Michael Powell
Managing General Partner @ Sofinnova Investments
Menlo Park, United States
Michael Powell is a Series A investor at Sofinnova Investments in Menlo Park focused on Biotechnology and Health Care. Mike Powell, Ph.D., has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical development experience, and he has focused interest in clinical-stage product companies, particularly in the oncology, endocrine, and neurology areas. He joined Sofinnova Ventures as a General Partner in 1997 as a member of the Life Science investment team. Prior to becoming a venturecapitalist, Mike worked on 20 clinical products and authored almost 100 papers and books, including an 1,100–page treatise on vaccine design. Mike was an early investor in Actelion (SWX: ATLN), InterMune (Nasdaq: ITMN), Anesiva (Nasdaq: ANSV), Orexigen Therapeutics (Nasdaq: OREX), Seattle Genetics (Nasdaq: SGEN), and Threshold Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: THLD), as well as several private companies such as Ascenta and Trius Therapeutics. Mike is currently Board President of AVAC (AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition), a past Advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a Strategic Advisor to One World Health, and a Founding Venture Advisory Board member of the IAVI Innovation Fund. He flies too much, but he loves it.Mike was Group Leader of Drug Delivery at Genentech (1990-97) where his focus was developing new therapeutics. In 1987 he was part of the founding team of Cytel; as Director of Product Development, he was responsible for the company's early growth, which culminated in a successful IPO. Before this he was Scientist and Project Team Leader at Syntex Research. Mike had the honor of being the first scientist from the biotechnology industry to be elected a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. He was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Kansas, an Editorial Board member of J. Pharm. Sci., and a Scientific Advisor to the Controlled Release Society.He received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 1981, and completed his post-doctorate work in Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of California, where he was subsequently a faculty member (1981-84).
- Total investments:
- 12
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 42%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Michael Powell invests in
Stages Michael Powell invests in
Countries Michael Powell invests in
Contacts
| Type | Contact | Validation |
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| Work email | ||
| Personal email | ||
| Work phone | ||
| Personal phone | ||
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Investment Focus
Industry
- Biotechnology 5 (42%)
- Health Care 4 (33%)
- Therapeutics 4 (33%)
- Pharmaceutical 4 (33%)
- Medical 3 (25%)
Stage
- Series A 4 (33%)
- Series B 4 (33%)
- Series C 2 (17%)
- Series D 1 (8%)
Country
- United States 6 (50%)
- United Kingdom 2 (17%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerium Therapeutics is discovering and developing novel monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and antiviral treatments against SARS-CoV-2 variants. | Series A / Mar 22, 2022 | ||
| Checkmate Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new approach for cancer immunotherapy. The clinical programs are focused on enabling more people with cancer to benefit from the promise of novel immunotherapies. They leveraging their expertise in the field of CpG oligonucleotides to discover and develop immunotherapiesdesigned to increase the efficacy of existing immunotherapies and to provide new treatment options for patients and their healthcare providers.Checkmate Pharmaceutical was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. | $85M / Series C / Jun 10, 2020 | ||
| Veridium, the leader in modern passwordless authentication. Veridium is the most comprehensive Integrated Identity Platform powered by AI-based Behavioural Biometrics, enabling Multi Factor Authentication, digital ID verification and a true Passwordless experience for employees and clients. | $16.5M / Series B / Jun 29, 2018 | ||
| Pionyr Immunotherapeutics is developing cancer immunotherapies that target the tumor microenvironment to enhance the body’s antitumor immunity. The company is exploiting novel target discovery and antibody generation platform technologies to create the next generation of immuno-oncology therapeutics. The company’s approach, Myeloid Tuning™, isdesigned to enhance the immune system’s anti-tumor response by altering the cellular infiltrate of the tumor microenvironment with high specificity. | $62M / Series B / Dec 13, 2017 | ||
| Checkmate Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new approach for cancer immunotherapy. The clinical programs are focused on enabling more people with cancer to benefit from the promise of novel immunotherapies. They leveraging their expertise in the field of CpG oligonucleotides to discover and develop immunotherapiesdesigned to increase the efficacy of existing immunotherapies and to provide new treatment options for patients and their healthcare providers.Checkmate Pharmaceutical was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. | $27M / Series B / Jun 15, 2017 | ||
| Checkmate Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new approach for cancer immunotherapy. The clinical programs are focused on enabling more people with cancer to benefit from the promise of novel immunotherapies. They leveraging their expertise in the field of CpG oligonucleotides to discover and develop immunotherapiesdesigned to increase the efficacy of existing immunotherapies and to provide new treatment options for patients and their healthcare providers.Checkmate Pharmaceutical was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. | $20M / Series A / Aug 12, 2015 | ||
| Mirna Therapeutics, Inc. (Mirna) is a discovery-stage biopharmaceutical research and development company focused on miRNA-directed human oncology therapies. Featuring world-class research capabilities, a strong understanding of miRNA and cancer biology, and an expansive IP portfolio, Mirna Therapeutics is well-positioned to capitalize on theemerging field of miRNA-based therapeutics. | $41.8M / Series D / Apr 30, 2015 | ||
Labrys Biologics
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Labrys Biologics Inc., a company focused on treatments for chronic migraine. Labrys Biologics has acquired worldwide rights to RN-307 from Pfizer Inc. RN-307 is an antibody for the treatment of chronic migraine. | $31M / Series A / Jan 03, 2013 | |
| Mirna Therapeutics, Inc. (Mirna) is a discovery-stage biopharmaceutical research and development company focused on miRNA-directed human oncology therapies. Featuring world-class research capabilities, a strong understanding of miRNA and cancer biology, and an expansive IP portfolio, Mirna Therapeutics is well-positioned to capitalize on theemerging field of miRNA-based therapeutics. | $34.5M / Series C / Oct 24, 2012 | ||
| Intellikine works in the discovery and development of novel, small molecule therapies targeting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Intellikine is committed to building an exceptional team and a powerful discovery platform that rapidly generates small molecule kinase inhibitor drug candidates that will become the next generation of medicalbreakthroughs. | $51M / Series B / Jul 22, 2009 | ||
| See all 12 investments → | |||
Co-Investors
About Sofinnova Investments
Sofinnova Ventures has partnered with entrepreneurs to secure initial funding, build successful teams, win key customers, and navigate acquisitions and IPOs. Sofinnova Ventures invests in Life Science and Technology start-ups. Their professionals are seasoned business operators, possessing deep domain and investment expertise. They know how to helpentrepreneurs build successful, global businesses.
Sofinnova Investments Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Jakob Dupont
Executive Partner
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James Healy
General Partner & President
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Jonathan Leff
Executive Partner, Private Equity
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Lesley Weber
San Diego Office Manager & EA
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Maha Radhakrishnan
Executive Partner
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FAQ
What does Michael Powell invest in?
Michael Powell invests primarily in Biotechnology, Health Care and Therapeutics startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 12 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
How do I contact Michael Powell?
Public channels for Michael Powell include LinkedIn. 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.
When did Michael Powell last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Michael Powell closed in Mar 2022. Shizune tracks 12 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 Oct 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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