David Grainger

David Grainger
Born (1966-10-12) October 12, 1966
Alma mater Cambridge University
Occupation venture capitalist, medicxi, blogger

David Grainger is a partner at medicxi, a European life sciences-oriented venture capital firm.[1] He was formerly with Index Ventures, an international venture capital firm with offices in London, Geneva and San Francisco,[2] in the firm’s life sciences practice. He also writes for Forbes.com on topics related to the pharmaceutical industry.[3]

Education

Reared in England, Grainger graduated with degree in Natural Sciences (Biochemistry) from Cambridge University in 1989, and a PhD in Vascular Cell Biology from the same institution in 1992.[4]

Career

After receiving his PhD, Grainger undertook post-doctoral research in the British Heart Foundation Smooth Muscle Cell laboratory at Cambridge University.[5] Following publications in Nature[6] and elsewhere[7] setting out his Protective Cytokine Hypothesis explaining the role of the cytokine TGF-beta 1 in the cardiovascular system,[8] Grainger was appointed principal investigator in the Department of Medicine at his alma mater, Cambridge University, in 1997.[9]

While at Cambridge University, Grainger founded life sciences companies including FingerPrint Diagnostics (2001),[10] and Funxional Therapeutics (2005).[11] FingerPrint Diagnostics merged with SmartBead Technologies to form Pronostics, a molecular diagnostics company, in 2006.[10][12] Funxional Therapeutics, based on an anti-inflammatory drug candidate spun-out from Grainger's Cambridge University lab, became an Index Ventures portfolio company where Grainger also served as chief scientific officer[11] until it was sold to Boehringer Ingelheim in 2012.[13]

Grainger joined Index Ventures in 2012,[14] and a blogger on topics related to the pharmaceutical industry under the pen name “DrugBaron”.[15] where he was involved with funding and advising a variety of companies, including XO1,[16] a biotech company developing an anticoagulant, where he served as chairman and interim CEO before it was sold to Johnson & Johnson[17] [18][19] He co-founded medicxi in February 2016 with fellow former Index Ventures partners Francesco De Rubertis, Kevin Johnson and Michele Ollier.[1][20]

Publications and Patents

Grainger has co-authored a number of papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals,[21] including Nature,[6] Science[22] and Nature Medicine.[23]

Grainger formerly blogged under the pen name “DrugBaron” on a range of topics related to the pharmaceutical industry,[24] and now has a column on similar topics on Forbes.com.[3]

External links

References

  1. 1 2 "Backed by J&J and Glaxo, veteran VC group splits from Index, unveils $227M fund". FierceBiotech. February 1, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Index Ventures Raises $442 Million in New Fund". New York Times Dealbook. June 17, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Forbes.com Contributor column: David Grainger".
  4. ↑ "BusinessWeek profile: David Grainger".
  5. ↑ "Heart Disease Breakthrough Claimed". Nature Medicine. November 25, 2002.
  6. 1 2 Grainger DJ, Kemp PR, Liu AC, Lawn RM, Metcalfe JC (1994). "Activation of transforming growth factor-beta is inhibited in transgenic apolipoprotein(a) mice". Nature. 370 (6489): 460–2. doi:10.1038/370460a0. PMID 8047165.
  7. ↑ Grainger, David (2007). "TGF-β and atherosclerosis in man". Cardiovascular Research. 74 (2): 213. doi:10.1016/j.cardiores.2007.02.022.
  8. ↑ Grainger DJ (2005). "Transforming growth factor beta and atherosclerosis: so far, so good for the protective cytokine hypothesis". Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 24 (3): 399–404. doi:10.1161/01.ATV.0000114567.76772.33. PMID 14699019.
  9. ↑ "Index Ventures backs novel anticoagulant". Mednous. June 17, 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Cambridge merger creates Pronostics". Biotech Business week. August 7, 2006.
  11. 1 2 "Boehringer Ingelheim acquires Funxional products". thepharmaletter. July 24, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Revolutionary Coronary Test Ends Heartache for Patients and NHS". BusinessWeekly. January 31, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Boehringer buys PhII respiratory drug program". FierceBiotech. July 23, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Is Big Pharma Learning from Its Late-Stage R&D Setbacks?". Forbes.com. June 7, 2013.
  15. ↑ "To Save Pharma R&D, David Grainger Says Drug Developers Must Think Like CEOs Of Lean Startups". Forbes.com. December 14, 2013.
  16. ↑ "XO1 Cracks Coagulation Conundrum, Raises $11M". BioWorld News. June 16, 2013.
  17. ↑ "XO1 Raises $11M From Index Ventures to Develop Anticoagulant Drug". Dow Jones. June 17, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Index Ventures Invests $11 Million on Clot-Busting Drug". Bloomberg News. June 16, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Venture capitalists ride biotech wave one drug at a time". Reuters. April 10, 2015.
  20. ↑ "J&J and GSK join Medicxi's European life sciences push". FT. February 2, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Google Scholar search: David J. Grainger".
  22. ↑ Grainger, D.J. (1993). "Proliferation of human smooth muscle cells promoted by lipoprotein(a)". Science. 260 (5114): 1655. doi:10.1126/science.8503012.
  23. ↑ Brindle, Joanne (2002). "Rapid and noninvasive diagnosis of the presence and severity of coronary heart disease using 1H-NMR-based metabonomics". Nature Medicine. 8 (12): 1439. doi:10.1038/nm1202-802.
  24. ↑ "DrugBaron site".
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