Plenary Session
Closing Plenary: The Last Word -- A View of the Biotech Industry in 2008 from the Street
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
4:15 PM
Empire Room
A panel of industry experts discuss their thoughts on the key issues and events that will affect the industry in the coming twelve to eighteen months. What impact will the election have on investor confidence? What are the emerging catalysts for the biotech industry? Which technologies, products or corporate strategies will attract investor interest?
Moderators
- George J. Milstein; Head of Investment Banking, Pacific Growth Equities, LLC
Panelists
- Jonathan Leff; Managing Director, Warburg Pincus LLC
- Carl L. Gordon, PhD, CFA; Founding General Partner, Orbimed Advisors, LLC
- William Slattery, Deerfield Management Company
- Dennis Purcell; Senior Managing Director, Aisling Capital
Who's Who
George serves as Head of Investment banking and is a member of the firm's Executive and Operating Committees. He joined Pacific Growth Equities in 1997 as a Managing Director in investment banking working with emerging growth companies, primarily in healthcare and technology. Previously, he was an investment banker with Robertson, Stephens & Company, where he focused on emerging growth technology investment banking. George began his banking career with Pacific Growth Equities in 1993. He received his J.D. from the University of Arizona and his BS in Biology from the University of Southern California.
Jonathan S. Leff is a Managing Director at Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm managing more than $20 billion in private equity assets. He joined the firm in 1996. He is responsible for the firm's investment efforts in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. He received an A.B. in Government from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, he was a consultant at Oliver, Wyman & Co. He is a director of Alita Pharmaceuticals, Allos Therapeutics, Altus Pharmaceuticals, Inspire Pharmaceuticals, InterMune, Neurogen Corporation, Sunesis Pharmaceuticals , RIB-X PHARMACEUTICALS, AND ZymoGenetics. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation.
Carl L. Gordon, Ph. D, CFA, is a founding General Partner of OrbiMed and Co-Head of Private Equity. Mr. Gordon is active in both private equity and small-capitalization public equity investments. He was a senior biotechnology analyst at Mehta and Isaly from 1995 to 1997. He was a Fellow at The Rockefeller University from 1993 to 1995. Mr. Gordon received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His doctoral work involved studies of protein folding and assembly. He received a Bachelors degree from Harvard College.
Since 2000, William S. Slattery has been a Partner at Deerfield Management Company with primary responsibility over biotechnology investments. Deerfield is a dedicated healthcare investment fund with over $4 billion invested. From 1992 through 1999, Bill was the Senior Healthcare Analyst at Amerindo Investment Advisors, Inc., also specializing in biotechnology and health information technology. Prior to 1992, Bill held a variety of research and administrative positions in clinical development and alternative care settings. He received his degree in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Albany and attended graduate School at Rutgers University.
Mr. Purcell has served as the Senior Managing Director of Fund I since February 2000. He is responsible for the management of the Partnership. Prior to joining Fund I, Mr. Purcell served as Managing Director of the Life Sciences Investment Banking Group at Chase H&Q (formerly Hambrecht & Quist, "H&Q") for over five years, and served on the Executive Committee of Hambrecht & Quist. While at Hambrecht & Quist, he was directly involved with over two hundred completed transactions and supervised over $10 billion of financing and advisory assignments in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical products industries. During his tenure, BioWorld and other industry publications cited H&Q as the leading underwriter of life sciences securities from 1995 through 1998. Mr. Purcell has also often been cited as one of the sector's leaders. He was honored in the "Biotech Hall of Fame" by Genetic Engineering News in June 1998 and named to the Biotechnology All-Stars list by Forbes ASAP in May 1999. Prior to joining H&Q, Mr. Purcell was a Managing Director in the Healthcare Group at PaineWebber, Inc. Mr. Purcell currently serves as a director of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Dynova Laboratories, Inc., and Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) - Emerging Companies Section, The Irvington Institute, and the New York Biotechnology Association. He is a member of the Advisory Council at Harvard Medical School. Mr. Purcell received a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Accounting from the University of Delaware and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.