Declan Doogan

Dr. Declan Doogan is a physician and pharmaceutical-industry veteran with more than 30 years of global drug-development experience. He earned his MD at the University of Glasgow, is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, holds an honorary DSc from the University of Kent, and has served as a Visiting Professor at Glasgow University. His career is defined by senior R&D leadership rather than a traditional finance/VC path.

Doogan joined Pfizer in 1982 and spent much of his career there, rising to Senior Vice President and Head of Worldwide Development, with senior R&D roles across the US, UK, and Japan. He was the clinical development head for Zoloft (sertraline), and during his tenure leading worldwide development, multiple blockbuster programs — including Viagra, Lipitor, and Zoloft — were delivered under his leadership. He left Pfizer in 2007.

Post-Pfizer, Doogan moved into small-cap biotech leadership. At Amarin Corporation he served as Head of R&D and Interim CEO (October 2009–August 2010), where he helped raise roughly $100 million to fund a reorganization and portfolio realignment that led to the Phase III completion and NDA approval of Vascepa (icosapent ethyl) for elevated triglycerides.

In 2016 he co-founded Juvenescence with investor Jim Mellon and Greg Bailey, a longevity-focused biotech (HQ in Douglas, Isle of Man) building a pipeline and ecosystem of assets targeting aging and age-related disease, increasingly enabled by AI-driven drug discovery. He served as the company's Chief Medical Officer and remains a co-founder and board member. Alongside Juvenescence he has been a serial co-founder and board chairman across biotech, including Biohaven Pharmaceuticals (co-founder/chairman), Portage Biotech (CEO/chairman), and PHPrecisionmed.

• Invests at the intersection of longevity science and drug development — companies targeting the biology of aging and age-related disease, where his clinical/regulatory expertise adds value.
• Backs and builds companies primarily through founding and board roles rather than passive checks; he tends to get operationally involved as chairman, CEO, or CMO.
• Motivated by the conviction, in his own framing, that "we all can do better in managing health as we get older" — pairing therapeutics development with personal wellness practices (exercise, diet, supplementation).
• Sector breadth reflects Juvenescence's pipeline: fibrosis, cardiometabolic disease, neurodegeneration, inflammation, muscle wasting, plus oncology and precision medicine via his other ventures.
• Values rigorous, regulatory-credible science — his track record is built on shepherding assets through Phase III and NDA/FDA approval.