Galvanize Therapeutics Hires ex-Shockwave CEO Doug Godshall as Chief Exec, Raises $100M

Galvanize Therapeutics, a company pioneering pulsed electric field (PEF) therapies for oncology and chronic lung disease, has named former Shockwave Medical and HeartWare CEO Doug Godshall as its new chief executive.

Godshall was previously CEO of HeartWare before its $1 billion acquisition by Medtronic in 2016. He then moved to lead Shockwave Medical as CEO until its $13.1 billion acquisition by Johnson & Johnson MedTech last year.

He takes the helm at Galvanize as Jonathan Waldstreicher took the role of president and chief strategy officer. Godshall first joined the company’s board of directors as its chair in 2021.

The new leadership appointment comes as the company plans to advance its Aliya PEF for solid tumors and RheOx therapy for chronic bronchitis. The company’s novel PEF platform is a non-pharmologic intervention that uses non-thermal, short duration, focused electrical pulses to destabilize cellular pathologic processes to change disease trajectory.

“I began following Galvanize in 2016 and became actively involved when I joined the board as Chairman in 2021,” said Godshall. “I have grown increasingly enthusiastic about the company’s prospects over the last year as the team continued advancing our portfolio and commencing our initial commercial efforts. Galvanize’s Aliya and RheOx technologies hold great promise in the fields of solid tumor oncology and chronic bronchitis. There are millions of patients who are underserved by today’s largely pharmaceutical approaches, and I feel fortunate to be able to join the team as we seek to meaningfully improve the outcomes of those who are suffering with these chronic diseases.”

Concurrent with Godshall’s appointment, the company closed a $100 million oversubscribed Series C financing round.

The round was led by Sofinnova Partners, a European life sciences venture capital firm, with participation from a global syndicate of investors including Norwest Venture Partners, Elevage Medical Technologies, Ally Bridge Group, Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund, Janus Henderson Investors and Longaeva. Existing investors Fidelity Management & Research Company, T. Rowe Price, Gilmartin Capital, Intuitive Surgical and the company’s founding investor, Apple Tree Partners (ATP), also participated in the round.

As part of the financing, Antoine Papiernik (Sofinnova Partners), Zack Scott, MD (Norwest), and David Lewis (Gilmartin Capital) joined Galvanize’s board of directors.

“We have closely followed Galvanize for years and are impressed by its technology, strong team, and execution,” said Papiernik. “Partnering again with Doug after our Shockwave success, and working with such a powerful syndicate, was an opportunity we couldn’t refuse. We believe Galvanize’s PEF program could significantly improve treatment and benefit patients with serious unmet needs.”