Nordic Life Science 1
a venture partner [at HealthCap – a family of ven
ture capital funds investing globally in life sciences] is like a company doctor. I deliver companies and help them grow until they can stand on their own feet,” Steiner says. “People think of venture capital as a source of money. But it is so much more than that. It’s like a marriage. You’re an outspoken partner. There will be friction in the relationship, but you have to be able to sit down together and discuss the issues that come up. The company is like a baby. There will be problems along the way raising it, but you work it out.” With his years of executive management experience, Steiner has helped deliver many companies. He has served as CEO for HealthCap portfolio companies including Affibody, Biostratum, Creative peptides, Eurona Medical, Melacure Therapeutics, Nordic Vision Clinics, PyroSequencing and Visual Bioinformatics. It was not the career he imagined for himself when he became a medical doctor at the Karolinska Institute, where he earned a PhD in Clinical Pharmacology. Until 1987, Steiner practiced medicine at Karolinska Hospital. He became a specialist in clinical pharmacology and was active in pharmacogenetic research at the Karolinska Institute. “I never thought about doing anything other than medicine,” Steiner says, as he sits in the well-appointed, handsome conference room at HealthCap’s headquarters in Stockholm, a far cry from the hustle and bustle of a hospital. 28 NORDIC LIFE SCIENCE