How Do Life Sciences Investors Manage Leadership Risk?

ExecMind is inviting investors and board members across biotech and medtech to contribute to a study exploring how leadership decisions shape portfolio companies and how those decisions are made.

Leadership can determine whether a life sciences company reaches its next milestone, secures a strategic partnership or delivers on its investment potential. Yet in our conversations with investors, a recurring challenge emerges: evaluating executive performance, defining board involvement and managing leadership transitions often depend more on individual judgement than on a consistent framework.

What prompts investors to make a CEO change? How do boards distinguish a temporary performance setback from a deeper leadership problem? And what gives investors confidence that an executive appointment will deliver beyond the hiring process?

Through the ExecMind European Life Sciences Investment & Leadership Survey, we are gathering investor perspectives to explore these questions and build a clearer picture of practices across the sector.

The study examines:

• What triggers a CEO change within a portfolio company.
• How boards assess management teams and executive performance.
• Where governance falls short and how investors respond.
• Which factors investors associate with successful executive appointments over time.

Drawing on our experience supporting life sciences companies, investors and their portfolio businesses across Europe, we want to contribute practical insight into the leadership decisions that underpin company growth.The findings will be published in an aggregated report benchmarking practices across the investor community. All responses are anonymous. No contribution will be attributed to an individual or fund.

Contribute Your Perspective

If you are a VC or PE investor, or a board member active in biotech or medtech, we invite you to share your experience. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes.

As a thank you, participants will receive early access to the full report, offering a clearer view of how peers approach leadership risk, executive assessment and board involvement.

Take the European Life Sciences Investment & Leadership Survey https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/aahVuYSVAF

Your perspective will help build a more informed discussion about how Europe’s life sciences companies are led, governed and supported as they scale.