Christoph Westphal

Christoph Westphal
Born	Christoph Westphal
Nationality	American, German
Occupation	Biotech entrepreneur, venture capitalist, physician-scientist
Title	Managing Partner, Longwood Fund
Known for	Co-founding Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Genocea Biosciences, Flex Pharma, Verastem; Managing Partner of Longwood Fund

Christoph Westphal is an American and German biomedical entrepreneur, physician-scientist, and venture capitalist who has co-founded, led, or invested in numerous biotechnology and life sciences companies. Holding both an M.D. and a Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School and an undergraduate degree from Columbia College, Westphal became one of the most prolific company creators in the Boston biotech ecosystem during the 2000s and 2010s. He is best known as co-founder and former CEO of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on the biology of sirtuins and resveratrol-related compounds, which was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 2008 for approximately $720 million. Westphal also co-founded Genocea Biosciences, Verastem, Flex Pharma, and several other companies. Following his departure from GSK, where he served as President of SR One, GSK's venture capital arm, Westphal became the Managing Partner of the Longwood Fund, a venture capital firm dedicated to creating and investing in early-stage biotechnology companies. His career has spanned company creation, public offerings, large-scale acquisitions, and venture investing, making him a central figure in the development of Boston's biotechnology industry.

Early Life

Christoph Westphal holds both American and German nationality. Details of his early childhood and family background have not been extensively documented in public sources. He pursued his undergraduate education at Columbia College in New York, one of the constituent colleges of Columbia University. Following his undergraduate studies, Westphal attended Harvard Medical School, where he earned both his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees, training as a physician-scientist with expertise bridging clinical medicine and biomedical research.

His dual medical and scientific training positioned him at the intersection of academic research and commercial drug development, a background that would prove central to his later career as a serial entrepreneur in the biotechnology sector.

Education

Westphal received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College at Columbia University. He subsequently earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School. The combined M.D.-Ph.D. program at Harvard is designed to train physician-scientists capable of translating basic scientific discoveries into clinical applications, and Westphal's subsequent career trajectory reflected this translational emphasis. His doctoral research and medical training gave him a foundation in the molecular biology and genetics that underpin modern drug discovery and biotechnology company formation.

Career

Early Company Formation

Westphal emerged in the early 2000s as one of the most active company founders in the Boston biotechnology cluster. His approach typically involved identifying promising academic research — often emerging from laboratories at Harvard, MIT, and other leading institutions — and building companies around those discoveries. Several of the companies he co-founded filed for initial public offerings (IPOs) or were acquired at significant valuations.

Among his early ventures was Aarana, Inc., whose S-1 registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission listed Westphal among its leadership and documented his educational credentials. Another early company was Paratek Pharmaceuticals, which filed its own S-1 registration in 2004, with Westphal involved in its founding and early development.

Westphal's prolific company creation drew attention from industry media. He was named to Pharmaceutical Executive magazine's "45 Under 45" list, which profiled members of what the publication called "The Change Generation" in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He was also recognized by MIT Technology Review as one of its TR35 — the publication's annual list of 35 innovators under the age of 35 — in 2002.

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals

Westphal's most prominent venture was Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, which he co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer. The company was built around research into sirtuins, a family of proteins involved in cellular regulation and aging, and the potential therapeutic applications of resveratrol and related compounds. Sirtris aimed to develop drugs that could activate sirtuins to treat diseases of aging, including type 2 diabetes and metabolic disorders.

Sirtris filed its S-1 registration statement with the SEC in 2007, disclosing the company's leadership, pipeline, and financial structure as it prepared for an IPO. The company went public and attracted significant investor interest based on the promise of its sirtuin-activating compound technology.

In 2008, GlaxoSmithKline acquired Sirtris Pharmaceuticals for approximately $720 million, one of the larger acquisitions in the biotech sector at the time. The deal brought Westphal and the Sirtris team into the GSK fold. Pharmaceutical Executive profiled Westphal in connection with the Sirtris story, examining his role in building and selling the company.

Following the acquisition, Westphal took on the role of President of SR One, GlaxoSmithKline's corporate venture capital arm. In this capacity, he oversaw GSK's early-stage investments in biotechnology companies. He remained in this role until 2011, when he departed GSK to join the Longwood Fund as Managing Partner.

The Sirtris acquisition, while financially successful for shareholders, later drew scrutiny as GSK eventually wound down much of the Sirtris pipeline. The scientific debate around sirtuin activation and the reproducibility of early resveratrol findings became a subject of discussion in the scientific literature. Nonetheless, the Sirtris transaction cemented Westphal's reputation as a dealmaker capable of building and exiting biotech companies at scale.

Genocea Biosciences

Westphal co-founded Genocea Biosciences, a company focused on developing T cell-directed vaccines and immunology-based therapies. Genocea's approach centered on using proprietary technology to identify antigens recognized by T cells, with the goal of developing vaccines for infectious diseases and, later, cancer immunotherapies. The company's S-1 registration statement was filed with the SEC in 2012 as it prepared for its IPO. Genocea subsequently went public and pursued a pipeline that included candidates targeting herpes simplex virus and cancer neoantigens.

