2008 Life Sciences Venture Forum Speaker Biographies
Keynote Speakers
G.
Steven Burrill
CEO
BURRILL & COMPANY
G. Steven Burrill has been involved in the growth and prosperity
of the biotechnology industry for over 40 years. An early pioneer, Mr.
Burrill is one of the original architects of the industry and one of its
most avid and sustained developers. He currently serves as Chairman of
the Boards of Pharmasset, and is a member of the Boards of Directors of
Catalyst Biosciences, DepoMed (Amex: DMI), Targacept (NASDAQ: TRGT), Proventys
and Phytomedics. Prior to founding Burrill & Company in 1994, he spent
28 years with Ernst & Young, directing and coordinating the firm's
services to clients in the biotechnology/life sciences/high technology/manufacturing
industries worldwide. In 2002, Mr. Burrill was recognized as the biotech
investment visionary by the prestigious Scientific American magazine (The
Scientific American 50). Mr. Burrill is a founder of the Foundation for
the National Medals of Science and Technology and currently serves on
its Board of Directors. Some of his not for profit activities include
serving on the Boards of Directors for the Bay Area Science Infrastructure
Consortium, BayBio, the California Healthcare Institute, the Exploratorium,
The Kellogg Center for Biotechnology, Research!America, Campaign for Medical
Research, The National Health Museum, and the University of California,
San Francisco (UCSF) Foundation. He is also the Chairman of the Mayor’s
Biotech Advisory Committee (MAYBAC).
Boris
Nikolic, M.D.
Senior Program Officer
Global Health Discovery
Dr. Boris Nikolic is a Senior Program Officer in Global Health Discovery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. His areas of focus include diagnostics platform technologies, diagnostics point of care applications, immunology, surveillance technologies, mobile phones as diagnostics and health information system integration platform. Boris Nikolic is an Assistant Professor in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
Dr.
Nikolic is the author of over 50 articles and patent applications and
co-founder of three biotechnology companies. He is the inventor of the
symptom based diagnostic methodology based on comprehensive nucleic acid
and protein testing for major medical conditions such as pneumonia, meningitis,
septicemia and diarrhea. He has been selected as a field expert scientist
for peer review committees, study sections, and professional associations.
In addition, he served as an advisor for private equity and venture capital
firms evaluating numerous medical diagnostics, medical devices and biotechnology
companies worldwide.
Mary
Woolley
President
Research!America
Mary
Woolley is the president of Research!America. Under her leadership, Research!America's
membership has more than quadrupled as it has earned the attention and
respect of research, media, and community leaders with its signature public
opinion surveys and advocacy resource materials.
Woolley is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and a fellow
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She
serves on several boards and committees, including the Institute of Medicine
Health Sciences Policy Board, the National Council for Johns Hopkins Nursing,
the Board of Overseers of the Harvard School of Public Health, and the
Children's Research Institute of Children's National Medical Center. She
is a Founding Member of the Board of Associates of the Whitehead Institute
for Biomedical Research. Woolley has served as president of the Association
of Independent Research Institutes (AIRI), as editor of the Journal of
the Society of Research Administrators, as a reviewer for the National
Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, and as a consultant
to several research organizations.
Panelists
William L. Hunter, MD, MSc
President and Chief Executive
Officer
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dr. William Hunter is one of Angiotech’s co-founders and currently serves as President and CEO of the company. The company’s initial lead product, the TAXUS® drug-eluting coronary stent – which was co-developed and is now sold by Boston Scientific Corporation – is implanted in over three million patients worldwide. Today, Angiotech is a global leader in the field of drug-device combination products and a major manufacturer of over 5,000 specialty, single-use medical devices and medical device components targeting various surgical and interventional medical markets. Dr. Hunter received his BSc from McGill University and MSc and MD from the University of British Columbia.
John
C. (Jack) Garvey
Vice President
The Weinberg Group
John C. (Jack) Garvey heads the Compliance and Quality Management practice at The Weinberg Group and has executive responsibility for compliance and quality strategy development and deployment at client companies. In addition to experience gained through roles of increasing responsibility and accomplishment at Johnson & Johnson, BASF, C. R. Bard, Ciba-Geigy and Ayerst Laboratories, Jack's dual background in law and engineering provides unparalleled capability to resolve today's complex regulatory, quality and compliance issues. Jack has experience with multiple regulated product classes, including Rx and OTC drugs, devices and diagnostics, cosmetics and consumer products, and dietary supplement and nutritional products.
