Non-Executive Board of Directors
Dr. Healy has over 15 years of experience in biomedical research and development. He joined Sofinnova Ventures as a General Partner in 2000. Jim was an early investor and board member of Cellective (acquired by MedImmune), CoTherix (acquired by Actelion), Novacea, and Intermune. He also serves on the boards of directors of several private companies. In the pharmaceutical industry, Jim held a manufacturing position at Bayer Pharmaceuticals (Miles) and helped guide the discovery group at ISTA Pharmaceuticals prior to its initial public offering. Jim authored or co-authored numerous research articles and reviews, including three papers published in Nature. He began his private equity career at Sanderling. Jim earned B.A.s in Molecular Biology and Scandinavian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley, where he graduated with Distinction in General Scholarship, Honors, and received a Departmental Citation. Jim received his MD from Stanford University’s School of Medicine through the Medical Scientist Training Program, and earned his PhD in Immunology from Stanford University, where he was a Beckman Scholar and received a bursary award from the Novartis Foundation. Jim teaches a course on entrepreneurship at Stanford University, and is an active member of the BIO-NVCA Working Group.
Nina Kjellson is a general partner at InterWest Partners, a leading diversified venture capital firm. She focuses primarily on investments in biopharmaceuticals. In addition to serving on the board of Alvine Pharmaceuticals, she is a board member of Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, Lycera, Primera Diagnostics, Sequel and Trius Therapeutics. Kjellson led InterWest's investment in APT Pharmaceuticals and Nereus Pharmaceuticals where she is an observer on the board. Additionally, she supports InterWest's investments in AkaRx, Devax, Kanisa, and MacuSight. Kjellson's past successfully exited investments include Aspreva Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Galenica) and NovaCardia (acquired by Merck). Prior to joining InterWest, Kjellson was an investment manager at Bay City Capital, a life sciences merchant bank, and a research associate at Oracle Partners, a healthcare-focused hedge fund. Kjellson began her career conducting health policy and survey research with the Kaiser Family Foundation. Kjellson received a B.S. in human biology from Stanford University.
Pratik Shah is a Partner with Thomas, McNerney & Partners in San Francisco and has been with the firm since 2004. He is currently a board member of Altair Therapeutics, Auspex Pharmaceuticals, CNS Therapeutics, Cebix, Inc. and Ocera Therapeutics. Prior to joining the firm, he was the Chief Business Officer and co-founder of Kalypsys, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and clinical development of new medicines for cancer, inflammation and metabolic disease using its proprietary automation technologies. At Kalypsys, he was responsible for the overall strategy, business development and operations of the company and oversaw raising more than $130 million in equity financings and corporate deals. Before co-founding Kalypsys, Pratik was at McKinsey & Company where he focused on biotechnology and venture capital projects. He was formerly co-founder and VP of Operations at NephRx Corporation, a start-up company focused on the discovery of therapeutic proteins for renal disease. Pratik holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Irvine and both a PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Mr. Rohn has nearly 40 years of experience as a senior executive in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Bill retired in January of 2005 from the position of Chief Operating Officer at Biogen-Idec, one of the larger global biotech companies, which was formed by the merger in 2003 of IDEC Pharmaceuticals and Biogen Inc. Prior to serving as Chief Operating Officer of the combined company, Bill was the President and Chief Operating Officer of IDEC Pharmaceuticals, having joined the company in 1993 as Senior Vice President of Commercial and Corporate Development. Before moving to the fledgling biotech industry in its early days, Bill spent approximately 25 years in the pharmaceutical sector in a variety of commercial operating roles of increasing responsibility with such companies as Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and Adria Laboratories (now part of Pfizer). Although he retired from a full-time operating role in 2005, Bill remains active in the biotech industry serving on the Board of Directors of three publically traded biotech companies (Elan Corporation, Metabasis Therapeutics Inc., and Cerus Corporation).
