Jens Eckstein named President of SR One

Jens Eckstein has been named President of SR One, GSK’s independent healthcare venture organisation, effective 1 October. Jens will report to R&D Chairman Moncef Slaoui and be based in Boston. He replaces Christoph Westphal, who will be leaving GSK at the end of the year to focus on external business interests, including the Longwood Founder’s Fund, in which GSK is an investor.

As President of SR One, Jens will oversee the overall activities of the group and manage the investment and support team. He will be responsible for evaluating the technology, business model, management team, investor base and financial status of non-public companies in promising technologies and sciences in order to determine their suitability for investment by SR One.

“Jens’ training as a chemist, his experience in pharmaceutical discovery and development and his accomplishments as a biotech entrepreneur will provide SR One with continued strong leadership,” Moncef said.

A biochemist by training, Jens has worked for TVM Capital since 2004 and was a General Partner in the firm’s life sciences practice, focusing on early stage investments. Earlier this year, he became Venture Partner and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at TVM and also was appointed interim CEO and President of SelectX Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining TVM Capital, Jens worked at Enanta Pharmaceuticals and Mitotix, Inc.