Solas BioVentures announces the addition of Michael F. Ackermann, Ph.D., MBA, as a managing director. Mike brings his 30+ years of executive experience in pharmaceutical development to Solas, where he will also lead the firm’s due diligence efforts on early-stage pharma investments.
He is a recognized transformational business leader with an outstanding record of success in strategic and operational assignments in pharmaceutical development and commercialization. He has led the successful launch of major pharmaceutical products, while building and developing teams to improve the performance of multiple organizations. He is also the co-founder, COO and business development lead for Arrivo BioVentures, of Morrisville, NC, LLC, an early phase clinical development company.
Arrivo BioVentures is a key portfolio holding of Solas BioVentures Fund 1. Prior to that, he held senior positions at Quintiles Transnational and Eli Lilly & CO.
He holds a BS degree in biology from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, a PhD in immunology from the Drexel University College of Medicine and an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, he served as the Fogarty International Post-Doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health/NIEHS.
“Having Mike join us to lead our diligence efforts is invaluable for the Solas brand. I have worked with Mike prior to and with him as a board member at Arrivo BioVentures. Simply put, we believe Mike is the best person to lead our discussions around asset selection, and ultimately heading up our North Carolina presence. We have several strategic asset investments in the great state of North Carolina. Mike will remain crucial to our Arrivo effort but will add much needed bench depth to our local touch. He will be a welcomed partner to our continued hunt for monumental contributions to our fellow mankind. Mike is cut from the same cloth of the Solas team, with a patient-first focus,” said Dr. David Adair, co-founder and managing general partner of Solas BioVentures.