Rodger is a Venture Partner based in Switzerland supporting SR One on new company formation and early-stage investment. Rodger is a serial entrepreneur, long-time pharmaceutical and biotechnology senior executive. In 2013 he co-founded CRISPR Therapeutics, led the team that IPO’d the company in 2016 and led CRISPR as CEO until December 2017.
Rodger still serves the company as President and Chair of the Board. Before CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Rodger was Global Head Infectious Diseases at Sanofi, based in Paris, France. His responsibility included discovery, research and development, and late-stage clinical development of anti-infectives, including diseases of the developing world.
In early 2006 Rodger co-founded Nabriva Therapeutics (NBRV), an antibacterial development company in Vienna, Austria, where he acted as COO. Nabriva was a spin-out from Sandoz/Novartis, where Rodger worked as Vice-Head of the Antibiotic Research Institute. In addition to CRISPR Therapeutics, Rodger serves as Executive Chair on the boards of Rockend and Matterhorn Biosciences, and is a board member of ERS Genomics.
Rodger received his MD in Germany in 1993 and his medical license for the USA in 1994. From 1996 to 2001 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Rockefeller University, the Skirball Institute, NYU Medical Center, and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In 2001, he was appointed as tenured Professor for Microbiology at the Vienna Biocenter, Austria.
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