US pharmaceutical firm Abbvie has hired Claire Leurent as a managing director for its corporate venturing arm, AbbVie Ventures.
Formed in 2009, AbbVie Ventures invests in between six and eight companies a year in areas including oncology immunology, neuroscience, eye care and aesthetics. It has 20 active portfolio companies across the US and Europe.
Leurent spent eight months as an entrepreneur in residence at the Seed programme of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a US government agency that conducts biomedical and public health research, from June 2023.
At NIH’s Seed programme, Leurent was responsible for small business innovation research and technology transfer, supporting healthcare-focused entrepreneurial education and training.
Before joining NIH, Leurent was a principal for venture investments at Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, the strategic investment arm for pharmaceutical group Johnson & Johnson, for more than three years from late 2019.
During her time at JJDC, Leurent sat on the board of a portfolio company, antimicrobial therapy developer Locus Biosciences.