Jens Eckstein named President of SR One, GSK’s venture healthcare group

Issued: London UK

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.

About SR One

SR One is the corporate venture capital arm of GlaxoSmithKline. The firm invests globally in emerging life science companies that are pursuing innovative science that will significantly impact medical care. Since 1985, SR One has invested more than $650 million in 140 companies.  For more information, visit www.srone.com.

GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.  For further information please visit www.gsk.com

GlaxoSmithKline cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements
Under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that may affect GSK's operations are described under 'Risk Factors' in the 'Business Review' in the company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2010.