Ron Laufer joined MedImmune Ventures, a $300m corporate venturing unit of Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, in April 2010 as senior managing director.
Laufer was a co-founder of Lilly Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of drugs peer Eli Lilly, and later a managing director at Visium Asset Management, a healthcare-focused investment firm.
His arrival was part of a shake-up at MedImmune Ventures, with the managed departure of Frank Top, senior vice-president, and its two managing directors, Eva Jack and Maggie Flanagan LeFlore.
The managing directors were replaced after Laufer was joined by Samuel Wu on the west coast of the US and Michael Gutch, another Lilly Ventures alumnus. Laufer studied at the Hebrew University, and gained an MBA at Harvard Business School. He is an adjunct professor of business administration at Kelley Business School.