Longwood Fund Strengthens Growth-Stage Investment Team
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS / ACCESS Newswire / May 12, 2025 / Longwood Fund, a venture capital firm creating and investing in science-based companies that develop important treatments to help patients, today announced that it has further strengthened its investment team with the promotion of Vikas Goyal, MBA, to Partner, focusing on growth stage investments in late preclinical and clinical stage biotechnology companies.
Mr. Goyal has more than 20 years of experience as both a venture investor and executive focused on business development and transactional related initiatives in the biotechnology industry. He joined the Longwood Fund team in 2024 as a Venture Partner and led Longwood's investment in Evommune's $115 million Series C round of financing to advance their clinical-stage pipeline addressing chronic inflammatory diseases.
'We are excited to welcome Vikas and further strengthen our team at Longwood Fund,' said Christoph Westphal, MD, PhD, General Partner at Longwood Fund. 'I first worked with Vikas in 2011 when I was President and Head of SR One during a similar period of market dislocation. Longwood is actively making new investments, including recent investments in Newleos, Evommune, Engrail and Solu, and we continue to seek new investment opportunities. Vikas' successful track record as a biotech investor and dealmaker will be incredibly beneficial as we invest in and support a new generation of novel healthcare companies.'
'I have deep admiration for Christoph's, Aleks' and the whole Longwood team's commitment to biotechnology company building and venture investing,' said Mr. Goyal. 'I am honored to be promoted and to continue to help Longwood Fund support our syndicated growth investments.'
Mr. Goyal was previously Senior Vice President of Business Development for Pandion Therapeutics. He initially joined Pandion as a Board member and investor in 2018 and ultimately joined the company full-time in 2019 taking the company through a research collaboration with Astellas, an IPO and the company's acquisition by Merck for $1.85 billion in 2021. Mr. Goyal joined Pandion from SR One, where he invested in and served on the boards of 19 early-stage biotech companies including Morphic Therapeutics (acquired by Eli Lilly), River Vision Development (acquired by Horizon), Nimbus Therapeutics (Tyk2 acquired by Takeda), Spero Therapeutics (tebipenem acquired by GSK) and Pandion (acquired by Merck). River Vision and Horizon developed Tepezza™ (teprotumumab) a new standard of care in the treatment of Grave's Orbitopathy and the first therapy ever approved for the indication. Earlier in his career, Mr. Goyal was a Consultant at McKinsey & Co's Pharmaceutical practice in New Jersey, a co-founder of Extera Partners and a Business Development Manager at Infinity Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Goyal earned an MBA in Health Care Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Neurobiology from Harvard University.
Longwood Fund
Longwood Fund is a venture capital firm dedicated to creating and investing in novel healthcare companies that develop important treatments to help patients while driving significant value for investors. The Longwood team has a long history of successfully launching and building important life science companies while providing operational leadership and strategic guidance. Collectively, the Partners at Longwood Fund have co-founded ~25 companies with over 20 launched or marketed drugs and therapies, as well as over two dozen clinical-stage assets, all focused on helping patients in need. Companies founded by Longwood Fund, or its principals prior to the founding of the Firm, as lead investor and CEO/CBO include Acceleron, Alnylam, Be Bio, Immunitas, Momenta, Newleos, Pyxis, Sirtris, Solu, TScan, Vertex, and Weaver. For more information, visit www.longwoodfund.com.
Contact InformationArielle Jackson Head, Corporate Communications 617-351-2590
SOURCE: Longwood Fund
press release
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why Starbucks (SBUX) is Gaining Attention Among Food Dividend Investors
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) is included among the 10 Best Food Stocks with Dividends. A close-up of a freshly roasted coffee bean, accompanied by a vintage aluminum scoop. The company seems to be reaching a key turning point with Brian Niccol stepping in as CEO, drawing comparisons to the company's 2008 revival under Howard Schultz. A major focus under his leadership is improving the mobile ordering system, which now accounts for roughly 30% of US sales but has negatively impacted service quality and the in-store experience. To tackle this issue, Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) brought in Meredith Sandland— former Taco Bell executive and founder of Empower Delivery— to enhance order sequencing through machine learning. The move highlights Niccol's strategic focus on assembling strong, capable teams. Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) is a strong dividend payer, having paid regular dividends to shareholders for 60 consecutive quarters. During this time, the company's dividend has grown at an average annual rate of 20%, with increases sustained for 14 straight years. It offers a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.58%, as of July 27. While we acknowledge the potential of SBUX as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: READ NEXT: and Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What Makes The Hershey Company (HSY) a Stable Food Dividend Stock?
The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) is included among the 10 Best Food Stocks with Dividends. A close-up of hands deftly moulding a bar of chocolate. The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) is a well-known consumer staples company primarily recognized for its confections and snacks. While the company has broadened its product range to include items like popcorn and pretzels, chocolate remains one of its core offerings. Seen as an affordable indulgence, Hershey's chocolate continues to be highly popular, driving steadily increasing sales over time. The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) recently revealed it will increase prices for the second time in just over a year, attributing the hike to ongoing high cocoa costs that will lead to a double-digit rise in candy prices. While cocoa prices have dropped from their record high of $12,000 per metric ton, they still trade above $8,000 per metric ton. Many analysts expect these elevated prices to persist in the near term, largely due to last year's adverse weather conditions in Western Africa. The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) is also a strong dividend payer, having raised its payouts for 15 consecutive years. The company offers a quarterly dividend of $1.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.93%, as of July 27. While we acknowledge the potential of HSY as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: READ NEXT: and Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
General Mills (GIS): A Food Dividend Stock Worth Watching
General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) is included among the 10 Best Food Stocks with Dividends. A worker in a production facility packaging arbitrary food products, reflecting the company's commitment to comprehensive production standards. The company's top priority for fiscal 2026 is to revive organic sales growth driven by volume. To achieve this, it plans to increase investments in consumer value, product innovation, brand building, and new offerings— all guided by its established experience framework. A key highlight includes the national rollout of Blue Buffalo's fresh pet food line, expected in late 2025. In addition, the company aims to deliver strong cost savings through its Holistic Margin Management program and enhance efficiency through a global transformation initiative, freeing up more resources to support growth. General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) reported mixed earnings in fiscal Q4 2025, with revenues of $4.56 billion, down 3.3% from the same period last year. However, the company's cash position remained strong. The company generated $2.9 billion in operating cash flow, which amounted to 126% of after-tax earnings, while free cash flow represented 97% of adjusted after-tax earnings. Dividend payments declined by 2% to $1.3 billion, primarily due to a reduced average number of shares outstanding. On June 25, General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) declared a 1.7% hike in its quarterly dividend to $0.61 per share. This was the company's fourth consecutive year of dividend growth. In addition, it has paid regular dividends to shareholders for 126 years in a row. The stock has a dividend yield of 4.78%, as of July 27. While we acknowledge the potential of GIS as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: READ NEXT: and Disclosure: None.