Prior to that, he was CEO of the venture-backed diagnostics company, ilochip A/S (technology sold to DELTA, now FORCE Technology). Before that, Mr Breum worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 15 years in a range of different positions in R&D, Project Management, Sourcing, Quality Assurance, and Business Development & Strategy, for Lundbeck, Novo Nordisk and Niels Clauson-Kaas. While working at Lundbeck, Mr. Breum was part of spinning Veloxis (sold to Asahi Kasei) out of Lundbeck, and served on the board of the Lundbeck Foundation.
Mr. Breum holds a MSc in organic chemistry and an Executive MBA, both from the Technical University of Denmark
TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND.
I am an organic chemist who has worked in many different fields within pharma and biotech. I have worked at Novo Nordisk, H. Lundbeck and at a Danish CRO working in different areas and roles such as QA, R&D Chemistry, Project Management, Sourcing and Corporate Business Development and Strategy. Before I started my venture trajectory, I was CEO of a venture-backed diagnostic company. My time in venture capital started in 2009 at Lundbeckfonden Ventures when the Lundbeck Foundation decided to establish a VC entity.
YOU’RE CURRENTLY LEADING THE SOUND BIOVENTURES TEAM AS MANAGING PARTNER. WHAT IS THE FUND’S FOCUS AND HOW WAS IT SET UP?
Sound Bioventures focuses on the development of therapeutic drugs only, and only drugs that are already in clinical trials or very close to the first clinical trials in humans. We have no specific therapeutic area focus. In fact, I would say we are therapeutic area agnostic, but very strong believers in good teams and drug development projects that will really move the needle for the patients and healthcare providers it is supposed to help.
WHO/WHAT WAS THE IMPETUS FOR FOUNDING THIS FUND?
While working for the Lundbeck Foundation, my colleague and now partner at Sound Bioventures, Johan Kördel, and I often talked about starting an independent VC shop. Although we had a lot of freedom at the Lundbeck Foundation, we wanted the experience of being fully responsible for our own fund management company.
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE VARIOUS SUCCESSES TO-DATE. WHICH PROJECT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE?
Sound was established towards the end of 2021, so we are still very young as a biotech VC fund. In fact, we still have about 3 investments to do in the first fund. We have no exits yet, and no failures. Proof of our success as investors in the Sound setting is still in the pudding. Having said that, we see it as an enormous success that we managed to raise the fund and to build the organization to where it is now. We have been able to recruit a team of really good investment professionals and a wonderful office manager who manages a large part of all the practical things that are needed when you run a company, makes sure we are in the right place at the right time and takes good care of us in general.
THE TEAM INVESTS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC. IS THERE A STARK DIFFERENCE WHEN IT COMES TO MARKET DYNAMICS AND CULTURE?
Deals tend to be larger and more expensive in the US. There is a larger number of large funds in the US and more capital is being invested at earlier stages. This makes it a bit tricky for smaller funds to invest enough to reach meaningful ownership in US companies and therefore it is harder to find opportunities with the right fit. When things change in the US, it often trickles into Europe.
We have some quite large funds here already and we are beginning to see companies that want to raise large amounts of money. In some ways, this is good because some European companies are underfunded compared to the potential of the drug. When it comes to culture there are certainly some differences, but overall, it is not more different than the difference between the culture in northern Europe and southern Europe.
HOW IS THE CURRENT TEAM RUN?
At Sound, we work very much like a matrix organisation. For every deal, we appoint a two-member team with a Partner and a team member. This team runs the due diligence, and if the case goes all the way, the partner joins the board of the company, and often the other member of the two-person team joins as a board observer. We focus very much on the development of the team members and try to give them more responsibility sooner rather than later. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that promotion happens quickly. The most important part of our business cannot be taught, and that is experience. To be a good venture investor you need to have that experience.
EVERYONE AT SOUND BIOVENTURES HAS HAD EXPERIENCE IN INDUSTRY BEFORE GOING INTO VC. HOW HAS THAT SHAPED YOU AS A TEAM?
We take pride in that fact, and we think it gives a better understanding of what we are dealing with in the companies. It gives a better understanding of the investment cases and it becomes easier to judge if different events are critical or minor hick-ups that can be fixed.
WE’RE GOING INTO THE AUTUMN OF 2024. WHAT IS THE CURRENT SENTIMENT IN THE INVESTMENT INDUSTRY?
I think it depends on who you ask and in what part of the industry they are. We see a steady flow of good cases, and valuations are more or less as usual. The tricky part is probably raising capital for emerging funds and in some cases even for established funds. So far, we have done exactly what we said we would do and there are several of our portfolio companies that look promising in the nearer term. Maybe that helps. Time will tell.
WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON LEADERSHIP?
That is a big question. I believe in freedom and trust. We hire smart people with solid educations, so they can do a lot, and we let them to a large extent. But with that freedom comes a lot of responsibility. Not only responsibility for doing a good job but also for knowing when to ask and for being a stellar representative of Sound. We want to be known for doing a solid job, and for being someone you can trust as a partner. This is some of what we expect in return for that freedom and trust.
WHAT IS ONE INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOURSELF THAT FEW PEOPLE KNOW OF (A HOBBY, ETC.)?
Don’t tell our ESG people, but I like driving high-powered combustion engine cars really fast on racetracks.
DO YOU HAVE ANY FINAL REMARKS/ADVICE TO SHARE?
Respect all people you meet, do the best you can, and be a decent person. That will solve many problems in the world in general.
