CHRIS EHRLICH

Chris Ehrlich brings significant biotechnology industry, business development, venture capital, investment banking and SPAC experience. He is currently the Principal of Ehrlich Bioventures, LLC, a consultancy working with emerging biopharma companies.  He has served as the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp., a blank check Special Purpose Acquisition Corporation, since June 2021. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Locust Walk Acquisition Corporation from January 2021 until August 2021 when it successfully merged with eFFECTOR Therapeutics. Prior to that, he was a Senior Managing Director at Locust Walk, a Life Sciences Transaction firm, where he worked from 2013 to 2021. In that capacity, he served as the Global Head of Biotechnology and Head of Strategic Transactions. Mr. Ehrlich has been involved with sourcing and leading multiple transactions for emerging biopharmaceutical companies, including the sale of Xyphos Biosciences, Inc. to Astellas in 2019 and the sale of Thar Pharmaceuticals to Grunenthal in 2018. Prior to Locust Walk, he was a Managing Director at InterWest Partners, or InterWest, a venture capital firm. As a General Partner, he served on the boards of KAI Pharmaceuticals, a privately held pharmaceutical company (acquired by Amgen in 2012), Biomimetic Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company (acquired by Wright Medical Technologies in 2013), Invuity, Inc., a medical technology company acquired by Stryker in 2018) and Xenon Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company (NASDAQ: XENE). Prior to joining InterWest, Mr. Ehrlich worked as the Director of Licensing and Business Development at Purdue Pharma, in business development at Genentech, in venture capital at the U.S. Russia Investment Fund, and in biotechnology strategy development at L.E.K. Consulting. Mr. Ehrlich currently serves on the Board of Directors of ProLynx, a biopharmaceutical company in San Francisco, Prostate Management Diagnostics, Inc. and eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc. (NASD: EFTR), on the Advisory Board of the Peter Michael Foundation, where he is a Senior Advisor, and on the Healthcare at Kellogg Advisory Board at Northwestern University. He is also a Senior Advisor to the following companies: AltiBio, Inc., Dimension, Inx., Avellino and H, Inc.  He is a member of YPO Gold.  Mr. Ehrlich has a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College and a M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.  He is a frequent lecturer on aspects involving the business of biotechnology in public and academic forums and has served as an expert witness several times on matters related to biotechnology transactions.