Chris Ehrlich is Senior Managing Director and Head of Locust Walk’s Global Biopharma team. He brings significant biotechnology industry and venture capital experience. Since joining Locust Walk in 2013, Chris has been involved with leading multiple transactions for emerging biopharmaceutical companies including orchestrating the sale of Xyphos Biosciences to Astellas for up to $660 million, as well as assisting TesoRx in their licensing deals with Aspen Pharma and Aska, and Thar Pharmaceuticals with their acquisition by Grunenthal and Cymabay in their licensing deal with Kowa Pharmaceuticals. He has also served as an expert witness in several recent biotechnology cases. Prior to Locust Walk, he was a Managing Director at InterWest Partners (“IW”). At IW he served on the boards of KAI Pharmaceuticals as the Lead Director (acquired by Amgen), Biomimetic Therapeutics, Inc. (NASD: BMTI, acquired by Wright Medical Technologies, then acquired by Stryker), Invuity (NASD: IVTY, acquired by Stryker) and Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASD: XENE). At all four companies, he sat on the transaction committees where he oversaw numerous business development and financing deals. Prior to joining InterWest, Chris was the Director of Licensing and Business Development at Purdue Pharma, a private pharmaceutical firm based in Stamford, CT. In this position, Chris was responsible for developing a biologic oncology franchise, including in-licensing key intellectual properties, establishing and managing collaborations with biotechnology companies and leading the commercial operations of Purdue BioPharma, a biotechnology company located in Princeton, NJ. Prior to joining Purdue, Chris worked in business development at Genentech, in venture capital at the U.S. Russia Investment Fund, and in biotechnology strategy development at LEK Consulting. Chris received his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.