LOS ANGELES & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 2, 2025--
Vida Ventures (“Vida”), a next-generation life sciences venture firm, today announced the addition of Matt Cohen, MD, MBA, and Brian Goodman, PhD, as Managing Directors. Their appointments mark a strategic evolution that further strengthens the firm’s ability to source, build and scale transformative biomedical companies from inception through crossover and public market investing.
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“Vida was founded with the clear purpose of bringing together company builders, scientists and investors to transform bold ideas into meaningful impact for patients,” said Arie Belldegrun, MD, Founder and Senior Managing Director of Vida Ventures. “The addition of Matt and Brian marks a significant step in the evolution of our platform, as we continue to expand our capabilities across every stage of innovation. Together with Helen S. Kim, Rajul Jain, MD and the rest of our leadership team, their expertise positions us to meet this pivotal moment for Vida with strength, vision and renewed momentum.”
This next chapter reflects the firm’s deepening domain expertise, expanded leadership and unique ability to extract early insights from across the healthcare sector. Vida is more than just a participant, it is deeply embedded within Bellco Capital’s global healthcare ecosystem, harnessing its distinctive scientific, clinical, and financial networks to access breakthrough innovations and high-potential teams, creating a sustained competitive advantage. By integrating this privileged access with a flexible mandate and world-class investment and operational capabilities, Vida is positioned to capitalize on near-term biotech market dislocations while building enduring, category-defining companies that have the potential to deliver meaningful impact for patients and investors.
Complementary Leadership Expands Full-Stage Investment Platform
Dr. Matt Cohen joins from JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM), where he was a Managing Director and spent two decades investing in healthcare companies and overseeing more than $10 billion in innovation-focused investments as portfolio manager and JPMAM’s lead growth healthcare investor. His expertise bolsters Vida’s public market capabilities and strengthens its ability to scale innovation beyond private markets.
“As an investor, I’ve had the opportunity to support companies that Arie and the Vida team have built, and I’ve always been inspired by their vision, bold thinking, and willingness to take calculated risks to advance breakthrough science,” said Dr. Matt Cohen. “After years of watching their impact from the outside, I’m excited to now join Vida and the broader Bellco ecosystem and help build from within, bringing my public market experience to a platform that spans the full spectrum of healthcare innovation.”
Dr. Brian Goodman, formerly a Partner at MPM BioImpact, brings a proven track record of co-founding and scaling next-generation biotech companies. His operational experience and scientific acumen will reinforce Vida’s early-stage strategy and company creation platform.
“I had the opportunity to work closely with the Vida team during the early stages of building one of our portfolio companies and saw firsthand the depth of their engagement — from thorough diligence to true partnership as we continued to build the company,” said Dr. Goodman. “Their scientific excellence, long-term mindset and commitment to value creation by building medicines for patients set them apart. Joining this exceptional team is a natural evolution, and I’m excited to help advance Vida’s mission of translating breakthrough science into high-impact, enduring companies.”
Matt Cohen, MD, MBA: Managing Director
Dr. Cohen was most recently a portfolio manager and the lead growth-focused healthcare investor at JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) since 2005. For almost a decade, he oversaw the management of growth healthcare assets for several multi-billion-dollar funds, including his role as lead portfolio manager of the flagship JP Morgan Global Healthcare Fund and as co-portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Small Cap Growth Fund. Dr. Cohen also served as a lead healthcare investor for the JP Morgan Mid Cap Growth Fund and the JP Morgan Growth Advantage Fund. In his capacity as portfolio manager and lead sector investor, he led teams of portfolio managers and research analysts focused on performing extensive due diligence and analysis on companies across the healthcare spectrum and cap range, as part of the team’s fundamental investment process. Before joining JPMAM, Dr. Cohen was a senior analyst at Medici Healthcare (2003-2005) and a senior analyst at Narragansett Asset Management (2000-2003), both New York-based healthcare hedge funds. Prior to that, he was a categorical resident surgeon in the Department of General Surgery at the North Shore University Hospital – NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Cohen holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and an MD from McGill University in Montreal.
Brian Goodman, PhD: Managing Director
Dr. Brian Goodman has spent the past decade as an entrepreneur and investor in biotech. Before joining Vida, he was a Partner at MPM BioImpact and served on the investment committee of the BioVentures Fund where he focused on company creation as well as traditional venture investments. Dr. Goodman is a co-founder of Aktis Oncology (and currently serves as an Advisor to the company) and ReNAgade Therapeutics (acquired by Orna Therapeutics). He served on the board of directors of Orna Therapeutics, Seawolf Therapeutics, and Antiva Biosciences. Dr. Goodman has played key leadership roles at portfolio companies during the early stages of development, including leading Business Development at Orna and ReNAgade and serving as Chief Operations Officer and Chief Business Officer at Aktis Oncology. Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, he cofounded Evelo Biosciences (IPO), led the innovation and technology team there, and was a Senior Associate at Flagship Pioneering. He has worked across a diverse span of science, drug discovery and development including RNA medicines, nonviral nucleic acid delivery, radiopharmaceuticals, the microbiome, and extracellular vesicles and is an inventor on multiple patents. He holds a PhD in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from Harvard Medical School, and BS and BA degrees in biochemistry and economics, respectively, from Brandeis University.
About Vida Ventures
Vida Ventures, LLC (“Vida”), founded by Arie Belldegrun, MD, is a next-generation life sciences investment firm comprised of scientists, physicians, entrepreneurs and investors, who are passionate about building and funding breakthroughs in biomedicine. Vida’s mission is to bring science to life and advance transformative biomedical innovations that have the potential to make a meaningful difference for patients. Vida currently has approximately $1.8 billion of capital commitment from blue-chip institutional investors, including top-tier endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, pensions, financial institutions, family offices, fund-of-funds, and high net worth individuals. Vida has offices in Los Angeles, Boston and Fort Worth and is focused on identifying groundbreaking science and building innovative companies that lead to new areas of drug discovery and development. For more information on Vida Ventures, please visit www.vidaventures.com, on LinkedIn or follow on X @Vida_Ventures.
Brian Goodman, PhD
Matt Cohen, MD, MBA