Jack received his Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Clarkson University and his Juris Doctor from Pace University School of Law.
Gina
Smith
Journalist and Author
The Genomics Age
Gina Smith is one of the best-known journalists covering tech and science in America today. She is the New York Times best-selling author of iWOZ and The Genomics Age. The latter was a Barron's book of year -- it explains the science and ramifications of decoding the genome in terms the public easily grasps.
Smith is an award-winning reporter across all media -- newspaper, magazine, radio, television and Internet. In the 1990s, she was ABC News' first technology correspondent, appearing on air several times weekly on Good Morning America, World News Tonight with Peter Jennings and 20/20.
Smith's radio show -- On Computers with Gina Smith -- reached millions of people live for five hours every Sunday from 1992 to 2000. Her syndicated San Francisco Examiner/Chronicle newspaper column, Inside Silicion Valley, won multiple awards, among them First Prize for Investigative Journalism from the Computer Press Association. Smith served as CEO for Larry Ellison's New Internet Computer Co. from 2000 to 2003, and served on the board of the University of Southern California (USC) School of Engineering until 2005.
Anton Gueth Anton Gueth has over 20 years experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to joining
Burrill & Company, Mr. Gueth was President of Gueth Consulting, a firm specializing in
business development and alliance management in the life sciences industry. A
recognized expert in alliance management, he collaborates with Vantage Partners to
provide clients access to world class expertise in orchestrating strategic alliances for
pharmaceutical and biotech companies. As a business development consultant he
supported early-stage companies with an outsourced business development model and
also held the position of Chief Operating Officer for a startup software company,
Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD).
Prior to establishing his own consulting firm in 2003, Mr. Gueth worked with Eli Lilly
and Company for 20 years holding a number of operational positions in corporate and
business development, general and financial management, sales and marketing. Most
notably, as Director of Alliance Management, he led Eli Lilly’s efforts to become the
“pharmaceutical partner of choice.”
Mr. Gueth is a member of the Board of Directors of Antares Pharma, a specialty
pharmaceutical company with an emphasis on delivery technology, and a member of the
Board of Directors of the American Liver Foundation, California Chapter.
Caroline Kovac Her main focus at Burrill is developing and executing
investment strategies for leading edge technologies that are contributing to the
transformation of medicine and healthcare including: personalized medicine, the
use of IT in healthcare, stem cell research, medical devices and diagnostics,
and bio-nanotechnology. In addition, she will work as part of the Burrill
International Group team building the company's life science focus on emerging
economies such as China, India, Malaysia and the Middle East. Jerry has over 25 years of
banking and finance experience and is a pioneer in the venture lending finance
market. Most recently, Jerry was the Senior Vice President of GATX Ventures.
Prior to that, Jerry was a co-founder and Senior Vice President of Transamerica
Technology Finance. Prior to that, Jerry was a Vice President at Financing for
Science International, a venture finance and healthcare leasing company that was
ultimately acquired. In addition, Jerry founded and served as President of
Venture Leasing and Capital, one of the first companies to provide venture debt
financing to early-stage venture capital-backed companies. Jerry has published
numerous articles on venture lending for major trade publications and has served
as panelist and moderator at trade association and finance conferences. Jerry
attended Northeastern University, Rutgers University and the University of
Phoenix, completed a formal commercial credit training program with Shawmut Bank
and has taken executive courses at Harvard Business School.
Mr. Taranto co-founded
Symphony in January 2002 and has more than 20 years of experience advising
investors and management teams of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and related
healthcare companies. Prior to joining Symphony he was a Managing Director and
co-founder of Wilkerson Partners, a healthcare and life sciences strategy
consulting firm. Previously, Mr. Taranto was a co-founder and partner, for 17
years, with The Wilkerson Group and its successor, TWG/IBM Healthcare Consulting
where he was Head of the Global Pharmaceutical practice. Throughout his TWG/IBM
career, he was instrumental in shaping strategy and investment opportunities for
leading biopharmaceutical companies and private equity investors. His clients
have included industry leaders and emerging growth-stage companies, as well as
private equity investment firms. Prior to joining TWG, Mr. Taranto was a
consultant with McKinsey & Company in New York from 1980 to 1983. He earned an
M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia University and received his B.S. in Electrical
Engineering from Yale University. Mr. Taranto is a director and Chairman of
Symphony Evolution, Inc. and Symphony Dynamo, Inc., and a director of Symphony
Allegro, Inc., Symphony Capital’s portfolio companies. In addition, Mr. Taranto
serves on the Business Council of Solera Capital LLC, the Board of Directors of
MIQS, Inc. and the Advisory Board of Doctors of the World-USA.