Verastem

Westphal was also involved in the founding and leadership of Verastem, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing drugs targeting cancer stem cells. He served as executive chairman of the company's board. Verastem went public and pursued oncology programs, though the company faced challenges. In June 2016, Westphal departed from his executive chairman role at Verastem as the company sought to restructure following a period of declining stock performance.

Flex Pharma

Westphal co-founded Flex Pharma, a company developing treatments for muscle cramps and spasms, and served as its CEO. The company raised approximately $40 million in its early stages, drawing on Westphal's network of investors and industry contacts. The 2014 launch of Flex Pharma was noted by industry observers as another example of Westphal's ability to attract capital and talent, with Fierce Biotech describing his connections in the industry.

Flex Pharma pursued clinical development of its lead compounds targeting ion channels involved in muscle cramp signaling. However, after mixed clinical trial data, Westphal stepped down as CEO in June 2017. The company subsequently sought new leadership as it evaluated its clinical strategy.

Longwood Fund

After leaving GSK in 2011, Westphal became Managing Partner of the Longwood Fund, a venture capital firm focused on creating and investing in early-stage biotechnology and life sciences companies. The firm's model involves not only investing in existing startups but also incubating new companies from scratch, often building them around academic research.

Under Westphal's leadership, Longwood raised successive funds. In 2020, the firm closed its fifth fund, Longwood Fund V, at $170 million. The fund was intended to support the creation and early-stage funding of new biotech companies.

In 2023, Longwood Fund closed an additional $180 million fund dedicated to creating and investing in early-stage biotechnology companies developing novel treatments for unmet medical needs. The fund's strategy continued Longwood's approach of identifying promising science and building companies around it, leveraging Westphal's extensive network and experience in company formation.

New Immunotherapy Venture

In 2018, approximately a year after stepping down from Flex Pharma, Westphal launched a new immunotherapy-focused startup, continuing his pattern of serial company creation in the biotech sector. The venture reflected the broader industry trend toward immuno-oncology and novel immune-modulating therapies that characterized the late 2010s biotech landscape.

Other Ventures and Investments

Throughout his career, Westphal has been associated with the founding or early investment in numerous additional companies beyond those most frequently cited. His role in the Boston biotech community extended to board memberships, advisory roles, and mentoring of other entrepreneurs. A 2004 article in the Boston Business Journal documented his growing influence in the local life sciences industry.

Westphal was also connected to OvaScience (later renamed Celmatix), a company focused on fertility and reproductive science. MIT Technology Review covered the company's efforts to rejuvenate approaches to treating infertility.

Personal Life

Westphal and his spouse have been described in media reports as a prominent Boston couple. In 2021, a company connected to the couple purchased a penthouse at Oceana Key Biscayne in Florida for $18 million, a transaction reported by the Business Journals. Beyond this, Westphal has maintained a relatively private personal life compared to his public professional profile. He has been based primarily in the Boston metropolitan area, consistent with his deep involvement in the city's biotechnology industry.

Recognition

Westphal has received multiple honors and awards recognizing his contributions to biotechnology and entrepreneurship. MIT Technology Review named him to its TR35 list of innovators under 35 in 2002, identifying him as one of the most promising young technology leaders globally.

He was featured in Pharmaceutical Executive magazine's "45 Under 45" list, which highlighted emerging leaders in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.

Westphal received a Stevie Award, part of the American Business Awards program, recognizing his achievements in business leadership and entrepreneurship.

In 2009, he was recognized in connection with the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), which highlighted the work emerging from the sirtuin biology that had underpinned Sirtris Pharmaceuticals.

He was also featured in PharmaVoice magazine, which profiled his contributions to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Additionally, Mass High Tech (a publication of the Business Journals network) recognized Westphal through its events and awards programs celebrating leaders in the Massachusetts technology and life sciences community.

Legacy

Christoph Westphal's career represents one of the more extensive records of company formation in the modern biotechnology industry. His model of identifying academic research with commercial potential, recruiting experienced management teams and investors, and rapidly building companies through IPOs or acquisitions became a template studied and emulated in Boston's biotech cluster. The sale of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals to GlaxoSmithKline for approximately $720 million remains one of the notable acquisitions in the sector's history, even as the underlying science continued to be debated and refined in subsequent years.

Through the Longwood Fund, Westphal transitioned from individual company building to a broader venture capital role, enabling the creation of multiple new biotechnology companies with each successive fund. The firm's closing of funds totaling hundreds of millions of dollars — including $170 million in 2020 and $180 million in 2023 — demonstrated continued investor confidence in the company-creation model that Westphal had practiced throughout his career.

His career also illustrates both the potential and the challenges of the serial biotech entrepreneur model. While Sirtris and several other companies achieved significant financial milestones, others — including Verastem and Flex Pharma — encountered clinical and commercial difficulties that led to leadership transitions. This mixed record has made Westphal a complex figure in biotech circles, respected for his deal-making ability and network while also subject to scrutiny regarding the long-term scientific and commercial outcomes of the companies he has founded.