Niall O’Donnell joined RiverVest in 2006 as a Kauffman Fellow and associate and became a managing director in 2014.  He has been instrumental in developing and shaping the firm’s successful biopharmaceutical strategy, which includes putting patients first, supporting entrepreneurs, and earning the trust of investors.

Since joining RiverVest, Niall has founded or co-founded five biopharmaceutical companies, directed clinical strategy, co-founded key patents, and helped to raise over a billion dollars in venture capital for early-stage companies addressing significant unmet medical needs.  He is currently chairman of the board of Avalyn Pharma and a board member of Engrail Therapeutics, Glycomine, Sparrow Pharmaceuticals, and Wugen.

As a portfolio company founder, Niall served as interim CEO of Reneo Pharmaceuticals and interim chief medical officer at Lumena Pharmaceuticals prior to its 2014 acquisition by Shire (now part of Takeda America Holdings). In 2018, Niall helped spin the Lumena assets out of Takeda and drove the creation of Mirum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MIRM), which has become an established leader in the development and commercialization of life-changing rare disease medicines.

Niall also helped found and develop the clinical strategy for RiverVest portfolio companies Curzion Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Horizon Therapeutics in 2020) and Excaliard Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer in 2011). He was a member of the boards of directors of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer in 2021) and Spruce Biosciences and the scientific advisory board of Ziarco (acquired by Novartis in 2016).

Prior to joining RiverVest, Niall was an immunologist at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in San Diego, where he was part of a successful cross-disciplinary team of chemists and biologists that drove small-molecule anti-inflammatory drugs into clinical trials.

Niall earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Dundee, Scotland, and an M.A. in Biochemistry from Pembroke College, Oxford. He completed his postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Diego, and later earned an MBA from the University of California, San Diego – Rady School of Management. In 2024, the Rady School awarded Niall the Sullivan Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Achievement Award.