"Today it's much more of a — if I need capital in two years, I need to start now. I need to start engaging with those potential new investors today because their decision-making process is longer. They want to see progress over time. So in order to convince them in two years, I need to basically lock them up already this year."
In this episode, I talked with Jens Lindberg, CEO of Medivir AB, a Swedish biotech developing innovative therapies in liver cancer and rare disease. Jens brings over 30 years of late-stage development and commercialisation experience—including 25 years at AstraZeneca—where he worked on blockbuster drugs such as Tagrisso and Lynparza.
Jens opens up about the moment he was handed the global commercial lead role for what the company believed would be its next blockbuster—only to realise the asset was significantly overvalued. What followed was one of the hardest things you'll ever have to do professionally: telling senior leadership that the people who licensed the asset were wrong—without making them feel that way. We also get into Medivir's turbulent last few months: a forced pivot from a multi-country Phase 2b study, a round of layoffs, and then a dramatic reversal with new investors coming on board and two programs now moving forward at the same time.
For anyone trying to understand what fundraising truly looks like in today's biotech environment, Jens is direct about how completely his approach to investor relations has had to change since 2022. When he's not steering Medivir through the ups and downs of biotech, Jens is out on the cross-country ski trails—and has been for most of his life.
Here's What You're In For
- How Jens landed his first job as a sales rep at Astra—without fully knowing what the role was—and ended up staying 25 years
- What it was like being inside AstraZeneca's investor relations team during Pfizer's hostile takeover bid
- The moment Jens realised a "next blockbuster" drug was significantly overvalued—and what happened when he had to say it out loud
- The art of managing expectations upward when senior leadership doesn't want to hear the truth
- Why a positive Phase 3 dataset still wasn't enough to launch—and why returning the asset was the right call
- Inside Medivir's last few months: funding pressure, a forced pivot, layoffs, and how new investors changed everything
- Running two Phase 2 programs simultaneously, and what needs to be in place before data reads out
- Why culture in a small biotech must be built on agility, transparency, and a genuine willingness to help each other
- How Jens treats consultants the same way he treats full-time employees—and why that matters for culture
- Why Jens now starts building investor relationships two years before he needs the money—and what investors actually want to see before they commit
Timestamps
02:04 – First job in pharma: starting as a sales rep at Astra and staying 25 years
03:25 – Career highlight: joining AZ Investor Relations and defending against Pfizer's hostile takeover bid
08:07 – Career low: being promoted to global commercial lead for a late-stage asset—then realising it was overvalued
10:29 – The challenge of managing senior leaders who in-licensed the asset themselves
13:07 – What Medivir is: history, liver cancer program, and osteogenesis imperfecta
14:45 – Medivir's recent rollercoaster: funding challenges, the pivot from Phase 2b, and layoffs
20:30 – How Jens describes Medivir's culture: agile, transparent, and built on helping each other
23:05 – How Jens integrates consultants into the company's culture as if they were permanent employees
26:32 – How Jens's approach to investor relations changed dramatically since joining in January 2022
32:34 – Perseverance in biotech: herd mentality in capital markets and why doing the right thing eventually pays off
Listen to full episode here:
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fN2hJZUYfV6JxW3BCN7S0?si=53fc7ba4f2394eb9
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jens-lindberg-ceo-at-medivir-on-the-biotech/id1736051162?i=1000768418343
About Jens
Jens Lindberg is the CEO of Medivir AB, a Swedish biotech focused on development of drugs in rare and orphan diseases with high unmet medical need. Jens brings over 30 years of late-stage development and commercialisation experience in pharma and biotech, including 25 years at AstraZeneca where he held roles spanning sales, commercial leadership, investor relations, and global brand strategy—working on blockbuster drugs including Tagrisso and Lynparza. He has also held roles at Sedana Medical.
Outside of work, Jens is an enthusiastic cross-country skier with over 30 years on the trails—which, given the pace he keeps professionally, is probably the only time he slows down.
Connect with Jens:
About Medivir
Medivir is a Swedish biotech company focused on oncology, particularly liver cancer (HCC). The company shifted its strategy away from infectious diseases toward targeted cancer therapies, leveraging its core expertise in protease inhibitors and selective drug design. Its lead programs are aimed at tumors with limited treatment options, and it operates as a lean organization with a strong focus on clinical-stage value inflection points.
Medivir's lead drug, Fostrox (MIV-818), is a liver-targeted chemotherapy prodrug designed to selectively deliver a cytotoxic payload to liver tumors. It is primarily being developed for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with a particular focus on patients who have failed immunotherapy. The drug works by being selectively activated in the liver, which helps minimize systemic toxicity. It is currently in Phase II clinical development, with combination strategies actively being explored.
- Medivir: https://www.medivir.com
About Charles
My name is Charles Spence and I lead Discera. After many years working in the life-science recruitment world, I decided to work for myself. Before doing recruitment I graduated with a biomedical degree, have worked in hospitals (including translation work in Seoul, South Korea), and also spent a year working in diabetes research in Stockholm. After doing research and travel, a career in business and science felt the most appropriate.
In 2023, I decided to launch my firm - Discera Search. A firm committed to solving the biggest talent needs of early clinical stage SME biotechs on the East Coast and DACH.
Connect with me:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-spence-clinical/
- Website: https://www.discera-search.com/
Opinions and comments expressed by the guest do not represent the company and are fully their own.
