Dr. Axel Polack

General Partner (based in Munich)

Dr. Axel Polack joined TVM Capital in 2000. As an investment manager he is in charge of  investments in project-focused companies as well as traditional venture capital investments. Dr. Polack’s expertise is based upon scientific training in various disciplines, broad understanding of the drug development process (molecular and translational medicine) as well as commercial experience resulting from his strategic and operational responsibilities as a board member as well as  a member of management in various  startup companies .

Dr. Axel Polack joined TVM Capital in 2000. As an investment manager he is in charge of  investments in project-focused companies as well as traditional venture capital investments. Dr. Polack’s expertise is based upon scientific training in various disciplines, broad understanding of the drug development process (molecular and translational medicine) as well as commercial experience resulting from his strategic and operational responsibilities as a board member as well as  a member of management in various  startup companies . Additionally to his entrepreneurial capacity within the portfolio and company management he is focusing on sourcing and assessment of new investment opportunities.

Dr. Polack is a member of the Board of Directors of Noxxon Pharma AG (Berlin, Germany), Invendo Medical (Kissing, Germany, f-star (Vienna, Austria), Bluebird Bio (Cambridge, MA, USA) and Probiodrug AG (Halle, Germany).

Before  joining TVM Capital, Dr. Polack was General Manager of Innovative Technologies Neuherberg GmbH (ITN – now known as Ascenion).  Ascenion acts as a marketing partner to research institutions of the Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft, for example, GSF – National Research Center for Environment and Health GmbH, which licenses patents and fosters start-up companies. In the eight years prior to Ascenion, Dr. Polack was the deputy head of the GSF – Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology. He holds a doctorate summa cum laude in medicine from the University of Freiburg and a Second Thesis (postdoctoral lecture qualification “Habilitation”) in the field of virology. Dr. Polack is also a member of the Governance Committee of Systems Biology Ireland (SBI).

Dr. Polack’s doctoral thesis was honored with the Goedecke Research prize for outstanding fundamental research in medicine. In 1995 he was appointed assistant professor/private lecturer (“PD”) by the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich. Since 1984 he has co-authored more than 50 publications in peer review journals.