Andrew Meadow, General Partner, Health Innovation Capital (Moderator)

For over 20 years, Andrew has achieved a significant track record of success within three critical areas of healthcare innovation: overseeing and advancing novel therapeutics and medical technologies from inception to NDA approval; executing complex corporate development transactions including capital formation, alliance management, and acquisitions; and venture finance and initial company creation. During his tenure with Excelyrate Capital Fund I, Andrew was responsible for: 1) building a pipeline of potential investment opportunities; 2) expanding and managing syndicate relationships,; 3) creating a healthcare centric venture portfolio that yielded significant returns to LPs, established a collectionof investments that are either standard’s of care or best in class within their respective therapeutic areas. During his tenure, he created a proprietary set of integrated search, evaluation, and risk assessment methodologies and tools that have received praise within both the entrepreneur and venture communities. As a Principal investor with Essex Woodlands, the Michigan Economic Development Corp’s Life Science Venture Fund, and Excelyrate Capital, Andrew’s investing experience includes 12 executed investments that achieved a collective net cash on cash return for investors of 3.8x and exits that included 6 IPOs and 3 acquisitions.

Andrew’s tenure as a senior healthcare financial, business development and commercial strategy executive includes multinational experiences in both Large Cap pharma (Baxter) and rapid growth venture backed biotech and medtech companies including SkinAxis (SVP Commercial Operations and Corp. Strategy) and Conceivex, Inc. (Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer). During this tenure, he was responsible for originating and negotiating several multi-million dollar strategic partnerships, co-development/marketing alliances, and inorganic pipeline growth initiatives that yielded significant shareholder value. He was responsible for leading the commercialization of three (3) products, which grew from $0.00 gross revenues to between $85 to $250M respectively after 18 months of his leadership. As a C-Suite executive, Andrew has successfully led three healthcare companies to successful M&A exits at significant multiples to EBIDTA.

During his tenure at UBS Warburg, Andrew worked on a number of market leading biotech and medtech transactions, with over $10 BN in IPO, M&A, and Equity/Debt financing transactions executed. Andrew is a frequent speaker nationally on such topics as Program Management, New Product Planning, early stage capital formation strategies, and healthcare commercial innovation strategy. In addition, Andrew has worked with the National Institute of Health (NIH) and nationally recognized indication specific advocacy groups.

Yury Kukushkin, Investment Director, JDRF T1D Fund

Yury Kukushkin joined the T1D Fund as an Investment Director in 2019 from 4BIO Capital, a London-based fund investing in public and private life sciences companies. While there, he focused on gene and cell therapies, PROTACs, RNA medicines, and targeted therapies and delivered top quartile returns for the fund. Prior to this role, Yury was Chief Analyst and Associate at RBV Capital, an early-stage life sciences venture fund. Earlier in his career, Yury worked in various roles in a boutique consulting company Abercade supporting over 20 various investment deals with US-based venture-backed companies.

Originally from Moscow, Russia, Yury received his M.S. in Biochemistry with specialization in Virology from Moscow State University and a Ph.D. in Cellular Biochemistry from Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany.

Richard Lipkin, Co-Founder, Co-Chair, The Catalytic Impact Foundation

Richard Lipkin is a Managing Director of New York-based Easton Capital Investment Group. Previously, he was a partner of Commerce Health Ventures, a life sciences healthcare fund, and Laird & Co., a private merchant bank; a biotech analyst consultant for a Goldman Sachs hedge fund and for DARPA; Executive Director of the Strang Cancer Prevention Center; and a prolific author, awarded the American Chemical Society’s Grady-Stack Award for research analysis.

Mr. Lipkin studied theoretical neuroscience at Columbia University, and serves on many boards, councils, and committees for the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rockefeller and Columbia Universities, MBL, the New York Academy of Science, and Montefiore Medical Center.

Mr. Lipkin is an honors graduate of Princeton University, holds an MBA from Columbia University, and is a Senior Staff Associate in Columbia University’s Department of Neuroscience.

Sasha Naydich, Associate, Myeloma Investment Fund

Sasha is a Senior Associate with the Myeloma Investment Fund, broadly supporting the fund’s investment efforts and deal flow. Prior to joining the MIF, he worked on several gene & cell therapy projects for MPM Capital, exploring new venture opportunities. He was previously an Associate at Flagship Pioneering, where he co-founded Indigo Agriculture, and an engineering consultant at DuPont. Sasha completed his Ph.D. in Bioengineering in the lab of Pamela Silver at Harvard, where he developed synthetic biological circuits and living bacterial sensors for detecting and responding to intestinal inflammation. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell.

André Harrell, Venture Partner, Cancer Fund

– 30-year commercial healthcare executive with 15 years’ experience in the oncology space

– Has consulted such companies as: McKinsey & Company, Johnson & Johnson, Hewlett Packard, BASF, SC Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, Nestle SA and Novo Nordisk.

– Currently, Venture Partner (Cancer Fund) & President/CEO (AH2 Management) which has 3 portfolio companies under its management

– André is regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and McKinsey & Company