The Sigvion Team
Sigvion is a team whose expertise covers the entire health care spectrum. Our expertise includes:
· Drug discovery and development
· Clinical application
· Regulatory and market analysis
· Venture Capital investing
Michael E. Pape, Ph.D.
Dr. Pape leads Sigvion's scientific due diligence team working with outside scientists, regulatory specialists, and medical practitioners to assess drug product candidates of potential portfolio companies.
Dr. Pape has worked in both large pharmaceutical companies and startup life science companies. At Upjohn and Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert (now Pfizer) he was instrumental in the success of numerous cardiovascular drug discovery and development programs including Lipitor and other novel drugs. He has published 40 articles detailing the biochemistry that underlies atherosclerosis, diabetes, and obesity. Dr. Pape left Pfizer in 1998 to co-found Esperion Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel cardiovascular therapeutics. He was involved in nearly all aspects of building Esperion, from its startup to its acquisition by Pfizer for $1.3 billion in 2004. His responsibilities as a senior executive at Esperion were numerous and varied in both the business and scientific aspects of the company.
He has held research positions in the Department of Metabolic Diseases at the Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan and in the Departments of Atherosclerosis and Molecular Biology at Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research (now part of Pfizer) in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dr. Pape is on the board of directors of ProNAi Therapeutics, is a founding board member of Akebia Therapeutics, and is a board observer for Kereos.
Dr. Pape received his bachelor's degree in Microbiology from the University of Michigan, Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Purdue University, and MBA from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan Medical School. J. P. Fairbank
Mr. Fairbank leads Sigvion's deal team, responsible for valuations, term sheets, deal structures, and all related matters.
He has worked for both the sell side and the buy side of the investment banking, asset management, and financial services worlds. He began his career at Frank Russell, which at the time was the largest multi-manager advisor in the world with over $1 trillion in assets under management. Fairbank left Russell to manage a Hedge Fund. After several years as an alternative investments manager he moved into portfolio management. In 20002Fairbank was recruited by Raymond James Financial Services to open and manage their Telluride Colorado Branch Office.
Mr. Fairbank is a co-founder and former director of Akebia Therapeutics. He is the co-founder, Chairman of the Board, and CFO of Nymirum. He actively works with the boards of other Sigvion portfolio companies.
Mr. Fairbank received his bachelor's degree in Economics from Connecticut College and his MBA from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business. He holds the Series 3, 6, 7, 24, 63 and 65 securities licenses.
Advisors
Scott Meadow
Mr. Meadow has spent 20 years as a Private Equity General Partner, most recently with the Sprout Group, the Private Equity affiliate of CSFB. He has approved hundreds of equity financings over his career. He has led or originated investments personally, in more than 60 companies, including two dozen Healthcare Services Companies, over a dozen consumer services and retail companies, as well as companies enhanced by the Internet. Scott was recognized by Venture One for four years as one of the outstanding Healthcare Investors in the industry for creating $560,000,000 in equity value over five years. Representative investments include, Coventry Corporation, HEALTHSOUTH, Sunrise Assisted Living, Sunrise International, Managed Health Network, Aspen Education Services, Pathology Partners, Heritage Healthcare, MedPartners, The Sports Authority, CompUSA and Staples.
Mr. Meadow received his BA from Harvard College and his MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is a Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship at The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Janet Rehnquist
Ms. Rehnquist is the founder of The Rehnquist Group PLLC, a firm specializing in the translation of regulatory advice into sound business strategies. Prior to founding The Rehnquist Group, Ms. Rehnquist co-chaired the health care practice Venable LLP. Ms. Rehnquist’s government service includes a Presidential appointment as Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) where she managed a staff of more than 1,600 auditors, investigators, policy analysts and attorneys; testified before Congress on issues related to health care fraud; and supervised all investigations, audits, and litigation involving HHS health care programs. In addition to her position as Inspector General, Ms. Rehnquist served for seven years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and Associate Counsel to the President in the first Bush White House. Ms. Rehnquist holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from the University of Virginia, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of law. |