Management Team
Stefan Willemsen
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Stefan is a performance-driven executive leader with 21 years of experience In Vitro Diagnostics and Life Science Tools Industries. Prior to joining the Covid Apollo Project Stefan acted as President and CEO of Biomerieux Inc. from 2014 until 2020. Prior to that he served as Executive Vice President of Business Development and Chief Legal Officer for the Biomerieux Group and led the acquisition of Biofire Diagnostics. Before that he was 10 years in legal, business development and strategic portfolio development roles at Roche Diagnostics. Stefan is an Attorney by training with bar admission in Germany and New York. He holds a Master Degree in International Business Transactions from George Washington University and is a 2013 graduate of the Advanced Management Program from INSEAD.
Szymon Karwowski
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY AND DATA OFFICER
Szymon is the Chief Technology and Data officer for Covid Apollo. Szymon Karwowski brings 15 years of financial and data analytics experience to Covid Apollo. Prior to joining Covid Apollo Szymon was Senior Director of Business Analytics at Biomerieux, Inc. bringing technology to commercial and financial analytics. Prior to Biomerieux he was a structured derivatives analyst at Credit Suisse. Szymon holds a B.S. in Economics from Campbell University and a Masters in Financial Management from Campbell University.
Board of Directors
Nate Davis
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Nate Davis is a Senior Associate with the TechAtlas division of RA Capital Management. Nate’s primary responsibility at RA Capital is to create competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices for disease indications and capabilities. Nate has a BS in Biological Sciences from University of Vermont. Nate previously worked as an Investment Analyst at Wolfram Ventures.
Michael Altman
DIRECTOR
Michael Altman joined Perceptive in 2007 and is a managing director on the investment team. His focus is on medical devices, diagnostics, digital health and Specialty Pharmaceuticals. He is also a member of the investment committee for the credit opportunities fund. Additionally, Michael serves as the CFO and Director of ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp II & III. Prior to Perceptive he was a healthcare trader and analyst at First New York Securities. Michael graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Business Administration. Michael serves on the board of directors for Lyra Therapeutics and Vitruvius Therapeutics.
Cory Freedland
DIRECTOR
Cory is Principal at Samsara BioCapital. Prior to Samsara, Cory was a Principal at Sofinnova Ventures where he focused on biopharmaceutical investments. Before his transition to healthcare investing, he was a Vice President in the healthcare investment banking practice at Morgan Stanley where he advised on over $12 billion of strategic and financing transactions in the biopharmaceutical and life science tools/diagnostics sectors. Prior to transitioning to life sciences finance, Cory worked as a research scientist for Roche focusing on preclinical drug discovery and novel target identification for psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Cory received his PhD in Pharmacology from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. Cory holds a BA in Psychology and Religious Studies from Connecticut College.
Ben Lund
DIRECTOR
Ben is a Principal on the Bain Capital Life Sciences team, which he rejoined in 2018. Ben initially joined Bain Capital in 2012 as an Associate on the North American Private Equity team, focused on Healthcare. From 2014 to 2017, Ben was a Vice President at Paulson & Co., focused on public and private equity investments in Healthcare. From 2017 to 2018, he was a Partner at Soleus Capital, an investment firm focused on public and private equity investments in Life Sciences. Prior to initially joining Bain Capital, Ben was an Analyst in the Healthcare Investment Banking group at Goldman Sachs. Ben graduated with Phi Beta Kappa distinction from Princeton University with an AB in Molecular Biology and Neuroscience.
Amrit Nagpal
DIRECTOR
Amrit Nagpal is a Partner and Managing Director at Redmile Group, LLC, a health care-focused investment firm based in San Francisco and New York. Prior to Redmile Group, he worked as an analyst and portfolio manager at Weintraub Capital Management, and before that at Robertson Stephens, a San Francisco-based investment bank. Amrit holds a B.A. in Economic from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of Management.