David Grainger

David Grainger
Born (1966-10-12) 12 October 1966 (age 58)
Alma materCambridge University
Occupation(s)venture capitalist, medicxi, biotechnology executive, Methuselah Health Ltd., blogger

David Grainger is a partner at medicxi, a European life sciences-oriented venture capital firm[1] and chief executive officer of Methuselah Health Ltd., a drug development company doing proteomics research in the longevity space.[2][3]

He was formerly with Index Ventures, an international venture capital firm with offices in London, Geneva and San Francisco,[4] in the firm's life sciences practice. He also writes for Forbes.com on topics related to the pharmaceutical industry.[5]

Education

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Reared in England, Grainger graduated with degree in Natural Sciences (Biochemistry) from Cambridge University in 1989, and a PhD in Vascular Cell Biology from the same institution in 1992.[6]

Career

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After receiving his PhD, Grainger undertook post-doctoral research in the British Heart Foundation Smooth Muscle Cell laboratory at Cambridge University.[7] Following publications in Nature[8] and elsewhere[9] setting out his Protective Cytokine Hypothesis explaining the role of the cytokine TGF-beta 1 in the cardiovascular system,[10] Grainger was appointed principal investigator in the Department of Medicine at his alma mater, Cambridge University, in 1997.[11]

While at Cambridge University, Grainger founded life sciences companies including FingerPrint Diagnostics (2001),[12] and Funxional Therapeutics (2005).[13] FingerPrint Diagnostics merged with SmartBead Technologies to form Pronostics, a molecular diagnostics company, in 2006.[12][14] Funxional Therapeutics, based on an anti-inflammatory drug candidate spun-out from Grainger's Cambridge University lab, became an Index Ventures portfolio company where Grainger also served as chief scientific officer[13] until it was sold to Boehringer Ingelheim in 2012.[15]

Grainger joined Index Ventures in 2012,[16] and a blogger on topics related to the pharmaceutical industry under the pen name “DrugBaron”.[17] where he was involved with funding and advising a variety of companies, including XO1,[18] a biotech company developing an anticoagulant, where he served as chairman and interim CEO before it was sold to Johnson & Johnson[19][20][21] He co-founded medicxi in February 2016 with fellow former Index Ventures partners Francesco De Rubertis, Kevin Johnson and Michele Ollier.[1][22]

Publications and Patents

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Grainger has co-authored a number of papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals,[23] including Nature,[8] Science[24] and Nature Medicine.[25]

Grainger formerly blogged under the pen name “DrugBaron” on a range of topics related to the pharmaceutical industry,[26] and now has a column on similar topics on Forbes.com.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Backed by J&J and Glaxo, veteran VC group splits from Index, unveils $227M fund". FierceBiotech. 1 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Methuselah Health CEO David Grainger is out to aid longevity". FierceCEO. 4 January 2018. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Methuselah Health Using Protein PTM Analysis to Tackle Age-Related Diseases". GenomeWeb. 28 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Index Ventures Raises $442 Million in New Fund". New York Times Dealbook. 17 June 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Forbes.com Contributor column: David Grainger". Forbes.
  6. ^ "BusinessWeek profile: David Grainger". Archived from the original on 18 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Heart Disease Breakthrough Claimed". Nature Medicine. 25 November 2002.
  8. ^ a b Grainger DJ, Kemp PR, Liu AC, Lawn RM, Metcalfe JC (1994). "Activation of transforming growth factor-beta is inhibited in transgenic apolipoprotein(a) mice". Nature. 370 (6489): 460–2. Bibcode:1994Natur.370..460G. doi:10.1038/370460a0. PMID 8047165. S2CID 4318812.
  9. ^ Grainger, David (2007). "TGF-β and atherosclerosis in man". Cardiovascular Research. 74 (2): 213–22. doi:10.1016/j.cardiores.2007.02.022. PMID 17382916.
  10. ^ Grainger DJ (2005). "Transforming growth factor beta and atherosclerosis: so far, so good for the protective cytokine hypothesis". Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 24 (3): 399–404. doi:10.1161/01.ATV.0000114567.76772.33. PMID 14699019.
  11. ^ "Index Ventures backs novel anticoagulant". Mednous. 17 June 2013.
  12. ^ a b "Cambridge merger creates Pronostics". Biotech Business week. 7 August 2006.
  13. ^ a b "Boehringer Ingelheim acquires Funxional products". thepharmaletter. 24 July 2012.
  14. ^ "Revolutionary Coronary Test Ends Heartache for Patients and NHS". BusinessWeekly. 31 January 2007.
  15. ^ "Boehringer buys PhII respiratory drug program". FierceBiotech. 23 July 2012.
  16. ^ "Is Big Pharma Learning from Its Late-Stage R&D Setbacks?". Forbes.com. 7 June 2013.
  17. ^ "To Save Pharma R&D, David Grainger Says Drug Developers Must Think Like CEOs Of Lean Startups". Forbes.com. 14 December 2013.
  18. ^ "XO1 Cracks Coagulation Conundrum, Raises $11M". BioWorld News. 16 June 2013.
  19. ^ "XO1 Raises $11M From Index Ventures to Develop Anticoagulant Drug". Dow Jones. 17 June 2013.
  20. ^ "Index Ventures Invests $11 Million on Clot-Busting Drug". Bloomberg News. 16 June 2013.
  21. ^ "Venture capitalists ride biotech wave one drug at a time". Reuters. 10 April 2015.
  22. ^ "J&J and GSK join Medicxi's European life sciences push". FT. 2 February 2016.
  23. ^ "Google Scholar search: David J. Grainger".
  24. ^ Grainger, D.J. (1993). "Proliferation of human smooth muscle cells promoted by lipoprotein(a)". Science. 260 (5114): 1655–1658. Bibcode:1993Sci...260.1655G. doi:10.1126/science.8503012. PMID 8503012.
  25. ^ Brindle, Joanne (2002). "Rapid and noninvasive diagnosis of the presence and severity of coronary heart disease using 1H-NMR-based metabonomics". Nature Medicine. 8 (12): 1439–1444. doi:10.1038/nm1202-802. PMID 12447357. S2CID 8676147.
  26. ^ "DrugBaron site".
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