Carole Nuechterlein has headed the Roche Venture Fund since 2001, but even after a significant time at the top of the Switzerland-based drugs company’s corporate venturing unit, she has said her challenges remain “exits and finding the diamonds in the rough”.
That challenge became a little easier this year after Roche agreed to acquire cancer research technology provider and portfolio company Flatiron Health, paying $1.9bn for the remainder of the company’s shares.
Roche already owned a 12.6% stake in Flatiron, meaning the acquisition will value the company at approximately $2.15bn.
Founded in 2012, Flatiron has developed electronic health record software configured for oncology research, as well as technology that can manage and develop cancer research data. It works with over 265 community cancer clinics and it offers access to more than 2 million active patient records to its users.
Nuechterlein manages Roche’s Sfr500m ($530m) evergreen venture fund, which means it can reinvest in new deals the proceeds from exited portfolio companies, and so the sale of Flatiron could potentially boost its investment activity.
Roche’s recent deals since then have included co-leading Macrolide Pharmaceuticals, a US-based antibiotics developer spun out from Harvard University’s, $20m series B round and Denmark-based neuromuscular disorder drug developer NMD Pharma’s €38m ($47m) A round and backing US-based immuno-oncology therapy developer Ideaya Biosciences’ $94m B round.
Before venturing at Roche, Nuechterlein worked in the company as an attorney for 10 years. She joined Roche from SangStat in Fremont, California, where she was general counsel. She began her career working at law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in its mergers and acquisitions group. From there, she worked at Syntex/Roche in Palo Alto, California, focusing on M&A, research collaborations and licensing deals.