Peter Dudek

Peter Dudek, PhD, is the President and Managing Partner of MRL Ventures Fund, Merck's $500 million corporate venture arm, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Before assuming his current position, he served as a Principal at Wellington Partners from 2016 to 2018 and held earlier investment roles at the Entrepreneurs Fund and the Novartis Venture Fund. Throughout his fifteen-year career in life sciences, Dudek has managed investments in numerous biotechnology firms, including successful public exits such as Kymera Therapeutics, Imago BioSciences, and Xilio Therapeutics. He currently holds several active governance positions across the portfolio, serving as a Board Director at Therini Bio and a Board Observer at both Aktis Oncology and Insamo. His current investment strategy focuses exclusively on funding early-stage preclinical therapeutics companies across all modalities, deliberately excluding medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health ventures.