Ben Vollrath
Chief Operating Officer at Amprion, Inc.
Profile
Dr. Vollrath is a drug discovery scientist and entrepreneur and joined Avalon Ventures in February 2007.
Recently, he co-founded three Avalon VIII portfolio companies, aFRAXis, Carolus Therapeutics and Otonomy, and is currently actively involved in developing the drug discovery and development efforts in these companies.
In addition, Dr. Vollrath is a scientific consultant to Zacharon Pharmaceuticals, also an Avalon VIII portfolio company.
Prior to his engagement at Avalon, Dr. Vollrath was an Associate Director of Business Development at Orphagen Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego-based early stage biotechnology company.
In this role, Dr. Vollrath was involved in preparing the company for a venture capital funding round.
Prior to Orphagen, Dr. Vollrath was a Research Scientist at Renovis, a San Francisco-based drug development company.
He was a project leader for a lead compound identification campaign and led the genomics efforts of the company.
Dr. Vollrath did Postdoctoral studies at Merck with Dr. Edward Scolnick and was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School with Dr. Philip Leder.
Dr. Vollrath received his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Tuebingen (Germany) and a Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Heidelberg (Germany).
Ben Vollrath active positions
| Companies | Position | Start |
|---|---|---|
Amprion, Inc.
 Amprion, Inc. Medical SpecialtiesHealth Technology Amprion, Inc. is a company based in San Diego, CA that specializes in biomarker testing for brain diseases. The American company's Syntap® biomarker test aids physicians in the clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, Lewy body dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. The test identifies misfolded synuclein aggregates, a hallmark in various neurodegenerative diseases. Amprion plans to launch other biomarker tests to detect Alzheimer's in early stages. The company was founded in 2006 by Claudio Soto and Russ M. Lebovitz, who has been the CEO since then. | Chief Operating Officer | - |
Former positions of Ben Vollrath
| Companies | Position | End |
|---|---|---|
Avalon Ventures Management LLC
 Avalon Ventures Management LLC Investment ManagersFinance Avalon Ventures Management LLC (Avalon Ventures Management) is a venture capital firm founded in 1983 by Kevin J. Kinsella. The firm is headquartered in La Jolla, California. | Private Equity Investor | 31/12/2009 |
Orphagen Pharmaceuticals
 Orphagen Pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals: MajorHealth Technology Orphagen Pharmaceuticals develops and manufactures drugs. The company was founded by Scott Thacher in 2001 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA. | Corporate Officer/Principal | 31/01/2007 |
Afraxis, Inc.
 Afraxis, Inc. BiotechnologyHealth Technology Afraxis, Inc. operates as a contract research organization (CRO), specializes in preclinical efficacy evaluations (in vivo and in vitro), neurotoxicity evaluations, and structure-efficacy relationship (SER)-driven medicinal chemistry. It develops Afraxis ESP, an enhanced spine analysis platform that quantifies the morphology and maturity of synaptic dendritic spines, which are fundamental to information processing by neural synapses in the brain. The company was founded by Jay B. Lichter, Carmine Stengone, Susumu Tonegawa and Ben Vollrath in 2007 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA. | Founder | - |
Renovis, Inc.
 Renovis, Inc. Pharmaceuticals: MajorHealth Technology Renovis, Inc. develops pharmaceutical products. The company discovers, develops, and commercializes novel therapeutics for neurological and inflammatory diseases. It is headquartered in San Francisco, CA | Corporate Officer/Principal | - |
Training of Ben Vollrath
| Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg | Graduate Degree |
Experiences
Positions held
Connections
1st degree connections
1st degree companies
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Female
Members of the board
Executives
Linked companies
| Private companies | 5 |
|---|---|
Avalon Ventures Management LLC
Avalon Ventures Management LLC Investment ManagersFinance Avalon Ventures Management LLC (Avalon Ventures Management) is a venture capital firm founded in 1983 by Kevin J. Kinsella. The firm is headquartered in La Jolla, California. | Finance |
Orphagen Pharmaceuticals
Orphagen Pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals: MajorHealth Technology Orphagen Pharmaceuticals develops and manufactures drugs. The company was founded by Scott Thacher in 2001 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA. | Health Technology |
Renovis, Inc.
Renovis, Inc. Pharmaceuticals: MajorHealth Technology Renovis, Inc. develops pharmaceutical products. The company discovers, develops, and commercializes novel therapeutics for neurological and inflammatory diseases. It is headquartered in San Francisco, CA | Health Technology |
Afraxis, Inc.
Afraxis, Inc. BiotechnologyHealth Technology Afraxis, Inc. operates as a contract research organization (CRO), specializes in preclinical efficacy evaluations (in vivo and in vitro), neurotoxicity evaluations, and structure-efficacy relationship (SER)-driven medicinal chemistry. It develops Afraxis ESP, an enhanced spine analysis platform that quantifies the morphology and maturity of synaptic dendritic spines, which are fundamental to information processing by neural synapses in the brain. The company was founded by Jay B. Lichter, Carmine Stengone, Susumu Tonegawa and Ben Vollrath in 2007 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA. | Health Technology |
Amprion, Inc.
Amprion, Inc. Medical SpecialtiesHealth Technology Amprion, Inc. is a company based in San Diego, CA that specializes in biomarker testing for brain diseases. The American company's Syntap® biomarker test aids physicians in the clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, Lewy body dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. The test identifies misfolded synuclein aggregates, a hallmark in various neurodegenerative diseases. Amprion plans to launch other biomarker tests to detect Alzheimer's in early stages. The company was founded in 2006 by Claudio Soto and Russ M. Lebovitz, who has been the CEO since then. | Health Technology |
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