Invivo appoints Claudio Santos as Entrepreneur in Residence
Claudio Santos is currently the CEO of Gyala and Pulmobiotics, two portfolio companies of Invivo Ventures
Barcelona, Spain, January 31st, 2023
Invivo, a Spanish venture capital firm that creates and invests in companies using leading-edge science to change patient outcomes, today announced the appointment of Claudio Santos, PhD as an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR). He will support Invivo’s activities at different levels, including deal flow, due diligence of new investment opportunities and C-level management of newly created companies.
Dr. Santos brings a diverse background in biomedical research, technology transfer, venture capital and management of biotechnological companies. He is, and will remain, the CEO of two companies in the portfolio of Invivo Ventures: Gyala Therapeutics, a spin-off of Hospital Clínic de Barcelona developing a CAR-T cell therapy against a novel target to fight haematological malignancies; and Pulmobiotics, a synthetic biology company harnessing technology developed by Luis Serrano and Maria Lluch at CRG to develop live biotherapeutics for the treatment of lung diseases.
Commenting on his appointment, Claudio said “I am very happy to join Invivo at such an exciting time for the firm and the biotech environment in Spain. Invivo’s track record is impressive, with several companies from their first fund recently signing licensing or acquisition agreements. Going forward, their focus on technology transfer and company creation around advanced therapies and synthetic biology, as well as their belief that seeking patient benefit should guide every decision made, closely aligns with my views and outlook for the field.”
Prior to taking the CEO role at Gyala and Pulmobiotics, Claudio worked as an independent consultant to biotech companies and venture capital funds, as Chief Business Officer at Highlight Therapeutics and as Director of Strategic Planning at AdorX Therapeutics (a company that signed a strategic partnership with J&J in 2019). Before, he was an Investment Associate at the CRT Pioneer Fund (UK), where he led investments in Achilles Therapeutics, Artios Pharma, Neophore Ltd and the “Ras inhibitor program” (partnered with Novartis) and a Technology Transfer Manager at Cancer Research Technology, contributing to technology license agreements with MSD and BioInvent AB.
“We started working with Claudio in 2020 as part of our commitment to support portfolio companies by helping them recruit for C-level, Board and SAB positions”, said Dr. Luis Pareras, Managing Partner at Invivo. “We believe his experience in different roles across the biotech innovation ecosystem will be an asset for Invivo, as we move forward with making and nurturing new investments.”
About Invivo
Invivo is a Spanish venture capital firm founded by Dr Luis Pareras and Albert Ferrer with more than 70M€ under management through its funds Healthequity and Invivo Ventures. Invivo Ventures FCR has a majority of private investors, with the support of institutional investors such as the European Investment Fund (EIF), Fond-ICO Global, the Catalan Finance Institute, the Valencia Institute of Finance and the Barcelona City Council.