Karl D. Handelsman

Karl Handelsman is the Founder and General Partner of Codon Capital, established in 2013 to invest in early-stage biotech teams uniquely qualified to build breakthrough technical solutions in therapeutics and synthetic biology. Karl has been working with extraordinary teams that have a track record of success for over 20 years. Codon supports teams in advance of the Series A to discover the highest value product for their technology. We also help our teams establish a a capital efficient development plan with the goal of demonstrating value within 18 months of the Series A financing.

Karl gained unique experience to his approach while also serving as Senior Advisor, Roche Venture Fund from 2016 – Jan 2021. Previously a Managing Director at CMEA Ventures, a major venture fund, Karl led biotech investments (managing four funds in size from $40M to $400M) over 14 years. In previous business development roles, Karl worked at Tularik and Millennium. He is Chairman of the Board of Good Therapeutics, a company building a new class of protein drugs that are only active when bound to a target molecule. Karl received an MBA, Sloan School of Business, MIT, an MS in genetics, Harvard Medical School, and a BA, Boston University.