Overview

Gender

male

Investor Type

Investment Partner

Prior to co-founding Medicxi Ventures, Francesco was with Index Ventures for 18 years, having joined the firm in 1997 to launch its life sciences practice. While at Index life sciences, he spearheaded the creation and adoption of the asset-centric investment strategy and led the growth of the firm. At Medicxi he also oversees the firm’s operations.

Francesco’s investments include CellZome (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline), Egalet (Nasdaq: EGLT), GenMab (Copenhagen: GEN.CO), GenSight Biologics, Micromet (acquired by Amgen), Minerva Neurosciences (Nasdaq: NERV), Molecular Partners (Swiss: MOLN.SW), PanGenetics (acquired by Abbott), Parallele Biosciences (acquired by Affymetrix, Nasdaq: AFFX), Profibrix (acquired by The Medicines Company), Versartis (Nasdaq: VSAR) and several others.

Francesco received a BA in Genetics and Microbiology from the University of Pavia and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Geneva, and was then a postdoctoral scientist at the Whitehead Institute at MIT. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and serves on the main board of the University of Geneva.