Business Roundtable
One Exit Strategy Isn't Enough
Thursday, October 30, 2008
9:45am - 10:45am
Presidio
The lack of IPOs in the last year has lead companies to explore alternative strategies for exit, including further rounds of financing and entertaining offers at an earlier stage. The best returns can be realized by management able to walk two or more paths at the same time. Learn from late-stage private company executives on how to explore multiple exit scenarios simultaneously and potentially enhance your returns.
Moderator
- Annette C. Grimaldi, Managing Director, Life Sciences, Jefferies & Company, Inc.
Panelists
- Ed Hurwitz, Director, Alta Partners
- Glenn Oclassen, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
- Mardi C. Dier, Chief Financial Officer, Portola Pharmaceuticals
- Thomas J. Bigger, President and CEO, Paratek Pharmaceuticals
- Robert J. More, General Partner, Frazer Healthcare Ventures
- Charles F. (Chuck) Osbourne, Jr., Chief Financial Officer, Scynexis
Who's Who
Annette C. Grimaldi, MBA Ms. Grimaldi has nearly 18 years experience on Wall Street, the majority being focused in healthcare. Prior to Jefferies, she spent nearly 10 years at SG Cowen, where she led that firm's investment banking in the biotech and emerging pharmaceutical sector. Previously, Ms. Grimaldi spent eight years at Goldman Sachs, and has advised companies in connection with raising public and private equity and other strategic transactions. She received a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters in International Studies from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Services degree from Georgetown University.
Thomas J. Bigger Mr. Bigger has been President, Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of Paratek Pharmaceuticals since September 1999. Mr. Bigger has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in both large and small companies, most recently as Senior Vice President of Magainin Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that Mr. Bigger spent 15 years at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer (RPR), where he held a series of positions with increasing responsibilities, including serving as President of Dermik Laboratories, a wholly owned subsidiary of RPR.
Mardi C. Dier Ms. Dier is Chief Financial Officer of Portola. Previously, she served as Vice President of investor relations at Chiron Corporation from 2003 until it was acquired by Novartis Pharamaceuticals in April 2006. Prior to joining Chiron, she served as a director in the west coast investment banking practice at Prudential Securities, where she focused on client development, equity underwriting, and mergers and acquisisions for biotechnology and other life sciences companies. Ms. Dier was perviously at KPMG Peat Marwick in the audit department. Ms. Dier holds an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at the University of California, Los Angeles and a B.S. in biology from Stanford University.
Ed Hurwitz, JD, MBA Mr. Hurwitz joined Alta in 2002 and is a Director in Alta BioPharma III and Alta Partners VIII.
He is currently on the board of directors of Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, Cara Therapeutics, FoldRx Pharmaceuticals, Taligen Therapeutics and MacroGenics and led Alta’s investments in ChemoCentryx, Sunesis Pharmaceuticals and Threshold Pharmaceuticals.
Prior to joining Alta, Mr. Hurwitz served as Senior Vice President and CFO of Affymetrix from 1997 to 2002. From 1994 to 1997, Ed was a biotechnology research analyst for Robertson Stephens & Company, and from 1992 to 1994, was a biotechnology research analyst for Smith Barney Shearson. From 1990 to 1992, Ed practiced commercial law at Cooley Godward LLP.
Mr. Hurwitz earned his Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees in 1990 from the University of California, Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law and Haas School of Business, respectively. Ed earned a Bachelor of Arts in Molecular Biology from Cornell University in 1985.
Rober J. More Mr. More joined Frazier Healthcare Ventures in 2008 as a General Partner and is a member of the firm’s biopharma and medical device investment teams. Prior to Frazier Healthcare, Mr. More was a Partner with Domain Associates, having joined the firm in 1996 as a Kauffman Fellow and becoming a Partner in 2000. From 1997- 1998, Mr. More served as the Chief Operating Officer of Small Molecule Therapeutics, a Domain portfolio company subsequently purchased by Morphochem AG. And from 1992 to 1995, Mr. More was with Pharmacia Biotech in sales. Prior to joining Pharmacia, Mr. More held a research position at Somatogen, a company developing a recombinant blood substitute that was subsequently bought by Baxter. While attending business school, Mr. More worked with MedVest, an early-stage venture group in Washington, D.C. Mr. More managed successful investments in and served on the boards of ESP Pharma (acquired by Protein Design Labs, Inc.), Proxima Therapeutics (acquired by Cytyc Corporation), Onux Medical (acquired by C.R. Bard), NovaCardia (acquired by Merck), Esprit Pharma (acquired by Allergan) and IntraLase (acquired by Advanced Medical Optics, Inc.). Mr. More serves as an advisory board member for Montagu Newhall Associates, Okapi Ventures, The Medical Industry Group of the NVCA and The Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center. He is also a past founding board member of the Kauffman Fellows Program. Mr. More received his MBA from the Darden School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia and a BA from Middlebury College.
Glenn Oclassen In 1985, Ms. Oclassen founded Oclassen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a dermatologic drug development and marketing company. He served as a director from the company's inception, was President and CEO from 1985 until 1991, and became Chairman of the Board of Directors in January 1991. He served in this role until Watson Pharmaceuticals acquired the company in February 1997. He was also a founder and Chairman of the Board of NextDerm Inc., a venture that was acquired in 1999 by Procyte Corp.
From 1984 to 1985 Mr. Oclassen served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Pharmaquest Corporation, a pharmaceutical development consulting company. From 1982 to 1984, he was a partner in the Peachtree Creek Consulting Group, a firm providing marketing consulting services to health care and consumer products companies. In 1977, Mr. Oclassen founded the Neutrogena Dermatologics division of Neutrogena Corp. and served as President until 1982. He was employed by Allergan Pharmaceuticals from 1971 until 1977 where he was concurrently Director of Marketing for OTC ophthalmic products, and General Manager of the Dermatology Division.
Mr. Oclassen previously held marketing and sales positions with Westwood Pharmaceuticals, which was founded by his father Charles A. Oclassen, and with Wm. H. Rorer Pharmaceuticals. He received a B.S. in zoology from San Diego State University in 1965. Mr. Oclassen is a member of the Cutaneous Therapy Society and the North American Clinical Dermatology Society. He was previously elected as the first non-physician member of the Executive Committee of the Dermatology Foundation.
Charles F. (Chuck) Osbourne, Jr. Mr. Osborne joined SCYNEXIS in 2003. Previously he was chief financial officer of Nobex Corporation in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. At Nobex, Osborne completed two venture capital rounds totaling more than $60 million. He also was involved in structuring and negotiating corporate licenses and research agreements with global pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline. He previously was vice president of finance for International Murex Technologies Co., a NASDAQ-listed medical diagnostics company. While at Murex, he ran the worldwide finance group while based in London and was involved with the sale of the company to Abbott Laboratories. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.