Raj Judge is a corporate partner at Wilson
Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He also plays a leadership role in the firm's India
practice, focusing on corporate and securities law for technology companies. Raj regularly advises venture-backed
start-up companies, mezzanine-level companies prior to their IPOs, and
well-established public companies. He represents these enterprises in venture
financings, IPOs, and merger and acquisition transactions. Raj also counsels
many India-based companies and U.S. enterprises with operations in India,
including advising on American Depository Receipt (ADR) listings, joint
ventures, employment matters, and licensing transactions. He also advises
venture capital funds in their investment activities in India. Raj serves on the
boards of several private companies and has been invited to advise the
Securities Exchange Board of India on liberalization policies and the Clinton
administration on Indian information technology issues. John Fisher M.D. is the
CEO of Biopsy Sciences. He received his training in Interventional Radiology at
the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, in 1990. Dr. Fisher
is the founder of Biopsy Sciences and as CEO has successively navigated the
company from a start up founded in 2000 to a multi-product acquisition by
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals in January of 2007. Dr. Fisher holds over 25 U.S and
EU patents and patent applications. He received his B.A. degree in Chemistry
from Southern Methodist University in 1981 and graduated AOA from the University
of Kansas Medical School in 1985 and completed his Radiology Residency at the
University of Kansas in 1989. Kinney is a Senior Manager
in Business Development at Genentech, Inc. He is involved in licensing
transactions for novel therapeutics, technologies and intellectual property. In
addition, Kinney works with early stage biotechnology companies that Genentech
has invested in through its GenenFUND, Genentech’s private equity fund.
Kinney joined Genentech in
2003 in the R&D finance group. From 2003 to 2005, Kinney held positions of
increasing responsibility supporting 10 molecules in Genentech’s portfolio as a
Financial Analyst, the B-cell franchise core team as a Senior Financial Analyst,
and Genentech’s business development transactions as a Finance Manager.
Prior to Genentech, Kinney
worked with early stage life science companies as part of venture capital
investments and investment banking transactions at Emerging Technology Partners
and Oscar Gruss & Son respectively. Kinney holds a Bachelor’s Degree in
Economics and International Affairs from Mary Washington College and a Master’s
Degree in Biochemistry from Georgetown University. Fred co-founded De Novo in
2000. Prior to De Novo, he was a Managing General Partner of Medicus Venture
Partners (“Medicus”), which he founded in 1989. Medicus was an early stage
investor in companies such as Anergen, Applied Molecular Evolution, Biosite
Diagnostics, Inhale Therapeutic Systems (now Nektar), Omnicell and Tularik.
Prior to Medicus, he was a General Partner with Crosspoint Venture Partners for
5 years, where he invested in life sciences companies. Prior to joining
Crosspoint, Fred served in executive positions in finance, marketing, sales,
manufacturing and business development for companies selling pharmaceuticals
(Searle), medical instruments (Merrimack), biotechnology research tools
(Millipore), and computers (IBM). Stephanie Oestreich, Ph.D.
/ MPA is Associate Director in the Strategic Alliances group at Novartis,
concentrating on licenses, collaborations and various other strategic alliances.
Stephanie has led several transactions in different roles of evaluation,
negotiation, execution and alliance management and has been a member of the core
team for several key transactions. Stephanie conducted the
research for her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in the laboratory of Jack Szostak (2006
Lasker award winner) at Harvard Medical School and received her degree from the
Free University of Berlin in Germany. Concurrently she was a McCloy Scholar in
the Master in Public Administration (MPA) Program at the John F. Kennedy School
of Government at Harvard University. Stephanie is also a member of the Board of
Directors and a violinist in the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she
has performed in Carnegie Hall. Prior to joining The
Journal of Life Sciences as web editor in April 2007, Mr. Levine worked as
special projects editor for the San Francisco Business Times where he won
numerous awards for his coverage of the biotechnology industry. His work has
appeared in the New York Times, The Industry Standard and theStreet.com as well
as other national publications. He is the author of "Disgruntled: The Darker
Side of the World of Work," (Berkley/Boulevard Books). Before embarking on a
career in journalism, he served as a Vice President and General Partner with
Herbert Young Securities in Great Neck, NY. He holds an AB in English from
Vassar College and a Masters in Journalism from the University of California at
Berkeley. John Cantello is currently Director, Transactions in GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Worldwide Business Development Group and is also a member of Leadership Team for GSK’s Center of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (CEEDD). In this role, John is primarily responsible for setting the business development strategy for the CEEDD and managing the sourcing and transactions of all CEEDD strategic discovery & development alliances. Over the past three years, John has contributed to the establishment of the CEEDD alliance portfolio (7 new alliances beginning in 2006) and has led the Targacept, Inc. and Praecis Pharmaceuticals transactions; the latter of which resulted in an acquisition by GSK in 2007.
