European life sciences VC investor Sofinnova Partners has appointed former Roche Venture Fund senior investment director David Evans as a partner, strengthening its late-stage investment capabilities as the firm continues to expand its crossover investing strategy.
Evans, who will be based in London, joins Sofinnova after helping lead investments for Roche Venture Fund across Europe and the UK. He will focus on the firm’s Crossover Strategy, which invests across late-stage private and publicly listed life sciences companies.
The appointment comes as Sofinnova continues to scale its platform following several significant fundraises in recent years. In 2025, the firm closed its largest-ever flagship healthcare venture fund, Sofinnova Capital XI, on €650m, while also expanding specialist strategies spanning biotech acceleration, industrial biotechnology and digital medicine.
Evans brings a broad background spanning clinical medicine, pharmaceutical R&D, health policy and venture investing.
Before joining Roche Venture Fund, he held senior drug development and health economics roles at Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly and Company, and earlier worked on healthcare financing and policy at the World Bank and practised medicine in Australia and with Médecins Sans Frontières.
His experience also reflects the increasing overlap between pharmaceutical companies’ corporate venture activities and independent venture capital firms, with experienced investors moving between strategic and financial capital providers as demand for specialist scientific expertise intensifies.
Chairman and managing partner Antoine Papiernik said, “David is exactly the kind of investor we look for at Sofinnova – exceptional scientific grounding, real-world clinical experience, and a strong investment instinct built over years at the frontier of healthcare.
“His appointment reflects our continued commitment to building a world-class team in the UK and across Europe, and we are delighted to welcome him to the partnership.”
Evans added, “Sofinnova has built a truly differentiated platform in European life-sciences venture capital and being part of the team is an exciting opportunity to back the most innovative companies at a pivotal stage of their development.
“I am excited to bring my experience across clinical medicine, drug development, and investment to a team of this caliber, and look forward to contributing to Sofinnova’s mission of building transformative life-sciences companies in Europe and the UK.”
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova has grown into one of Europe’s largest specialist life sciences investors, managing more than €4bn across multiple healthcare and sustainability strategies.
The firm has backed more than 500 companies over its history and has increasingly broadened its investment platform beyond traditional early-stage venture investing into later-stage and crossover strategies.
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