Polaris Partners, a venture capital investor in technology and healthcare, announced that Josh Mandel-Brehm will join the firm as an entrepreneur-in-residence. Mandel-Brehm previously held various positions of increasing responsibility at Biogen in both business development and strategy.

In his role in business development he led major transactions with academic institutions and strategic industry partners in the areas of rare disease, gene therapy and neurodegeneration. In addition, he was responsible for driving operational initiatives across a range of therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Biogen, Mandel-Brehm worked at Genzyme as part of the business development team in the rare disease business unit.

As an EIR at Polaris, Mandel-Brehm will participate in evaluating investment opportunities and will provide strategic and operational guidance to the firm’s healthcare portfolio companies. He also has plans to join the management team as CEO of a new Polaris startup that will be announced later this year.

“At Polaris, we are committed to approaching every challenge and investment opportunity with creativity, vision, and integrity—we look for EIRs who share those values,” said Polaris Managing Partner Amir Nashat. “We know Josh’s entrepreneurial drive and domain expertise will add value to our portfolio and we welcome him to the Polaris team.”

“It’s great to be part of a team where the culture is deeply rooted in a long term commitment to groundbreaking science along with the firm’s history of successfully partnering with repeat entrepreneurs and world-class experts,” explained Mandel-Brehm. “The Polaris family clearly understands the challenges that today’s biotech companies face and I look forward to helping the team enable the next wave of innovation.” 

With offices in Boston, San Francisco and Dublin, Polaris partners globally with a network of entrepreneurs, scientists and innovators who are making significant contributions in their fields.