Lux Capital Management, a leading venture capital firm, today announced that David Sinclair, Ph.D. has joined the firm as a Venture Partner.
Dr. Sinclair is a co-founder of both Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SIRT) and Genocea Biosciences, and is Associate Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Glenn Laboratories for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging. He has made key contributions to the scientific understanding of aging, making him one of the most highly published and respected scientists in biology. In 1997, Dr. Sinclair identified the cause of aging in yeast, a first for any species, and in 2003 reported the discovery of a conserved master regulatory gene controlling this process. His laboratory at Harvard is currently focused on slowing diseases of aging in mammals using genetic and pharmacological means. In 2004, Dr, Sinclair co-founded Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and helped grow it into one of the most successful biotech companies in recent years.
Dr. Sinclair has authored over 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications, including several seminal papers in Nature, Cell and Science. His work has been reported in most of the leading news media including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, TIME and Newsweek. He has received numerous awards and honors for his research. Dr. Sinclair performed his post-doctoral work with Dr. Leonard Guarente at M.I.T. and holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from the University of New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Sinclair was honored by Genzyme with the Outstanding Achievement in Biomedical Science Award for 2004. Dr. Sinclair will remain an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and is currently a Director at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals.
“David is not only one of the most published scientists in the field of biology, but also an experienced serial entrepreneur,” said Robert Paull, Managing General Partner at Lux Capital. “His addition to the Lux Capital team strengthens our life sciences investment initiatives and expands our presence in the Northeast.”
”Lux Capital is second to none when it comes to rapidly building value,” said Dr. Sinclair. “Their ability to assist entrepreneurs in hiring world leading operators and scientific experts, finding non-dilutive sources of capital, and opening doors to corporate partners is unparalleled. I look forward to working with Lux to find and build value around the most exciting new technologies in the life sciences.”
“David is one of the most promising rising entrepreneurs in life sciences,” said Lux Capital Special Limited Partner Larry Bock. “We’re excited to have him on the Lux team.” Bock joined Lux in 2004 and has co-founded or provided seed financing to 40 companies that have achieved a cumulative market capitalization of over $40 billion. Bock has won the Einstein Award for lifetime contributions in the field of life sciences and was named one of Venture Capital Journal's Ten Most Influential Venture Capitalists.
Lux Capital’s team has been responsible for co-founding more than 20 startups, including some of the world’s leading biotechnology companies such as Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX), Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN), Caliper Technologies (NASDAQ: CALP), Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: NBIX) and Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA). Recent life sciences investments include Genocea Biosciences (vaccine discovery), Tempo Pharmaceuticals (nanoparticle drug delivery) and Magen Biosciences (aesthetic medicine/dermatology).
About Lux Capital Management
Lux Capital Management is a research-driven investment firm focused on de novo, seed and early stage investments in the physical and life sciences. Lux takes an active role in helping management teams build successful businesses in high growth sectors. Our investment team has built over 20 companies from scratch