Life science venture capital firm Westlake Village BioPartners announced the appointment of Dr. Mira Chaurushiya, formerly of 5AM Ventures, as its new senior partner.
“Mira is an experienced investor who has deep knowledge of both science and business,” Dr. Beth Seidenberg, Westlake’s co-founding managing director said in a statement. “From concept to commercialization, she brings a deep understanding of what makes a company successful and will help us deliver outstanding results for our portfolio companies and partners.”
Chaurushiya joined 5AM Ventures as an associate, working her way up to a partner position. Her time at 5AM lasted more than six years. Chaurushiya invested in and served as a director or observer on the boards of organizations such as Precision Nanosystems, Ideaya Biosciences and Enliven Therapeutics.
Chaurushiya will be a full investing partner at Westlake, which played a leading role in two of some of the largest local life science funding rounds last year.
In April of last year, Westlake partnered with Versant Ventures for a $50 million Series A commitment in Thousand Oaks-based biotechnology company Capsida Biotherapeutics. The funding was announced alongside a $90 million collaboration and option agreement Capsida had with biopharmaceutical giant AbbVie.
Westlake was also one of the leading investors in a $250 million Series B financing round for Woodland Hills-based biopharma company Acelyrin Inc.
“There’s nothing more fulfilling than working at the intersection of translational science and medicine – a place where you see the output of your efforts becoming something truly meaningful for patients,” Chaurushiya said in a statement. “Westlake is leading the way to establishing the Los Angeles biotech hub. As a native of L.A., I am looking forward to expanding our life sciences ecosystem and helping the world’s most innovative companies achieve their potential.”