Christoph Westphal

Biography

Dr. Westphal is a co-founder and Partner of Longwood Fund. Dr. Westphal was co-founder, CEO, and lead investor of six biotech companies that have completed IPOs: Momenta (NASDAQ: MNTA), Alnylam (NASDAQ: ALNY), Acceleron (NASDAQ: XLRN), Sirtris (NASDAQ: SIRT; acquired by GSK), Verastem (NASDAQ: VSTM), and Flex (NASDAQ: FLKS). He co-founded two additional companies that completed IPOs: Concert Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CNCE) and Ovascience (NASDAQ: OVAS). He also cofounded Alnara (acquired by Lilly), and Axial (private). Companies co-founded by Dr. Westphal have developed and received FDA approval for important drugs, including the largest-selling heparin in the US, and a therapy for MS; and several experimental medicines: for cystic fibrosis (phase 3), for currently incurable cancers (phase 3), for serious inflammatory disorders (phase 2), and for serious neurological illnesses such as ALS, MS, and Charcot Marie Tooth (phase 2). In addition, these companies have created substantial shareholder value and aggregate, sustained market capitalizations of over $12 billion. Companies co-founded by Dr. Westphal have created roughly 1,000 good jobs in the Boston area. Dr. Westphal was appointed to the BIO Emerging Companies Section Governing Board, the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and is a member of the Boston Commercial Club. He served on the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School for six years. Dr. Westphal earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University and he graduated with a B.A. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University. Dr. Westphal has been the lead or senior author on several patent applications and scientific papers in leading journals such as Cell, Nature and Nature Genetics. Dr. Westphal has been featured in the media, including on ‘60 Minutes’, CNN, an ABC News Special hosted by Barbara Walters, and as the subject of a Fortune cover article. 

Research Interest

Flex Pharma, Inc. is a biotechnology company that is developing innovative and proprietary treatments for cramps and spasms associated with the severe neurological diseases of ALS, MS and peripheral neuropathies such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth