About Agent Capital

Investments That Matter

Agent Capital is a healthcare venture capital firm focused on investing in novel, differentiated therapeutics and treatments that address unmet patient needs.

From preclinical to commercial, we make direct equity investments across all stages of development.

Our team partners with scientists, entrepreneurs and other investors to develop the next generation of healthcare innovations, focusing on making a difference in patients’ lives.

Agent Capital Team

Geeta Vemuri, PhD, MBA

Managing Partner, Founder

Geeta Vemuri, PhD, MBA

Managing Partner, Founder

Dr. Geeta Vemuri is Founder and Managing Partner at Agent Capital. Geeta leads and oversees all Agent Capital activities, including portfolio management, new investments and operation activities. Prior to Agent Capital, Dr. Vemuri was the Managing Partner of Baxter Ventures and the Managing Partner of Baxalta Ventures, where she led each corporate venture capital arm with more than $300M under management. Prior to Baxter, Dr. Vemuri was a Partner at Quaker Partners where she focused on biotech and healthcare investments. Dr. Vemuri has served on the board of a variety of companies, including Cempra (until its IPO and Dr. Vemuri’s departure in 2011), Covagen (acq. by J&J), Gadeta (acq. by Gilead), Naurex (acq. by Allergan), Ocular Therapeutix, Protez Pharmaceuticals (acq. by Novartis), Syntimmune (acq. by Alexion), and True North Therapeutics (acq. by Bioverativ/Sanofi), among others. Dr. Vemuri received a PhD in biochemistry from Indian Institute of Sciences and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Preston Noon, PharmD, MBA

Partner, Co-Founder

Preston Noon, PharmD, MBA

Partner, Co-Founder

Dr. Preston Noon is Co-Founder and Partner at Agent Capital. Preston supports all Agent Capital fund activities, including leading new investments, portfolio management, and maintaining back-office functions. Prior to Agent Capital, Preston worked in the pharmaceutical industry for Bristol-Myers Squib, Bayer, and Baxalta (a NYSE-listed spinout from Baxter Healthcare). At Bayer, Preston was a post-doctoral Associate for the U.S. Business Development and Licensing group, where he worked on in-licensing assets, acquisitions and asset divestitures. Prior to Bayer, Preston was a global medical affairs analyst at Bristol-Myers Squibb. He began his career in the pharmaceutical industry working at Bristol-Myers Squibb to support clinical trial operations, specifically to monitor and improve enrollment timelines for next generation immuno-oncology assets including ipilimumab and nivolumab, which are now approved. Preston is a Kauffman Fellow, member of Class 23. He received a PharmD and MBA each from the University of Connecticut.

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Campbell Murray, MD, MPP, MBA

Partner

Campbell Murray, MD, MPP, MBA

Partner

Dr. Campbell Murray joined Agent Capital as a partner in January 2023. Campbell supports all Agent Capital fund activities, including leading new investments, portfolio management, fundraising, and supporting in back-office functions. Prior to Agent Capital, Dr. Murray served as President & Chief Operating Officer of Diabetes Free (DFI) and Intima Bioscience (IBI). Prior to DFI & IBI, Dr. Murray was at Novartis from 2004-2020. From 2005 - 2020 Dr. Murray served as a principal and then Managing Director at Novartis Venture Fund (NVF) where Dr. Murray was responsible for new investment opportunities and further developing the portfolio of companies for NVF. At NVF he invested $200m+ led investments and served on the boards of companies associated with 6 M&A exists and 11 IPOs. From 2004 to 2005 Dr. Murray served in a role at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in a role supporting Dr. Fishman, the global head of research for Novartis. Mr. Murray is a member of the Kauffman Fellowship (Class II). He received a BHB and MBChB (MD) from the University of Auckland Medical School, a MPP from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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Bruce Peacock

Operating Partner

Bruce Peacock

Operating Partner

Mr. Bruce A. Peacock, CPA, serves as a Venture Partner at Agent Capital, and as Executive Chairman at Carisma Therapeutics. Bruce has over 35 years of life sciences experience, including senior executive roles at a number of companies with successful exits. From 2010 to 2014, Bruce served as the Chief Financial and Chief Business Officer of Ophthotech Corporation (IPO in 2013). Prior to Ophthotech, Bruce served as President and Co-Chairman of Alba Therapeutics Corporation. Prior to Alba, Bruce served as Chief Executive Officer of The Little Clinic (acquired by Kroger), Adolor Corporation (acquired by Cubist/Merck), and Orthovita (acquired by Stryker). From 1992 to 1999, Bruce served as Executive Vice President and the Chief Operating Officer of Cephalon Inc (acquired by Teva). From 1982 to 1992, he served as a Senior Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer at Centocor Ortho Biotech, Inc. (acquired by Janssen/J&J).

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Nick Siciliano, PhD

Entrepreneur in Residence

Nick Siciliano, PhD

Entrepreneur in Residence

Dr. Siciliano is the current CEO and Co-Founder of viTToria bioTherapeutics, Inc. an Agent Capital portfolio company launched with technology developed at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Previously, Dr. Siciliano was the CEO and Co-Founder of Invisible Sentinel, Inc. a molecular diagnostic company that was acquired by bioMerieux, a global market leader for diagnostic testing, in February 2019. Dr. Siciliano was the inventor of Invisible Sentinel's proprietary platform technologies, veriFLOW and veriPRO, and led the company's business and R&D initiatives from the concept through acquisition.



Dr. Siciliano received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Villanova University and shortly thereafter began his scientific career in the department of Microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School studying host-pathogens interactions. He then earned a Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis from Thomas Jefferson University where he studied antigen presentation. Nick also serves as the President of the Thomas Jefferson University College of Life Sciences Alumni Board. He holds multiple utility and design patents for diagnostic technologies and has published scientific manuscripts in the fields of bacteriology, virology, immunology, molecular biology, and cancer immunotherapy.

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John Orloff, MD

Venture Partner

John Orloff, MD

Venture Partner

Dr. John Orloff joins Agent Capital following his position as EVP and Global Head of R&D for Alexion, where his leadership in expanding the development pipeline from three to 30 programs supported the recent $39 billion acquisition of Alexion by AstraZeneca. Prior to Alexion, Dr. Orloff was Global Head of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer at Baxalta, and has also held executive leadership roles with Novelion, Baxter International, Merck Serono, Novartis and Merck Research Laboratories. Before entering the biopharmaceutical industry, he was a faculty member at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Orloff received an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College, earned his medical degree from the University of Vermont, College of Medicine and completed a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at Yale University School of Medicine.

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John Glasspool

Venture Partner

John Glasspool

Venture Partner

Mr. R. John Glasspool serves as a Venture Partner at Agent Capital, and has over 25 years of deep commercial industry expertise throughout the BioPharma industry. John was former Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Strategy & Commercial Operations at Baxalta from 2015 to 2017. He served as Vice President, Head of Emerging Therapies and Market Development of Baxter International’s Bioscience division from 2012 to 2015. From 2002 to 2012, John served at Novartis where he was Head of Region Europe for Vaccines and Diagnosis; Global Head Pharma Commercial Operations, Pricing and Market Access; and Head of Cardiovascular and Neuroscience Franchises. From 1991 to 2002, John served at Johnson & Johnson where he had roles of increasing responsibility within the Sales and Marketing division, including as Director of Strategic Marketing.

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Julie Gionfriddo

Head of Investor Relations and Fundraising

Julie Gionfriddo

Head of Investor Relations and Fundraising

Julie Gionfriddo joined Agent Capital in 2023 as Head of Investor Relations and Fundraising. She has 20+ years of VC and PE experience including fundraising, new investments, investor relations, and marketing. Prior to Agent Capital, Ms. Gionfriddo was a Principal at Apple Tree Partners and prior to that a Vice President at Landmark Partners. She serves on the executive board of the Women’s Association of Venture and Equity (WAVE). Ms. Gionfriddo holds a BA and MA in Economics from Trinity College.

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Vissaagan Gopalakrishnan, MD

Senior Associate

Vissaagan Gopalakrishnan, MD

Senior Associate

Dr. Vissaagan Gopalakrishnan joined Agent Capital in 2021 as an Associate. Dr. Gopalakrishnan received his MD from Rush Medical School after receiving his undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University. He has research experience as a Medical Research Scholar at NIH Clinical Center and an HHMI Fellow at Yale University.