Prior to his current role, John spent three years in the GSK Worldwide Business Development group scouting and securing access to platform technologies that could enable the early stages of GSK drug discovery and development across all major therapeutic areas.
Prior to joining GSK, John was employed by other large pharma (Bristol-Myers Squibb), mid-size biopharmaceutical (Regeneron Pharmaceuticals) and venture-backed start-up biotechnology companies (Morphochem AG; formerly Small Molecule Therapeutics, Inc.) where he held various roles of increasing responsibility that spanned drug discovery, project management and business development. John received his PhD in molecular Virology from the University of Delaware and post-doctoral training in gene therapy at the California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA.
Kevin Eastwood has over twenty years' experience in the areas of business development, alliance management, and sales & marketing. Prior to joining Ambrx, Mr. Eastwood was the Senior Vice President of Business Development with Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. where he held corporate leadership positions of increasing importance with Achillion over a six-year period. During his tenure at Agouron, Mr. Eastwood had responsibilities within antiviral licensing and sales and marketing, participating in the commercial launch of the HIV protease inhibitor Viracept. Mr. Eastwood also held positions of increasing responsibility within sales and marketing at Hoechst Marion Roussel, a predecessor company of Sanofi Aventis. Mr. Eastwood holds a B.S. in biology from Missouri State University.
Bernard is an independent
consultant specializing in clinical drug development operations management for
early stage biopharmaceutical companies. He often advises companies on virtual
operations and outsourcing strategies as well as internal research
infrastructure development in support of clinical drug development programs.
Over the last 14 years, Bernard has worked on and managed clinical research
programs for more than 20 different investigational drugs across a range of
therapeutic areas including oncology, infectious disease, cardiology,
pulmonology, and rheumatology. Bernard spent his early career at Genentech,
working in the oncology clinical research group. Over the last 6 years of
consulting, Bernard has worked with more than 10 early stage companies in
California as well as in Asia. Bernard has also worked in
the not-for-profit public health sector, specifically with the International
AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). On behalf of IAVI, Bernard traveled extensively
throughout East and Southern Africa, South America, and Asia to conduct
feasibility assessments for HIV vaccine development programs. Bernard received a B.A. in
Biology from Occidental College. He has completed graduate coursework at Johns
Hopkins University and is currently in the process of completing an executive
MBA program focused on healthcare at the Yale School of Management. Paul M.
Grand is Director, Pacific Coast for RCT BioVentures, a technology venture
investment firm and management company that provides early-stage venture funding
for promising biomedical companies and technologies. RCT has assets of more than
$300 million to advance technology and product development. Prior to joining RCT,
Grand was co-founder and VP of Operations of Imagine Pharmaceuticals. Imagine is
developing a platform to selectively deliver therapeutics and other compounds
across the blood brain barrier. He was also co-founder and CEO of MicroSurgeon
in Los Angeles. MicroSurgeon is developing a microwave thermal ablation device
for the treatment of solid tumors. Max Storrs is
an Associate Director for the Global CRO Sales Team at Quintiles. Max has
played a critical role in meeting the needs of clients by building and leading
global, cross-functional teams in order to drive innovation and successful
outcomes. He has effectively facilitated the allocation and deployment of
Quintiles’ vast human capital, infrastructure, and experience to provide
custom-based solutions in the world of clinical research and development. This
is a great example of the global marketplace transforming healthcare, and it
requires a fine balance of understanding and accepting local regulations,
culture and customs in order to be successful. Prior to
joining Quintiles, Max worked for Campbell Alliance, one of the leading
providers of management consulting services to the biotechnology and
pharmaceutical industries. As an analyst for Campbell Alliance, Max had the
opportunity to work with several of Campbell's practice groups, including:
Clinical Development, Managed Care and Research and Discovery. Max graduated
from North Carolina State University with a B.Sc. in Business Management. His
study concentrations were in both finance and marketing.
