LSIPR 50 2016: Paul LaViolette and Debra Liebert
Name: Paul LaViolette
Organisation: SV Life Sciences
Position: Managing partner
Paul LaViolette is the managing partner and chief operating officer (COO) at venture capital firm SV Life Sciences (SVLS). During his 30 years in life sciences investment LaViolette has gained extensive experience in product development, operations and commercialisation of medical device organisations.
He has served on numerous boards, including those of Advamed, Urologix and Percutaneous Valve Technologies, and has also assumed board positions for existing SVLS companies such as Thoratec, DC Devices and Cameron Health. He is a member of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, ensuring that his understanding of the industry is constantly in line with developing technologies and regulations.
Before joining SVLS in 2009, he was COO at Boston Scientific Corporation. During his time there, the company’s revenues grew by more than 20 times and he engineered more than 20 acquisitions for the organisation, including that of long-term competitor Guidant for $27.2 billion.
"his understanding of the industry is constantly in line with developing technologies and regulations."
In 2014 it was announced that Ximedica, an organisation that focuses on product development in the field of medical technology, would partner with SVLS in order to “take advantage of opportunities in expanding markets” with the guidance of SVLS’s industry experts.
In 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the ReShape Integrated Dual Balloon System, a device that assists with weight loss through a system of gastric balloons that occupy space in the stomach. This technology has the potential to improve worldwide health by decreasing the number of obesity-related disease cases. SVLS is a shareholder in this technology along with Thesan Pharmaceuticals, Pan Optica, KalVista and Achillion.
Name: Debra Liebert
Organisation: Domain Associates
Position: Managing director
Debra Liebert is managing director of venture capital firm Domain Associates. Founded in 1985, it claims to be one of the first venture capital firms to exclusively invest in the life sciences sector. Domain Associates has been involved in the formation of more than 250 companies and has raised more than $2.7 billion in capital to date.
Liebert joined in 2007 to create new portfolio companies and evaluate investment opportunities. Throughout her 30-year career she has worked on improving healthcare through the development of drugs.
She has had operating roles in several domain-funded companies and is a director at cardiovascular drug development company Milestone Pharmaceuticals. She previously served as an observer on the boards of Atara Biotherapeutics, Sonexa Therapeutics and Tobira Therapeutics, which help treat cancer and kidney disease, Alzheimer’s, and liver diseases, respectively.
Before joining Domain Associates, Liebert provided development and business consulting services to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. She was also executive director of new product management for cancer vaccine company CancerVax, where she designed and implemented development plans for pipeline product candidates, and held the position of vice president at healthcare companies Atairgin Technologies and Trega Biosciences.
Liebert, who has directed clinical research programmes for Merck, became a principal at Domain Associates in 2009 and managing director in 2014.
(Images: everything possible and San Diego skyline- JJM Photography / Shutterstock.com)
