Clarus Ventures
| San Francisco 801 Gateway Boulevard, Suite 410 South San Francisco, CA 94080 650.238.5000 |
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Mission Statement
Clarus Ventures is a life sciences venture capital firm founded by a team of accomplished investment professionals with extensive and complementary industry backgrounds which have enabled them to establish a long history of success in creating value. Their deep relationships with world thought leaders and decision makers allow this team to identify unique investment opportunities and shepherd them to maturity. Clarus augments its core expertise of investing in biopharmaceuticals and medical technology companies with the deep and diverse expertise of the team in research and development, commercialization, business development and operations management at the global level.
Key Contacts
- Nicholas Galakatos, PhD (Managing Director):Nicholas Galakatos, PhD, has been Managing Director of Clarus Ventures since the firm’s inception in 2005. He has over 21 years of industry and investment experience in the healthcare sector, including being a General Partner in a healthcare venture capital firm since 2000. From 1997 to 2000, Dr. Galakatos was Vice President of New Business at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MLNM) and a member of the Management Team. During that time he co-founded Millennium Predictive Medicine and TransForm Pharmaceuticals, where he was Chairman. Prior to Millennium he was an Associate at Venrock Associates focusing on early stage biotechnology investments. Prior to Venrock he was Head of Molecular Biology Research at Novartis (formerly Ciba).
- Dennis Henner, PhD (Managing Director):Dennis Henner, PhD
- Jeffrey Leiden, MD, PhD (Managing Director):Jeffrey Leiden, MD, PhD has more than 20 years of experience in the biomedical and pharmaceutical sectors. Dr. Leiden was President and COO of Abbott Laboratories, Pharmaceuticals Products Group, and a member of the Abbott Board of Directors and the TAP Board of Directors from 2000-2006. From 1987-2000 Dr. Leiden held several academic appointments including Chief of Cardiology and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of Chicago, the Elkan R. Blout Professor of Biological Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. During his academic career, Dr. Leiden was involved in starting several biotechnology companies including Vical and Cardiogene. He is an elected member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
- Robert W. Liptak (Managing Director):Robert W. Liptak has been Managing Director of Clarus Ventures since the firm’s inception in 2005. He has over 20 years of experience in investment management focusing primarily on the establishment and management of various investment management businesses, including being a General Partner in a healthcare venture capital firm since 2001. From 1995 to 2001, Mr. Liptak was a Partner with the Geometry Group, a diversified asset management firm focused on establishing investment management firms. From 1992 to 1995, Mr. Liptak was Vice President of Finance for Global Asset Management (USA) Inc., and began his career in 1986 with Price Waterhouse where he was a Manager in their Capital Market’s Group.
- Nicholas J. Simon (Managing Director):Nicholas Simon has been Managing Director of Clarus Ventures since the firm’s inception in 2005. He has over 25 years of direct industry and investment experience within the healthcare sector, including being a General Partner in a healthcare venture capital firm since 2002. From 1989 to 2000, Mr. Simon was an executive at Genentech (NYSE:DNA) where he held several positions including Vice President of Business and Corporate Development.
- Michael Steinmetz, PhD (Managing Director):Michael Steinmetz, PhD, has been Managing Director of Clarus Ventures since the firm’s inception in 2005. He has over 24 years of direct industry and investment experience within the healthcare sector, including being a General Partner in a healthcare venture capital firm since 1997. From 1986 to 1997, Dr. Steinmetz was an executive at Hoffmann-LaRoche where he held various positions including Vice President of Preclinical Research and Development, and Global Head of Biotechnology.
- Kurt C. Wheeler (Managing Director):Kurt C. Wheeler has been Managing Director of Clarus Ventures since the firm’s inception in 2005. He has over 25 years of direct investment and industry experience within the healthcare sector, including being a General Partner in a healthcare venture capital firm since 2000. Mr. Wheeler was founder and CEO of InControl, a publicly traded medical device company which was sold to Guidant. Prior to founding InControl he was a Principal with the Mayfield Fund focusing on healthcare investing. Mr. Wheeler began his career with Elli Lilly.
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