NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lux Capital, a leading venture capital firm, today announced that former Pfizer Chairman and CEO Jeff Kindler joined the firm as a Venture Partner. Kindler will help identify new healthcare investment opportunities and work with Lux portfolio companies. He joins other recent Venture Partner additions Jim Woolsey (former CIA Director) and Richard Foster (former McKinsey Senior Partner) in sourcing breakthrough ventures and brilliant entrepreneurs.
“With tremendous leadership experience in the healthcare industry, Jeff has an appreciation for the intersection of novel science, product development and commercial transactions,” said Robert Paull, Managing Partner at Lux Capital. “As Lux continues to make new investments at the cutting edge of healthcare and as our life sciences portfolio matures, Jeff will prove to be an invaluable resource.”
“A core tenet of Lux’s investment philosophy is building companies in areas where other investors are not yet looking,” said Richard Foster, Venture Partner at Lux Capital. “Jeff has a strong track record of identifying important emerging trends and capitalizing on them commercially – through operational leadership across both science and consumer businesses. We are excited to have Jeff’s insights as a key member of the Lux team.”
“I have great respect for the work Lux Capital is doing to build and back companies addressing some of healthcare’s biggest challenges,” said Kindler. “It’s a great group, and I look forward to being actively involved across the portfolio.”
In addition to his role as Venture Partner at Lux Capital, Jeff Kindler is senior advisor to Paragon Pharmaceuticals, a global investment firm that builds and manages innovative pharmaceutical companies. He also serves on the boards of AgaMatrix, a developer and manufacturer of diabetes products; Intrexon, a synthetic biology company; Sheridan Healthcare, a provider of healthcare solutions to physicians, hospitals, and outpatient centers; PPD, a global contract drug discovery and development research organization; Tufts University; the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University; and the Manhattan Theatre Club. He is a member of President Obama’s Management Advisory Board and a director at Starboard Capital Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm.
Kindler was formerly the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer, the world’s largest research-based biopharmaceutical company, which he joined in January 2002 and from which he retired in December 2010. He joined Pfizer as Executive Vice President and General Counsel and, prior to his appointment as CEO in July 2006, he served as a Vice Chairman of the Company.
Kindler earned his BA in 1977 from Tufts University summa cum laude and his JD in 1980 from Harvard magna cum laude, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He began his career as an attorney at the Federal Communications Commission and served as a law clerk to Judge David L. Bazelon of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the D.C. Circuit and later as law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. He practiced civil and criminal litigation at the Washington D.C. firm of Williams & Connolly, where he became a partner.
In 1990, Kindler joined the General Electric Company, where he was Vice President of Litigation and Legal Policy. In 1996, he joined McDonald’s Corporation as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, responsible for both legal and corporate affairs, and then moved into line management as President of Partner Brands, which included several restaurant brands such as Boston Market, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Donato’s Pizza, and Pret a Manger.
He previously served as Chairman of PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America) and of the U.S.-Japan Business Council and as a member of the President’s Export Council, the Shanghai Mayor’s Business Advisory Council, the Business Council, and the Business Roundtable. He has also previously served as a member of the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Catalyst, the United Way of New York City, the Legal Aid Society of New York, and Lincoln Center.
In Healthcare and Life Sciences, Lux Capital is a founder or founding investor in sector leaders from rapid vaccine discovery to nano-enabled drug delivery. Investments include Cerulean Pharma, Genocea Biosciences, Kala Pharmaceuticals, Visterra Therapeutics and Madaket Health.
About Lux Capital
Lux Capital is a leading venture firm focused on founding, seed and early stage investments in emerging technologies. Lux takes an active role in helping entrepreneurs build successful businesses in Energy, Life Sciences and Technology. The Lux investment team has founded more than 20 companies from scratch, including Caliper, Genocea, Illumina, Kala, Kurion, Lux Research, Nanosys, Neurocrine Biosciences, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. For more information please visit www.luxcapital.com
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Contacts
Lux Capital
Adam Kalish, 646-723-0162
adam.kalish@luxcapital.com
