User:16912 Rhiannon/Randal J. Kirk

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Randal J. Kirk
Born (1954-03-01) March 1, 1954 (age 70)[1]
Pleasanton, California, U.S.
Alma materRadford University (1976)[2]
University of Virginia School of Law (1979)[3]
Occupation(s)Biotech investor; CEO of Intrexon; founder and senior managing director of Third Security, LLC
Known forBiotech investing[4]
Political partyIndependent[5]
Board member of
  • Intrexon Corporation (since 2008)
  • Halozyme Therapeutics (since 2007)
  • ZIOPHARM Oncology (since 2011)
Children4[6]

Randal J. Kirk (born March 1, 1954 in Pleasanton, California) is an American businessman and investor in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Kirk is the chairman and chief executive officer of Intrexon (NYSE: XON), a synthetic biotechnology company. A serial entrepreneur and self-made billionaire, Kirk ranks No. 174 on the Forbes 400. While he started as a lawyer, he is best known for his investments in pharmaceuticals and biotech. In addition to high-profile sales of New River Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Clinical Data, Inc, Kirk also founded investment firm Third Security, LLC, and has held board seats with biotech companies, such as Scios, Inc., and ZIOPHARM Oncology.

Early life and education[edit]

Randal J. Kirk was born in Pleasanton, California.[8] The son of an U.S. Air Force master sergeant,[9] Kirk and his family moved from California to Texas before settling in Virginia.[8] Kirk graduated from Dublin High School in Pulaski County, Virginia.[5] Following high school, Kirk went on to sell cars and motorcycles and enrolled part-time at Radford University to study business.[5] He earned a bachelor's degree at Radford in 1976 and a Juris Doctor degree from University of Virginia School of Law in 1979.[2]

Career[edit]

Kirk was admitted to the bar in 1980, becoming the only attorney in Bland, Virginia, and began a practice he ran until 1990.[7][8][2] In 1983, he partnered with John Gregory, Bland's only pharmacist at the time, and co-founded the next-day pharmaceutical distributor General Injectables and Vaccines, Inc.[7] Kirk would go on to sell his stake in the business for $70 million in 1998.[9][10]

Kirk is known for investing in small companies and remaining with them until products make it to market.[11] He founded New River Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in 1996, where he served as chairman and CEO and took the company public in 2004.[12][13] The developer of attention-deficit drug Vyvanse, New River would prove to be Kirk's single biggest payoff when he sold the company to Shire in 2007 for $2.6 billion.[7] Kirk became a billionaire as a result of the sale, making more than $1 billion.[5][11][14]

In 1999, Kirk founded Third Security, LLC, a management investment firm for the life sciences industry, where he is the senior managing director, CEO and chairman.[15][16] From 2000 to 2002, Kirk served as a member of the board of directors for Scios, Inc., a maker of heart disease medication that later sold to Johnson & Johnson for $2.4 billion.[17][18]

Another investment for Kirk was Clinical Data, Inc., a Newton, Massachusetts-based antidepressant maker for which Kirk served as chairman and a major stock holder. In 2011, Forest Laboratories, of New York, bought Clinical Data for $1.2 billion. The deal came shortly after Clinical Data's drug Viibryd received regulatory approval.[19]

Kirk became involved with biotechnology company Intrexon in the 2000s. He was named chairman of its board in 2008 and became CEO in 2009.[20] Kirk took Intrexon public in 2013, taking the company's market cap to $2.5 billion with the IPO.[21] Described by The New York Times as a "biotech evangelist",[7] Kirk oversees and advocates for the first Food and Drug Administration approved genetically altered food animal,[22][23] genetically altered mosquitoes fighting viruses carried by the Aedes aegypti (including Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever),[24] and a non-browning apple.[7][25] The company's projects include creating cancer-fighting treatments with synthetic immuno-oncology (through a project with ZIOPHARM Oncology), gasoline substitutes, crop protection, and improving bovine genetics.[7][26][27]

Recognition[edit]

SynBioBeta called Kirk "one of America’s most successful biotech entrepreneurs"[28] and Forbes profiled Kirk in an article titled, "Is Randal J. Kirk biotech's best investor?".[11] In 2008, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine named Kirk Virginia’s Outstanding Industrialist for the Year.[29] He has spoken at the SynBioBeta Conference,[28] BioFlorida,[30] Klick Ideas Exchange[31] and was a Borlaug Dialogue Speaker at the World Food Prize.[32]

Philanthropy and other roles[edit]

Following the sale of General Injectables and Vaccines, Kirk donated $1 million to Radford University, creating the Zylphia Shu-En Kirk Endowment[5] named after his daughter.[2] Kirk has served on the board of directors of the Radford University Foundation and the school's board of visitors.[5] Kirk was a member of University of Virginia's board of visitors from 2009 to 2012.[33]

