She succeeds Gabriel Urwitz, founder of SMA, who continues as an executive board member.

“Susanna comes with extensive operational experience from companies such as Pfizer, Roche and Elekta. She has been responsible for all parts of the product life cycle and thus understands the life science ecosystem from the inside. It is also the right time for me to take a more strategic role in SMA, as an executive board member and together with the board, Susanna and the team continue to set the direction for us,” says Gabriel Urwitz, founder and executive board member, SMA.

Susanna Francke Rodau

Susanna Francke Rodau has worked for twenty years in life science, in senior positions in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, as well as in government. She joins the company from Elekta, where she was Senior VP responsible for the Neuro solutions business area.

“It’s an incredibly exciting and fun challenge to change perspective in the medical world, from the industry side to the investor side. The need for the kind of knowledge-intensive investments that SMA has become one of the leaders in Europe in is enormous. The Nordic region tops all lists in medical technology innovation, but we clearly see that there is a lack of capital and, above all, experience before and during the commercialization phase for innovative companies. I am really looking forward to working with the incredible team Gabriel has built to drive this forward,” says Susanna Francke Rodau, newly appointed CEO and Managing Partner of SMA.