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Mai Tanaka-Wakefield, PhD, MPH

Senior Associate

Mai Tanaka-Wakefield, PhD, MPH

Senior Associate

Dr. Mai Tanaka-Wakefield is a Senior Associate at Agent Capital. Mai joins Agent Capital from Trinity Life Sciences, a global life sciences strategy consulting firm, where she managed projects spanning the product lifecycle across multiple therapeutic areas and modalities. Prior to Trinity, Mai was a New Biology Venture Intern at RTW Investments, assessing new opportunities for portfolio companies.

Mai completed her PhD in Biomedical Sciences, with a concentration in cancer biology and therapeutics, and MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Florida. Her doctoral work, in the lab of Dr. Dietmar Siemann, explored the role of oncogenic signaling pathways in the tumor microenvironment and its implications in cancer metastasis. During her time at the University of Florida, Mai also received the Scholar-in-Training Award from the American Association for Cancer Research. Prior to her doctoral work, Mai received her B.A. in biochemistry with honors from New College of Florida.

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Marla McMillan, MBA

VP of Fund Finance

Marla McMillan, MBA

VP of Fund Finance

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Lori Forrest, CPA

Controller

Lori Forrest, CPA

Controller

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Raina Hall, MEd

Office Manager and Executive Assistant

Raina Hall, MEd

Office Manager and Executive Assistant

Raina Hall is the Office Manager and Executive Assistant at Agent Capital. Raina joins Agent from Harvard University where she managed operations, programs, and administrative support at both the Graduate School of Education and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Prior to Harvard University, she worked at Public Consulting Group and City Year Boston managing their learning and development departments.

Raina holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an advanced graduate certification in nonprofit management from Washington University in St. Louis as well as a master’s degree in education leadership, organizations, and entrepreneurship from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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Industry Advisors

Wayne Hockmeyer, PhD

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Industry Advisor
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Wayne T. Hockmeyer, Ph.D. is a retired U.S. Army officer and former Chief of the Department of Immunology at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Later in his career, Wayne founded MedImmune, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on infectious, cancer and inflammatory diseases. He served as Chairman and/or CEO from 1988 to 2007, when the company was acquired by AstraZeneca. He is a 1998 Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Florida and received a Doctor of Science honoris causa (D.Sc.) from Purdue University in 2002.

Bob Parkinson, MBA

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Industry Advisor
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Robert L. Parkinson, Jr. was chairman and chief executive officer of Baxter International Inc. for 12 years until 2015. Prior to joining Baxter in April 2004, Parkinson was dean of Loyola University Chicago’s School of Business Administration and Graduate School of Business. Previously, he had a distinguished 25-year career at Abbott Laboratories, serving in a variety of domestic and international management and leadership positions.

Bob Hombach, MBA

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Industry Advisor
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Robert (Bob) Hombach is a retired CFO/COO with 27 years of financial and operational leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical & medical device sectors. Previously, Bob served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operations Officer for Baxalta (BXLT-NYSE), a $6B global bio-pharmaceutical company spun off from its parent, Baxter (NYSE: BAX), in 2015. Before Baxalta, Bob served as CVP & CFO for Baxter (2010 – 2015). He has an MBA from Northwestern University/Kellogg School of Management; a BS in Finance cum Laude, University of Colorado; an Elijah Watt Sells Award Winner on November 1990 CPA exam, and CMA. Recognized by IR Magazine as a Top 100 US CFO (ranked #7 in both 2013 & 2014) as voted on by institutional investors across all industries.

Norbert Riedel, PhD

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Industry Advisor
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Norbert Riedel, Ph.D., is president and chief executive officer of Aptinyx Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, where he also serves as a member of the board of directors. Dr. Riedel was formerly president and chief executive officer of Naurex Inc., the predecessor company acquired by Allergan and from which Aptinyx and its technology were spun out. Prior to Naurex, he served in various roles at Baxter International Inc., most recently as corporate vice president and chief science and innovation officer. Previously, he was head of worldwide biotechnology and held a number of scientific management positions at Hoechst-Marion Roussel (now Sanofi).

Philippe Lopes-Fernandes

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Industry Advisor
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Philippe Lopes-Fernandes is Executive Vice President, Chief Business Officer of Ipsen Pharmaceuticals, a French pharmaceutical company founded in 1929. Prior to joining Ipsen, Philippe worked at Merck KGaA where he was the Senior Vice President, Global Head of Business Development and Alliance Management. Before that, he held a variety of roles at Merck KGaA in Business Development, Mergers & Acquisitions, Finance and Marketing in France, Portugal, Germany, the United States and Switzerland.