Third Rock Ventures Appoints Three New Partners

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Third Rock Ventures, L.L.C, a venture capital firm focused on launching leading life sciences companies, today announced the appointment of three new partners; Cary G. Pfeffer, M.D. as Partner; Neil A. Exter and Craig D. Muir as Venture Partners. Additionally, the firm announced the appointment of Jake B. Bauer as Senior Associate.

“Together, our team brings the full range of leadership and operating experience across the critical disciplines – science, product development, business development, marketing and finance -- necessary to launch, build and operate great companies.”

“The addition of these new partners represents the completion of our cross-functional team with extensive industry experience that will provide unique resources and capabilities to our portfolio companies,” said Robert Tepper, partner of Third Rock Ventures. “Together, our team brings the full range of leadership and operating experience across the critical disciplines – science, product development, business development, marketing and finance -- necessary to launch, build and operate great companies.”

Third Rock Ventures employs a unique model in which its team actively collaborates with entrepreneurs, initially filling key active management roles as needed to architect the right vision, operations, and culture to create companies that will make a difference in people’s lives and ultimately deliver exceptional value.

Dr. Pfeffer has more than 15 years of business development experience, successfully facilitating more than 30 collaborations for both newly emerging and established biotech companies. Most recently, he led the completion of a substantial number of these transactions as the founder of The Pfeffer Group, a business development and strategy advisory firm serving biotechnology companies. Prior, he spent more than ten years at Biogen in a variety of senior roles focused on business and market development and commercial operations both in the US and internationally. Dr. Pfeffer received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

As a Partner at Third Rock, Dr. Pfeffer will drive the partnership’s overall interface strategy with pharmaceutical and large biotech companies as well as academic institutions. Additionally, he will support the business development efforts for the entire portfolio including taking on senior business development roles for certain Third Rock portfolio companies.

Mr. Exter most recently served as Chief Business Officer of Alantos Pharmaceuticals, leading the development and collaboration management that culminated in the sale of the company to Amgen. Prior to his tenure at Alantos, Mr. Exter served as Vice President for Millennium Pharmaceuticals, leading product in-licensing and mergers and acquisitions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Exter served in executive roles in several high-tech companies. Mr. Exter received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

As a Venture Partner at Third Rock, Mr. Exter will play an integral role in the overall formation, development, business strategy and operations for a number of Third Rock portfolio companies as well as actively identify and evaluate new investments.

Mr. Muir has more than 25 years of technology development, implementation and application experience from the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President, Technical Operations for Codon Devices, a leading synthetic biology company. Previously, Mr. Muir spent 12 years as Vice President of Platform Technology at Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., during which time Millennium became a leading developer, user and provider of advanced genomic, validation and drug discovery technologies. Additionally, Mr. Muir developed and applied automation, robotics and bioassay development to drug discovery and biotechnology at Tularik, Genentech and the University of Vermont.

As a Venture Partner at Third Rock, Mr. Muir will be a key member in founding and building new Third Rock portfolio companies, leading the identification and integration of technologies, drug discovery and development platforms into new product engines, as well as leading scientific diligence on investment opportunities.

Mr. Bauer recently received his MBA from Harvard Business School, and has served as a Summer Associate at Third Rock. Previously, Mr. Bauer served in business roles at Royalty Pharma, Endo Pharmaceuticals and Putnam Associates. As a Senior Associate at Third Rock, Mr. Bauer will support general operations for the firm, perform opportunity analysis and support the portfolio companies through working with the management teams on operational and strategic issues.

In addition to the new team members, Third Rock Ventures’ partners include: Mark Levin founder and former CEO of Millennium Pharmaceuticals and four other biotech companies; Kevin Starr, active Board of Directors member of several biotech companies and former COO/CFO of Millennium; Robert Tepper, M.D., a scientific leader, biotech entrepreneur and previous head of R&D and CSO of Millennium; Lou Tartaglia, Ph.D., a thought leader in the field of obesity and previous General Manager and Head of New Ventures of Gene Logic and Millennium, respectively; Nick Leschly, an executive with experience in biotech drug development and marketing; and Anne-Mari Paster, previously CFO of MPM Capital, a venture capital firm.

About Third Rock Ventures

Third Rock Ventures L.L.C. is a premier venture firm focused on life sciences investing and launching companies that make a difference in people’s lives. The firm raised its first fund of $378 million in 2007. Collaborating with entrepreneurs, the Third Rock team applies its deep expertise to establish the roadmap and building blocks for rapidly-growing and highly-successful life sciences companies. The Third Rock team has a unique vision and experience in building great companies, extensive academic and industry networks and a collective track record for creatively managing the value creation path to deliver exceptional performance. For more information, please visit www.thirdrockventures.com.