Dr. Mirko Scherer and Sebastian Meier-Ewert, Ph.D. Join MPM Senior Investment Team

BOSTON and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MPM Capital announced today that Dr. Mirko Scherer and Sebastian Meier-Ewert, Ph.D., have joined MPM as Managing Directors.  They will be based in Munich, Germany.

"Mirko and Sebastian will support us in our strategy to increase MPM's focus on European investment opportunities," said Ansbert Gadicke, Managing Director and Co-Founder. "We see an increase in attractive opportunities in Europe, where innovation continues to be strong but where the financing environment has been challenging for some time. Mirko and Sebastian are experienced entrepreneurs with a strong European network through their founding and long-time management of GPC Biotech. Through MPM's lead investment in GPC Biotech's first two financings in 1997/1999 – resulting in an excellent return for our BV1 fund, I have been working with Mirko and Sebastian successfully for many years. Both of them have been active investors in recent years through their KI Kapital business and are ideally suited to support MPM in sourcing and executing European deals."

Sebastian Meier-Ewert, Ph.D. is a seasoned biotechnology entrepreneur and executive. A biochemist by training, he has founded a number of companies involved in technology development and commercialization, drug discovery research, consulting services and investment in the Life Science Industry. He co-founded GPC Biotech in 1997 and as CSO helped build the company into a leading public European biotech company in the field of oncology drug discovery and development.

Dr. Mirko Scherer is an experienced business administration and finance executive in the biotechnology industry with broad experience in building innovative companies. As long-time CFO and co-founder of GPC Biotech and partner of KI Kapital, Mirko has led numerous financing and M&A transactions, in both public and private markets, in Europe and the US over the past 15 years.

About MPM
MPM Capital is a dedicated life sciences venture capital investor that has raised five healthcare venture funds over the past 15 years with committed capital in excess of $2.5 billion.  Since 1997 and through December 31, 2011, these five venture funds have invested over $2.2 billion in 121 companies, ranging from early stage start-ups to late stage commercial companies.   

SOURCE MPM Capital