# Michael Martin

> Michael Martin is a Series A investor at Takeda Ventures backing Health Care and Biotechnology. See 3 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Takeda Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/takeda-ventures)
- Location: La Jolla, United States
- Total investments: 3
- Last investment: Feb 2022
- Lead investor: 33%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-martin-859b6ba

Michael Martin is a Series A investor at Takeda Ventures in La Jolla focused on Health Care and Biotechnology. Dr. Martin joined TVI in April 2015 and is based in San Diego, CA. His professional background includes pharma business development and broad R&D experiences with an integral role in the discovery and preclinical/clinical development of 17 innovative investigational drugs and 2 commercial products. Dr. Martin was most recently a member ofGlobal Licensing and Business Development at Takeda, heading efforts for globally sourcing and transacting technologies and early stage pipeline programs. Dr. Martin joined Takeda in January 2012 through the acquisition of Intellikine where he was Vice President of Preclinical Development. Additionally, he has held executive and senior management and scientific positions with TargeGen (acquired by Sanofi-Aventis), Arena Pharmaceuticals, and Monsanto Corporation. Dr. Martin earned his doctorate in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Illinois and holds a M.S. degree in analytical chemistry and B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Mathematics.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Health Care | 2 | 67% |
| Biotechnology | 2 | 67% |
| Pharmaceutical | 2 | 67% |
| Medical | 1 | 33% |
| Big Data | 1 | 33% |

7 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 2 | 67% |
| Series C | 1 | 33% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Koneksa Health | Koneksa Health is a healthcare data analytics company that helps researchers incorporate emerging technologies (bio-sensors, activity trackers, mobile-based questionnaires, etc.) into their clinical studies. Their Koneksa Compare software dashboard enables the collection, visualization, and analysis of these patient-generated data sets.Koneksacurrently supports academic and life sciences researchers, expands the universe of data that can be analyzed while also removing subjective characteristics from clinical endpoints. It was founded in 2015 and is based in New York, United States. | $45M | Series C | Feb 07, 2022 |  |
| Redpin Therapeutics | Redpin Therapeutics operates as a preclinical stage gene therapy company. It develops a proprietary chemogenetics platform for targeted cell therapies that address currently intractable diseases of the nervous system. Its approach integrates powerful principles from synthetic biology, gene therapy, and traditional pharmacotherapy. The company wasfounded in 2017 and is headquartered in New York. | $15.5M | Series A | Mar 25, 2020 |  |
| OrphoMed | OrphoMed is a San Francisco Bay Area pharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel first-in-class therapeutic dimer conjugates based on its proprietary DIMERx™ platform technology. The company is leveraging its DIMERx™ technology to address the problem of visceral hypersensitivity and pancreatitis in the treatment of gastrointestinaldisorders and the unmet medical needs in the treatment of both peripheral neuropathic and systemic nociceptive pain.The lead candidate ORP-101 is a peripherally acting sodium ion channel blocker (Nav 1.7), mu agonist/kappa antagonist dimer. The molecule does not cross the blood brain barrier and, unlike other opioids that constrict the sphincter of Oddi, ORP-101, when given intravenously in animal studies, has instead been shown to relax the sphincter. The former attribute implies no abuse potential and the latter minimizes the risks of pancreatitis and/or abdominal pain related to sphincter of Oddi constriction. These two attributes, in combination with the well-understood pharmacology of ORP-101, make the molecule a suitable candidate for chronic treatment of conditions associated with visceral and somatic hypersensitivity and hyperalgesia. Therefore we have positioned ORP-101 for two non-overlapping indications: the oral form for colonic hyperalgesia and gastric dysmotility in IBS-D and the parenteral form for the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain. The potential clinical benefits are backed by compelling data from validated animal models.The company is also developing potent non-opioid and opioid conjugates to treat acute and chronic nociceptive pain. The non-opioid analgesic conjugate is designed to be non-ulcerogenic and liver-safe and, therefore, has the potential to reshape the pain market served by acetaminophen and NSAIDs. Similarly, the opioid conjugate is designed to be orally active and have a lower potential for dependence than currently available opioids.DIMERx™ technology results in conjugates designed to preserve the receptor pharmacology of their individual constituents, but to have therapeutic profiles well suited for different clinical indications. The components of the conjugates have all been previously proven to be safe and effective for other indications and, therefore, the conjugates have reduced developmental risks. The DIMERx™ conjugates are considered to be new molecular entities and have composition of matter intellectual property protection. | $39M | Series A | May 24, 2017 |  |

3 of 3 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [4BIO Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/4bio-capital-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Alexandria Venture Investments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alexandria-venture-investments) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Arkin Bio Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/arkin-bio-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [dRx Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/drx-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Matrix Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/matrix-capital-management) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [McKesson Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mckesson-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Takeda Ventures

VC Fund · San Diego, United States

Takeda Ventures, Inc. (TVI) is the corporate investment arm of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TPC). TVI was founded in 2001 and invests in current and future areas of interest for TPC. They are based alongside Takeda’s R&D sites in Cambridge, MA, and San Diego, CA. As a strategic investor, TVI aims to provide support and guidance toentrepreneurs and early-stage companies driving concepts through clinical proof of concept. They also strive to forge active, collaborative interactions that result in synergies with Takeda's considerable R&D resources. Their goal is to build a portfolio of strategic investments, with an immediate emphasis on oncology, gastroenterology, neuroscience, and rare diseases.

1 contacts available at Takeda Ventures.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Michael Martin | Head of Takeda Ventures, Inc. | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/michael-martin-13 |

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## FAQ

### What does Michael Martin invest in?

Michael Martin invests primarily in Health Care, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical startups, most often at Series A and Series C stage. Most of the 3 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Michael Martin last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Michael Martin closed in Feb 2022. Shizune tracks 3 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### 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 Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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