LSIPR 50 2016: Julian and Felix Baker
Names: Julian and Felix Baker
Organisation: Baker Brothers Advisors
Positions: Managing partners
There have been plenty of famous siblings who have taken their field by storm over the years. Film directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski (formerly Larry and Andy), US tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, and English footballers Gary and Phil Neville are just a few.
In the life sciences investment field, Julian and Felix Baker are front-runners. The pair founded hedge fund Baker Brothers Advisors in 2000. The firm provides services to university endowments, foundations and families. It invests in US public equity markets and primarily works with life sciences companies.
Julian studied at Harvard University and has a business background, while Felix has a PhD in immunology from Stanford University.
"It invests in US public equity markets and primarily works with life sciences companies."
One of their most significant wins was with Pharmasset. They bought the company in 2007 for a figure described as being in “the mid-single digits”—and it was acquired in November 2011 by Gilead Sciences for $11 billion.
In January this year, the company announced it acquired 106,800 shares in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals at $7.28 per share. BioCryst is a biotechnology company that develops small molecule drugs that block enzymes involved in the pathogenesis of diseases.
In 2013 the company also bought shares in Halozyme Therapeutics, which engages in the research, development and commercialisation of human enzymes.
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