Dr Rafaèle Tordjman, a scientist turned investor, is one of the few women at the helm of her own private investment firm. In her illustrious two-decade career, she has worked with notable healthcare sponsors and is now building Jeito Capital to finance the next round of healthcare innovation.

Recipe for success

Tordjman defines her idea of success uniquely. For her, it means bringing transformational benefits to patients and, beyond that, to society.

“It starts with identifying, supporting and transforming the most promising European biopharma companies into global leaders, so they can address patients’ unmet medical needs,” she explains.

The CEO highlights the fact that Europe possesses deep R&D in biopharma in terms of quantity and quality, but suffers from a consistent lack of financing – something that’s imperative if the R&D is to be transformed into commercial products.

She notes that having a team that works collectively to deliver performance is crucial in a sophisticated sector such as healthcare, which requires a complementary skillset and systematic approach to value creation. Consistency with a reproducible methodology and perseverance remain at the core of her strategy.

Harmony and healthcare

Tordjman was practising clinical haematology, working on cancer and leukaemia, when she first learnt about the ‘patient benefit-driven approach’, which has remained at the heart of Jeito’s strategy since inception.

The scientist turned investor points to research that suggests 70% of the innovative drugs sold by big pharma come from smaller companies, indeed the companies Jeito invests in. Some 20 years ago, when she was navigating healthcare hands on, the figure was about 45% – and the possibility of making a difference here was intriguing.

“From an outsider’s perspective, my experience offered multiple benefits – the deep understanding of patient needs and the science behind them to drive the acceleration in drug development. At that point, someone suggested I try my hand at investments in healthcare innovation and the biopharma space, and that’s what pushed me to make that leap of faith,” she says.

Special milestones

As a scientist turned investor, Tordjman’s more than two-decade career has revolved around healthcare since the beginning.

Among other achievements, she counts building Jeito as one of her most special career milestones: “Even though this wasn’t a transaction or an investment, it was a personal investment from me, of course, based on lessons learned from a long career, observation and understanding what is missing.”

On the deals front, the private investment firm has backed a dozen promising biopharma investments in a short time and already exited one in the form of Neogene Therapeutics, a Netherlands-based cell therapy company targeting solid cancers.

At the time of its investment, Jeito identified an “exceptional” team and technology at Neogene, which had an experienced management and track record in discovering and manufacturing engineered T-cell receptor therapies for liquid tumours, and wanted to branch out into solid tumours.

The firm exited the investment to AstraZeneca after a two-year holding period just a couple of months ago.

Reflecting on her journey, she shares that she takes pride in the methodology of Jeito: “One of our investment strategy pillars is that we see patient benefit driving financial performance, not the other way round.”

Female-led

Tordjman, who spent a decade and a half at European VC Sofinnova Partners, has been helming a female-led investment firm for the past five years. She recalls how the European Investment Bank was once looking to finance women in life sciences in the region a couple of years ago, but there just weren’t enough women in the field.

“My philosophy has always been that women attract other women more easily in this business. It’s always easier when we have women pitching to us because there’s a chance we are going to help them. I also believe that we need more younger women in the pharma sector,” she explains.

Tordjman is also the chair of Women Innovating Together in Healthcare, an association she formed a decade ago to engage more women in the life sciences industry.

When she, along with colleagues Sabine Dandiguian (managing partner) and Rachel Mears (partner) were trying to raise their first fund for Jeito, the trio was met with hostility.

As she looks back, Tordjman shares that someone told them “it won’t be easy”, especially as a female-led team. Nevertheless, the team emerged triumphant and managed to raise €534m. 

Tordjman stresses that seeing more female GPs and LPs in the industry remains a challenge but the firm is working hard on promoting such leadership, both within Jeito and its portfolio companies.

In addition, she adds that hiring “the right talent” – both at Jeito as well as at the portfolio level – has proven to be an exacting task, as the business is highly specific, sophisticated and requires expertise in everything from patents, clinical development, manufacturing and commercialisation, to pricing and market access. 

Tordjman hopes that new medicines will transform the lives of patients. She also recognises there are still a lot of challenges around sovereignty and large-scale access, and that will form part of Jeito’s roadmap in the future.

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