Personal life[edit]

Kirk lives in West Palm Beach, Florida and has four children.[7] According to Forbes, Kirk is worth $3.3 billion and ranks No. 174 on its Forbes 400 list.[3] He was given a "Self-Made Score" of 8 out of 10,[3] meaning he was "self-made who came from a middle- or upper-middle-class background".[34] Kirk describes himself as politically independent and has contributed to both Republicans and Democrats.[5]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The World's Billionaires". Forbes. March 2013. Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d "R.J. Kirk". RU Magazine. Radford University. May 1999. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d "Forbes 400: #174 Randal Kirk". Forbes 400. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  4. ^ Langreth, Robert; Herper, Matthew (22 February 2011). "The Next Big Move For The Smartest Biotech Investor". Forbes. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Manese-Lee, Angela (20 February 2007). "Meet Randal J. Kirk, Southwest Virginia's first billionaire". The Roanoke Times. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Randal Kirk". Forbes. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Pollack, Andrew (5 March 2016). "A biotech evangelist". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  8. ^ a b c Greenberg, Duncan (22 September 2007). "Flying solo". Forbes. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  9. ^ a b "The 400 Richest Americans". Forbes 400. 17 September 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Following the smart money: The small cap biotech investments of Randal J. Kirk". Seeking Alpha. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  11. ^ a b c Herper, Matthew (22 February 2011). "Is Randal J. Kirk biotech's best investor?". Forbes. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Randal Kirk". Reuters. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  13. ^ "New River closes $30mm IPO". 1 August 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  14. ^ "Randal "RJ" Kirk". FierceBiotech. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  15. ^ Mintz, Cliff (9 June 2011). "Through the eyes of a billionaire life sciences investor". Life Science Leader. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  16. ^ "Our people". Third Security, LLC. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  17. ^ Sturgeon, Jeff (18 December 2004). "R.J. Kirk's prescription for success: Staying busy". The Roanoke Times. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  18. ^ Hensley, Scott; Sidel, Robin (11 February 2003). "Johnson & Johnson agrees to buy Scios for $2.4 billion". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  19. ^ Clarke, Toni (22 February 2011). "Forest Labs to acquire Clinical Data for $1.2 billion". Reuters. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  20. ^ "Board of directors: Randal J. Kirk". Intrexon. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  21. ^ Solomon, Brian (9 August 2013). "Biotech billionaire Randal Kirk nets $1.5 billion windfall on Intrexon IPO". Forbes. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  22. ^ Pollack, Andrew (19 November 2015). "Genetically engineered salmon approved for consumption". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  23. ^ Shanker, Deena (19 November 2015). "The US FDA just approved the first genetically modified animal for human food consumption". Quartz]]. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  24. ^ Whittaker, James (29 January 2017). "As ZIka fears fade, new threats loom". Cayman Compass. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  25. ^ Vincent, James (19 January 2017). "The first GMO non-browning apples will go on sale in the US next month". The Verge. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  26. ^ Kunzig, Robert (16 October 2014). "Cloning cows from steaks (and other ways of building better cattle)". National Geographic. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  27. ^ Maxx Chatsko (6 September 2016). "Intrexon investors are neglecting this technology platform". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  28. ^ a b Christopher Harrison (28 October 2015). "From BIOtech to bioTECH: Meet Serial Entrepreneur Randal Kirk, CEO of Intrexon". SynBioBeta. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  29. ^ "The Virginia 100". VirginiaBusiness.com. 1 June 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  30. ^ Manning, Margie (17 September 2013). "Biotech entrepreneur says industry falls short of potential". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  31. ^ "Drs. Eric Topol, Daniel Kraft & Ezekiel Emanuel, Biotech's Martine Rothblatt, Craig Venter & RJ Kirk, business gurus Gary Hamel & Tom Peters, along with other visionaries to speak at Klick Ideas Exchange". Klick Ideas Exchange. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  32. ^ "2016 Borlaug Dialogue Speakers". The World Food Prize. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  33. ^ "Randal J. Kirk resigns from UVa board". The Associated Press. 6 October 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  34. ^ Fontevecchia, Agustino (2 October 2014). "The New Forbes 400 Self-Made Score: From silver spooners to bootstrappers". Forbes. Retrieved 23 January 2017.

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:People from Pleasanton, California Category:Businesspeople from Virginia Category:Radford University alumni Category:University of Virginia School of Law alumni Category:People from Pulaski County, Virginia Category:Virginia lawyers Category:American billionaires Category:Life sciences industry

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