a board-certified surgeon with a Ph.D. in Experimental Biology and has held several clinical and academic positions in both the United States and Europe. He obtained his Ph.D. and M.D. from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.