Prior to joining MPM and BioImpact Capital, Detlev was the President and CEO of Surface Oncology (NASDAQ: SURF), where he led its growth and transformation through to clinical-stage and its preparation for a public offering. Prior to Surface Oncology, he was Vice President of Strategy in AstraZeneca’s Oncology Unit and was part of the oncology leadership that developed Lynparza® and Tagrisso®, two innovative medicines that help thousands of patients suffering from cancer. His group transformed AstraZeneca’s Oncology pipeline through numerous licensing deals, clinical and academic collaborations, and external research. Detlev has also held multiple roles at Novartis including Global Head of Portfolio, where his group provided oversight of Novartis’ research and early development portfolio.

Detlev began his career at the Boston Consulting Group and performed his academic research at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

There’s an old saying: Americans live to work, Europeans work to live. 

While it may be somewhat a generalisation, the difference in mentality surrounding work is stark and when branching out to the US, as a European CEO,  you need to be aware of, and manage these differences carefully.