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THIRD ROCK VENTURES
APPOINTS THREE NEW PARTNERS
—
Experienced Executives Cary Pfeffer,
Neil Exter and Craig Muir Join Premier Life Sciences Firm
—
Boston, Mass., December
13, 2007 – Third Rock Ventures, L.L.C, a venture capital firm
focused on launching leading life sciences companies, today announced
the appointment of three new partners; Cary G. Pfeffer, M.D. as Partner;
Neil A. Exter and Craig D. Muir as Venture Partners. Additionally, the
firm announced the appointment of Jake B. Bauer as Senior Associate.
“The addition of these new partners represents the completion of our
cross-functional team with extensive industry experience that will
provide unique resources and capabilities to our portfolio companies,”
said Robert Tepper, partner of Third Rock Ventures. “Together, our team
brings the full range of leadership and operating experience across the
critical disciplines – science, product development, business
development, marketing and finance -- necessary to launch, build and
operate great companies.”
Third Rock Ventures employs a unique model in which its team actively
collaborates with entrepreneurs, initially filling key active management
roles as needed to architect the right vision, operations, and culture
to create companies that will make a difference in people’s lives and
ultimately deliver exceptional value.
Dr. Pfeffer has more than 15 years of business development experience,
successfully facilitating more than 30 collaborations for both newly
emerging and established biotech companies. Most recently, he led the
completion of a substantial number of these transactions as the founder
of The Pfeffer Group, a business development and strategy advisory firm
serving biotechnology companies. Prior, he spent more than ten years at
Biogen in a variety of senior roles focused on business and market
development and commercial operations both in the US and
internationally. Dr. Pfeffer received his M.D. from the University of
Pennsylvania and his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania.
As a Partner at Third Rock, Dr. Pfeffer will drive the partnership’s
overall interface strategy with pharmaceutical and large biotech
companies as well as academic institutions. Additionally, he will
support the business development efforts for the entire portfolio
including taking on senior business development roles for certain Third
Rock portfolio companies.
Mr. Exter most recently served as Chief Business Officer of Alantos
Pharmaceuticals, leading the development and collaboration management
that culminated in the sale of the company to Amgen. Prior to his tenure
at Alantos, Mr. Exter served as Vice President for Millennium
Pharmaceuticals, leading product in-licensing and mergers and
acquisitions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Exter served in executive roles
in several high-tech companies. Mr. Exter received his MBA from Harvard
Business School.
As a Venture Partner at Third Rock, Mr. Exter will play an integral role
in the overall formation, development, business strategy and operations
for a number of Third Rock portfolio companies as well as actively
identify and evaluate new investments.
Mr. Muir has more than 25 years of technology development,
implementation and application experience from the biotechnology and
pharmaceuticals industries. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice
President, Technical Operations for Codon Devices, a leading synthetic
biology company. Previously, Mr. Muir spent 12 years as Vice President
of Platform Technology at Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., during which
time Millennium became a leading developer, user and provider of
advanced genomic, validation and drug discovery technologies.
Additionally, Mr. Muir developed and applied automation, robotics and
bioassay development to drug discovery and biotechnology at Tularik,
Genentech and the University of Vermont.
As a Venture Partner at Third Rock, Mr. Muir will be a key member in
founding and building new Third Rock portfolio companies, leading the
identification and integration of technologies, drug discovery and
development platforms into new product engines, as well as leading
scientific diligence on investment opportunities.
Mr. Bauer recently received his MBA from Harvard Business School, and
has served as a Summer Associate at Third Rock. Previously, Mr. Bauer
served in business roles at Royalty Pharma, Endo Pharmaceuticals and
Putnam Associates. As a Senior Associate at Third Rock, Mr. Bauer will
support general operations for the firm, perform opportunity analysis
and support the portfolio companies through working with the management
teams on operational and strategic issues.
In addition to the new team members, Third Rock Ventures’ partners
include: Mark Levin founder and former CEO of Millennium Pharmaceuticals
and four other biotech companies; Kevin Starr, active Board of Directors
member of several biotech companies and former COO/CFO of Millennium;
Robert Tepper, M.D., a scientific leader, biotech entrepreneur and
previous head of R&D and CSO of Millennium; Lou Tartaglia, Ph.D., a
thought leader in the field of obesity and previous General Manager and
Head of New Ventures of Gene Logic and Millennium, respectively; Nick
Leschly, an executive with experience in biotech drug development and
marketing; and Anne-Mari Paster, previously CFO of MPM Capital, a
venture capital firm.
About Third Rock Ventures
Third Rock Ventures L.L.C. is a premier venture firm focused on life
sciences investing and launching companies that make a difference in
people’s lives. The firm raised its first fund of $378 million in 2007.
Collaborating with entrepreneurs, the Third Rock team applies its deep
expertise to establish the roadmap and building blocks for
rapidly-growing and highly-successful life sciences companies. The Third
Rock team has a unique vision and experience in building great
companies, extensive academic and industry networks and a collective
track record for creatively managing the value creation path to deliver
exceptional performance. For more information, please visit
www.thirdrockventures.com.
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