Neil J. Littman
Founder and Managing Director
Bioverge Ventures
Neil J. Littman, M.S. is Founder & CEO of Bioverge, a venture capital firm exclusively dedicated
to investing in early-stage, cutting-edge healthcare companies. Bioverge’s investment thesis is
focused on companies spanning the intersection of health + tech that are utilizing advances in
technology to modernize healthcare, from bench-to-bedside.
Previously, Neil was Vice President of Business Development at Notable Labs, an oncology
startup and Bioverge portfolio company, where he led the development of global corporate
partnerships and contributed to the strategic vision of Notable as part of the Senior Leadership
Team. Neil oversaw business development at Notable through the successful completion of the
company’s $40 million Series B and was instrumental in negotiating multiple terms sheets to
in-license clinical stage oncology assets.
Previously, Neil was a member of the Executive Leadership Team and Director of Business
Development at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). As part of CIRM’s
Executive Leadership team, Neil helped develop the five-year strategic plan for managing and
deploying CIRM’s $3 billion across the organization’s discovery, translational, and clinical stage
stem cell and regenerative medicines programs. At CIRM, Neil was Head of the Therapeutics
Group and oversaw a team responsible for managing over 40 clinical stage therapies totaling
over $500 million of CIRM investment, including Forty Seven, Inc. (acquired by Gilead for
$4.9B), Orchard Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ORTX), Cellular Dynamics International (acquired by
Fujifilm for $307M), Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGMO), Poseida Therapeutics, Inc.
(Nasdaq: PSTX), and others.
Prior to managing the Therapeutics Group, Neil oversaw the Strategic Infrastructure Group and
was responsible for managing over $125 million of infrastructure programs, including: $30
million Stem Cell Center (partnership with IQVIA); $24 million Alpha Stem Cell Clinical Network
(partnership with UCLA, UCSD, City of Hope, UC Irvine); $32 million iPSC Bank (partnership
with Fujifilm); $40 million Genomics Center of Excellence (partnership with Stanford).
Prior to CIRM, Neil was a healthcare investment banker at Thomas Weisel Partners and
Deutsche Bank and worked on transactions totaling over $1 billion. His primary focus was on
strategic advisory and public and private financings.
Neil received a Master of Science in Biotechnology from The Johns Hopkins University, and a
Bachelor of Arts in Molecular, Cellular and Development Biology from the University of
Colorado, Boulder. Neil worked in a virology lab during his time at CU Boulder.