MRL Ventures

Committed to backing imaginative scientists and proven entrepreneurs Agnostic to therapeutic area or modality The MRLV investors do not ask for any product or technology rights as a condition of investment We do not invest in medical devices, diagnostic platforms or digital health For digital health opportunities, please visit Global Health Innovation Fund (GHI)

$6 4 BILLION TOTAL CAPITAL RAISED FOR PORTFOLIO $4+ BILLION IN ACQUISITIONS IN THE LAST 4 YEARS

Delivering More than Capital

Seed and early-stage company investments Therapeutics companies—from concept to IND Investing up to $25 million per company, providing long-term, and committed capital Lead or join a syndicate of investors and play an active role on company boards Transparent and streamlined investment process Over the life of the company, the MRLV team will continue to provide capital and expertise We protect the confidentiality of our current and future portfolio companies by providing a robust firewall from the rest of the corporation

At a portfolio company’s choosing, MRLV investors can act as a conduit to the larger corporate organization to solicit advice / expertise

The MRLV team of investors has years of accumulated experience as scientists, investors, entrepreneurs, and business development & licensing leaders in both biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies This broad experience enables MRLV investors a rich engagement with portfolio companies and co-investors

Peter Dudek has over 13 years of experience in the life sciences industry spanning research, company building, corporate and traditional venture, across a broad range of therapeutic areas and modalities He currently serves as President and Managing Partner of Merck’s MRL Ventures (MRLV) Fund and is responsible for its investments in Ambagon Therapeutics, Caraway Therapeutics, Carisma Therapeutics, HotSpot Therapeutics, InduPro Labs, LifeMine Therapeutics, Mozart Therapeutics, Photys Therapeutics and Tallac Therapeutics Past board involvements include Imago Biosciences (NASDAQ: IMGO), Kymera Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KYMR), Lava Therapeutics (NASDAQ: LAVA), Tidal Therapeutics (sold to Sanofi) and Xilio Therapeutics (NASDAQ: XLO) Prior to MRLV, he was a Principal with Wellington Partners, a European venture fund with more than $1B under management He has held roles at Entrepreneurs Fund and at the corporate venture arm of Novartis Dr Dudek received his B Sc with Honors from the University of British Columbia and was a research associate at the BC Centre for Disease Control He obtained his Ph D from the University of Geneva and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford

Karin has over 9 years of experience in the life science industry extending across research, IP law, venture capital and private equity She is currently a Partner at MRLV

Prior to becoming part of the MRLV team, she was a Partner at EQT, a global purpose driven private equity firm, and part of its life sciences focused team Prior to that, she was a Partner at LSP (now EQT Life Sciences), an Amsterdam, Munich and Boston based leading European healthcare focused investment firm with more than $3 2B under management where she focused on venture capital investments across a broad range of life science companies including: Cardior Pharmaceuticals, Arcieum Therapeutics, T-knife Therapeutics, Endotronix, Artios Pharma, Hotspot Therapeutics, Nkarta (NASDAQ: NKTX) and Amylyx (NASDAQ: AMLX) Before this, she worked in intellectual property law and was a scientist at the Max-Planck Department for Stem Cell Aging She received her PhD from the International Graduate School in Molecular Medicine in Ulm funded by the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal and States Governments She was awarded her Bachelors and Masters Degree in Molecular Medicine where she combined medical studies with scientific research training

Jason Ruth, Ph.D. Partner

Jason Ruth, Ph D joined MRL Ventures as a Partner in 2022 Previously, he helped establish 5AM Venture’s public fund where he led investments in Janux Therapeutics, Disc Medicine, and Avidity Biosciences He played early operating roles in Vor Biopharma (NASDAQ: VOR), Entrada Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TRDA), and Seeker Therapeutics, which he also co-founded, and previously held board observer roles at Expansion Therapeutics, Vor Biopharma (NASDAQ:VOR), Homology Medicines (NASDAQ: FIXX), Cabaletta Bio (NASDAQ: CABA), and Entrada Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TRDA) Earlier in his career he was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Levi Garraway at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where he studied PRMT5 dependency in MTAP-null cancers Dr Ruth volunteers as Chief Scientific Officer and as a Scientific Advisory Board member for the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network He received his Ph D in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania as an HHMI-Interfaces Fellow and received a Ruth L Kirschstein NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship to investigate cancer immunology with Lewis Chodosh Dr Ruth received a B S in Biomedical Engineering as a UCLEADS scholar from the University of California in Irvine His work is published in journals including Science and Lancet Hematology

Olga focuses on investing in preclinical stage companies translating novel biology into human medicines across therapeutics areas of high unmet need Currently she serves as a Director on the board of Therini Bio and an Observer on the boards of Ambagon Therapeutics, Caraway Therapeutics, Eyebiotech Limited (EyeBio) and PAQ Therapeutics Prior to joining MRLV in 2018, Olga coordinated the microbiome discovery efforts at the MRL Cambridge Exploratory Science Center, a subsidiary of Merck & Co, and was responsible for identifying immunological pathways through which the microbiome may contribute to disease progression Prior to joining Merck, Olga was at Epiva Biosciences, a startup founded by Flagship Pioneering (merged with Evelo Biosciences) At Epiva, she helped define the company’s overall strategy and established a microbiology group that identified gut bacteria species that can be used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases

Olga earned her doctorate in microbiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and did her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School

Justin Feng, Ph D Senior Associate

Justin Feng, Ph.D.Senior Associate

Justin is currently Senior Associate at MRLV and serves as an Observer on the boards of Therini and ADRx Prior to joining Merck, Justin was part of Johnson & Johnson where he was Senior Manager, External Innovation within the Transactions and Early Innovation Partnering team at the Boston Innovation Center In this business development role, he supported both the pharmaceutical and consumer sectors in the sourcing and establishment of strategic partnerships He led deals for the Immunology, Infectious Disease & Vaccine, Cardiovascular/Metabolism/Retinal, and Oncology therapeutic areas and was responsible for competitive landscaping, scientific diligence, business case development, negotiation, and contracting

Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson Innovation, he was Principal Scientist at GRO Biosciences, where he led projects to develop enhanced protein therapeutics and enzymes using non-standard amino acids Justin received his Ph D in biology as a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow at Harvard Medical School in the lab of George Church His thesis work focused on developing synthetic biology tools to engineer cells to sense and respond to chemical inputs He received his undergraduate degree in Bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley Outside of work, Justin enjoys rock climbing and volunteering with organizations that focus on increasing diversity in STEM fields

Contact MRL Ventures Fund

MRL Ventures Fund is actively developing a portfolio of early-stage therapeutic companies, which are focused on delivering innovative therapies to improve patient care

MRL Ventures Fund 320 Bent Street 4th Floor Cambridge, MA 02141