# Ascendis Pharma

> Ascendis Pharma is a VC fund backing Life Science and Biotechnology. See 3 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Sep 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Palo Alto, United States
- Total investments: 3
- Last investment: Jan 2021
- Lead investor: 67%
- Last updated: Sep 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascendis-pharma-a-s/
- Website: http://ascendispharma.com

Ascendis Pharma is a VC fund in Palo Alto focused on Life Science and Biotechnology. Ascendis Pharma has built a high value pipeline with the aim of changing clinical treatment paradigms. Using our innovative TransCon prodrug technology platform, we continue to identify new opportunities addressing areas of high unmet medical need. TransCon is applicable to all drug classes, and is currently being used to create superior prodrugsof proteins, peptides and small molecules. Depending on choice of TransCon Carrier, either systemic or localized drug exposure is achieved, while dosing frequency is determined by the choice of TransCon Linker. The prodrugs are new chemical entities with new patent life. Product development process is de-risked, as the prodrugs release the active component in its native and unmodified form, maintaining the original drug’s well known mode of action.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Ascendis Pharma. Shizune tracks 7 team members at Ascendis Pharma. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/ascendis-pharma?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Series A | $40M–$40M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Life Science | 1 | 33% |
| Biotechnology | 1 | 33% |
| Pharmaceutical | 1 | 33% |

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 1 | 33% |
| Series B | 1 | 33% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Birgitte Volck | Non Executive Director | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/birgitte-volck |
| Harald Rau | Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/harald-rau |
| Jan Møller Mikkelsen | Co-Founder, President and CEO | 2 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jan-m%C3%B8ller-mikkelsen |
| Lotte Sønderbjerg | SVP Chief Administrative Offer Managing Director Ascendis GmbH | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lotte-s%C3%B8nderbjerg |
| Michael Beckert | Chief Medical Officer (acting) | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/michael-beckert |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Visen Pharmaceuticals | Visen Pharmaceuticals is a biotech company focused on developing and commercializing innovative endocrine drugs that address significant unmet needs for patients in Greater China. | $150M | Series B | Jan 08, 2021 |  |
| Visen Pharmaceuticals | Visen Pharmaceuticals is a biotech company focused on developing and commercializing innovative endocrine drugs that address significant unmet needs for patients in Greater China. | $40M | Series A | Nov 13, 2018 |  |
| Visen Pharmaceuticals | Visen Pharmaceuticals is a biotech company focused on developing and commercializing innovative endocrine drugs that address significant unmet needs for patients in Greater China. | $40M | Series A | Nov 13, 2018 |  |

3 of 3 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Vivo Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/vivo-capital) — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- [Sofinnova Investments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sofinnova-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [CDG Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cdg-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Cormorant Asset Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cormorant-asset-management) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [HBM Healthcare Investments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hbm-healthcare-investments-ag) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [HSG](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hsg-cap) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## Featured in investor lists
- [Life Science Investors in China](https://shizune.co/investors/life-science-investors-china)
- [Life Science VC Funds in China](https://shizune.co/investors/life-science-vc-funds-china)

## FAQ

### What does Ascendis Pharma invest in?

Ascendis Pharma invests primarily in Life Science, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 3 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in China. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Ascendis Pharma's check size?

Ascendis Pharma typically joins rounds of $40M–$40M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Ascendis Pharma participates in.

### How do I contact Ascendis Pharma?

Public channels for Ascendis Pharma include LinkedIn and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Ascendis Pharma?

The team at Ascendis Pharma includes Birgitte Volck (Non Executive Director), Harald Rau (Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer) and Jan Møller Mikkelsen (Co-Founder, President and CEO), among 7 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Sep 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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