Rob Hopfner
InvestorManaging Partner at Pivotal bioVenture Partners · RPh, PhD, MBA at Pivotal Life Sciences
San Francisco, California, United States
About
Rob Hopfner joined Pivotal Life Sciences in 2017 and has experience across venture investing stages, from early/seed company building to later-stage private and public investing in the life sciences. He was previously a Managing Director at Bay City Capital and earlier worked in DuPont/Merck Pharmaceuticals' Business Development & Strategy group. He holds an RPh in Pharmacy and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Saskatchewan, an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and completed post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School.
Invests in
BiotechHealthtechMedical Devices
Experience
- Pivotal bioVenture PartnersManaging Partnercurrent2017 — presentSan Francisco
- Pivotal bioVenture PartnersExecutive Committeecurrent2022 — presentSan Francisco, California, United States
- LAND TherapeuticsBoardcurrent2024 — presentBoston, Massachusetts, United States
- EvommuneBoardcurrent2020 — presentPalo Alto, California, United States
- PlexiumBoardcurrent2021 — presentSan Diego, California, United States
- Inozyme PharmaBoard2019 — 2025Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- OculisBoard2017 — 2023Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
- VaxcyteBoard2017 — 2021Foster City, California, United States
- Bay City Capital LLCManaging Director and Partner2009 — 2017San Francisco, CA
- Bay City Capital LLCPrincipal2006 — 2009San Francisco, CA
- Vtesse, Inc.Board2015 — 2017
- Civitas TherapeuticsBoard2013 — 2014Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Dermira, Inc.Board2010 — 2014Palo Alto, California, United States
- Aciex Therapeutics, Inc.Board2007 — 2014Andover, Massachusetts, United States
- Hyperion TherapeuticsBoard2009 — 2013South San Francisco, California, United States
- PTC Therapeutics, Inc.Board2005 — 2013Warren, New Jersey, United States
- NextWave TherapeuticsBoard2010 — 2012Palo Alto, California, United States
Education
- The University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessMBA, Finance
- Harvard Medical SchoolPost doctoral fellowship
- University of SaskatchewanDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Pharmacology
- University of SaskatchewanBachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Pharmacy
Skills & more
+6 more
EntrepreneurshipBusiness PlanningStrategic PartnershipsLife SciencesStrategyPharmaceutical IndustryFrom Rob's professional profile.
Same school
Also attended The University of Chicago Booth School of Business444
+ 438 more
Also attended Harvard Medical School118
+ 112 more
Also attended University of Saskatchewan18
+ 12 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Plexium11
+ 5 more
Also worked at Oculis3
Also worked at Bay City Capital LLC4
Also worked at Dermira, Inc.2
Deals · 2
PlexiumBoard seat
via Pivotal bioVenture Partners · filed Aug 2025 · $60.1M raise
SutroVaxBoard seat
via Pivotal bioVenture Partners · filed Apr 2020 · $110M raise
Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.







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