Managing Director
Burrill & Company
Managing Director
Burrill & Company
Dr. Kovac joined Burrill & Company after retiring from IBM, where she was
responsible for the strategic direction of IBM's global healthcare and life
sciences business. She led a team in developing the latest information
technology solutions and services, establishing partnerships and overseeing IBM
investment within the healthcare, pharmaceutical and life sciences markets. In
more than 20 years at IBM, Dr. Kovac held a number of executive management
positions, including vice president at IBM Research, where she was instrumental
in launching the Computational Biology Center and the massive Blue Gene
supercomputer project. Starting with only two employees as an emerging business
unit in the year 2000, Dr. Kovac successfully grew IBM's life sciences business
unit into a multi-billion dollar business, and one of IBM's most successful
ventures to date with more than 1500 employees worldwide.
Jerry
Michaud
President
Horizon
Technology Finance
Harri
V. Taranto
Managing Director
Symphony Capital LLC
Raj
Judge
Corporate Partner
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
John
Fisher, M.D.
CEO
Biopsy
Sciences
Kinney
Horn
Senior Manager
Genentech, Inc.
Frederick
J. Dotzler
Managing Director
De Novo Ventures
Fred earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, a Masters equivalent in
Economics from the University of Louvain, Belgium and a BS in Engineering from
Iowa State University, where he received a Professional Achievement Citation in
Engineering in 2000. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of
Private Equity.
Fred sits on the boards of
Bayhill Therapeutics,
Cartilix,
HemaQuest,
Point Biomedical,
Talima,
SenoRx
(NASDAQ: SENO)
and
Vitreo Retinal
Technologies. Fred also represented De
Novo on investments in
Favrille,
Microvention,
Oncomed
and
Renovis.
Stephanie
Oestreich
Strategic Alliances Associate Director
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc.
Daniel Levine
Web Editor
The Journal of Life Sciences
Dr. John
Cantello
Director, Business Development
GlaxoSmithKline
Kevin
Eastwood
VP, Corporate Development
Ambrx, Inc.
Bernard Chung
Clinical Consultant
Paul
M. Grand
Managing Director
RCT BioVentures
Grand has extensive experience in new company formation and fund raising. Since
1990, he has built, operated, recruited management and raised financing for
eight high technology, medical device and biotechnology companies. He has
employed more than 300 people in the Los Angeles area and served as CEO in
companies with up to 150 employees. Grand also was a managing director for
Fruition Ventures, a group of private equity investors focused primarily on
early-stage information technology companies.
Grand is a frequent panelist at biomedical conferences. He is a member of
several groups helping to foster regional biomedical innovation in California,
including the Los Angeles Life Science Roundtable and the OCTANe Biomedical
Operations Committee. He has lectured on entrepreneurship and venture funding,
judged business plans, and mentored students and scientists at numerous
universities, including the University of California Berkeley, the University of
California Los Angeles, and the University of California San Francisco. Grand
serves as an investment advisor to the LARTA NIH Commercialization Assistance
Program for National Institute of Health Phase II Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) program awardees, and he served as an advisor to the LARTA 2006
Venture Forum. He has spoken at more than 100 conferences, been featured in
hundreds of articles in publications including Forbes, New York Times and Wall
Street Journal and appeared as an expert on Bloomberg Television, CNN, and
CNN/FN. Grand has a BA from Tufts University.
Quintiles, Inc.
Max Storrs
Associate Director, Global Sales
Global Clinical Research Organization
Lauren P. Shearman, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Scientific Liaison, External Scientific Affairs
Merck & Co., Inc.
Lauren Shearman, Ph.D. is currently an Associate Director and Scientific Liaison in the Department of External Scientific Affairs at Merck. In this role, Lauren manages the scientific review of licensing opportunities focusing on the area of metabolic disorders, including diabetes and obesity. She has led several licensing transactions in this high priority therapeutic area for Merck. Prior to her current role, Lauren spent five years in the Department of Pharmacology at Merck Research Laboratories conducting obesity research. She began her career at Merck as a Senior Research Biologist in 2000.
Lauren received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Behaviour from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She performed post-doctoral research in circadian biology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and was awarded a fellowship in Sleep, Circadian, and Respiratory Biology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Lauren holds an A.B. in Biology from Mount Holyoke College.