Howard Birndorf

Howard Civian Birndorf (born February 21, 1950) is a biotechnology entrepreneur and one of the founders of the biotech industry in San Diego, California.[1]

Early life

[edit]

Birndorf was born in Detroit in 1950.[2] Birndorf received his B.A. in Biology from Oakland University, an M.S. in Biochemistry from Wayne State University,[3] and has received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Oakland University and Wayne State University.

Career

[edit]

Along with former University of California professor and current venture capitalist Ivor Royston, Birndorf founded San Diego's first biotech in 1978, the monoclonal antibody company Hybritech.[3] The company was subsequently bought by Eli Lilly and Company in 1986,[3] and Birndorf went on to found a number of other successful companies including Gen-Probe,[4] IDEC Pharmaceuticals (which merged with Biogen to form Biogen-Idec), and Ligand Pharmaceuticals.[5] Birndorf was also involved in the formation of Gensia (Sicor), and was a founding Director of Neurocrine Biosciences.[5][6] He was the founder and co-chair of the Coalition for 21st Century Medicine and was founder, Chairman and CEO of Nanogen, Inc.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Forbes.com: Howard C. Birndorf". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
  2. ^ "Howard Birndorf Interview". UC San Diego. 2008. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  3. ^ a b c Kramer, Mary (26 May 1997). "BIOTECH SUPERSTAR COULD PLANT HIS IDEAS HERE". Crain's Detroit Business. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  4. ^ Bigelow, Bruce (2011-11-16). "Xconomy: Nordhoff Retiring from Gen-Probe Board". Xconomy. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  5. ^ a b Fikes, Bradley (2018-05-09). "San Diego's Hybritech still influences local biotech, 40 years later". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  6. ^ a b Sterngold, James (1996-08-18). "The Johnny Appleseed of a Biotechnology Forest". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-22.