Kevin Kimberlin

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Kevin Kimberlin is chairman of Spencer Trask & Co, an advanced technology venture capital firm.[1] Kimberlin has distinguished himself by backing “obsessive missionaries,”[2] such as Jonas Salk, Walter Gilbert, and John Wennberg.

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Technological [edit]

In 1982, Kimberlin structured the first outside financing for Millicom, helping the company to form its joint venture called Racal--Millicom, which changed its name to Vodafone Group Plc.[3] Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon and serves over 400 million mobile phone users.

To develop advanced optical networking, Dr. David Huber founded Ciena in November 1992 with Kevin Kimberlin, who provided the initial equity capital during the formation of the company.[4] In 1985 the first high-speed optical backbone, NSFNET, was reserved exclusively for academic and government purposes -- commercial use was prohibited. The NSFNET backbone was decommissioned on April 30, 1995[5] to permit use by the general public for the first time. Once in private sector hands, Sprint and Washington D.C. Network Access Points began to carry much of the traffic for the U.S. Internet. Ciena's systems were designed for the resulting demand: "In a major technological advancement, Ciena increased the capacity of Sprint's nationwide, all-digital fiber-optic network by a stunning 1,600 percent." [6] By 1996 Sprint was the world's largest carrier of Internet traffic.[7] The Wall Street Journal called Ciena “one of the biggest jackpots in the history of venture capital.”[8]

Prior to its public offering, Kimberlin was the sole General Partner of Next Level Communications, a broadband access leader. Kimberlin guided Next Level through its IPO, achieving a market cap of $17 billion before being acquired by Motorola in 2002.[9]

Medical [edit]

In 1986, Mr. Kimberlin co-founded The Immune Response Corporation with Jonas Salk.[10] Immune Response developed a vaccine for AIDS.[11] Kimberlin helped the company raise over $350 million to support this cause.

He co-founded Myriad Genetics, the first human genome company, with Dr. Walter Gilbert, Peter Meldrum, and Dr. Mark Skolnick, who with several colleagues devised the gene-mapping technique that catalyzed the Human Genome Project.[12] Myriad Genetics received international acclaim by discovering the breast cancer gene, BRCA1.[13] With this find, Dr. James D. Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA, said there is “no more exciting story in medical science.”[14]

Kimberlin co-founded the first stem cell company, Osiris Therapeutics. Osiris uses adult stem cells to bypass the ethical and moral controversy surrounding this scientific breakthrough. A leader in stem cell research, Osiris received the world's first regulatory approval for stem cell-based therapy in 2012.[15] By regenerating a variety of human tissue, Osiris is treating acute myocardial infarction, Type I diabetes,[16] Graft versus Host Disease,[17] Crohn’s Disease,[18] exposure to radiation[19], and arthritis.[20]

Kimberlin helped launch John Wennberg's radical comparative effectiveness approach to healthcare called Informed Patient Decision-Making. His research--paid for by Health Dialog--precipitated the Affordable Care Act.[21] By putting patients in charge of their medical decisions, Health Dialog lowers cost and improves quality. Even as it grew into one of the fastest growing private companies in America[22], Health Dialog was acquired by British United Provident Association (BUPA) for $775 million.[23]

Philanthropy [edit]

Kevin Kimberlin’s philanthropic endeavors support creativity, education, and science, including the Audubon Society, the Boys and Girls Club, Harvard University, and Yaddo, the artist community founded 100 years ago by Spencer Trask and his wife. Kimberlin serves as a Director of Yaddo.[24]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Business Week, Executive Profile
  2. ^ Gordon, Joanne and Mary Beth Grover. “200 Best Small Companies: Celestial Cast of Characters.” Forbes 2 November 1998: 192.
  3. ^ “History – Vodafone.” Welcome to Vodafone – Vodafone. 2007. Vodafone Group Plc. 21 June 2007, http://www.vodafone.com/start/about_vodafone/who_we_are/history.html
  4. ^ SEC.gov Data
  5. ^ Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing, Applied Technologies Group
  6. ^ Ciena Press Release, "Spring Boosts Fiber
  7. ^ Sprint Announces Plans to Launch Consumer Internet Service, August 20, 1996
  8. ^ Anders, George (June 5, 1998). "Success: For Ciena’s Investors, a Jackpot for the Record Books". The Wall Street Journal (New York). p. B1. 
  9. ^ Next Level Communications acquired by Motorola
  10. ^ Hero With Something to Prove, Los Angeles Times, SHERYL STOLBERG, p.1, March 7, 1993
  11. ^ Global Health Reporting: AIDS
  12. ^ Breakthrough: The race to find the Breast Cancer Gene
  13. ^ Waldholz, Michael. “Scientists Say They’ve Found Gene That Causes Breast Cancer --- Study Could Lead to Test For Those at High Risk Of Inheriting Disease.” Wall Street Journal [New York] 14 Sept. 1994: B7
  14. ^ Brown, Phyllida. “Breast Cancer: a lethal inheritance—Geneticists are close to identifying a gene that can lead to hereditary breast cancer. But at first this breakthrough could raise more problems than it solves.” New Scientist 18 Sept. 1993: 34.
  15. ^ Pollack, Andrew (17 May 2012). "A Stem-Cell-Based Drug Gets Approval in Canada". The New York Times. 
  16. ^ JDRF Partners with Osiris on Phase II Trial of Immunomodulatory Cell Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes
  17. ^ Osiris Therapeutics Reports Positive Results for Prochymal as a Rescue Agent in Pediatric Patients with End-Stage Graft vs. Host Disease
  18. ^ Osiris receives FDA fast track status for Prochymal in treat Crohn's disease
  19. ^ Washington Post, 1/7/08, U.S. Deal Boosts Radiation Drug, Zachary Goldfarb.
  20. ^ Chondrogen Phase 1/2 Data
  21. ^ Dartmouth Exemplifies Academics Informing Policy, Says Economist Peter Orszag
  22. ^ http://www.healthdialog.com/NR/rdonlyres/235591F7-6B8D-42C3-9E9C-65C34C693283/0/IncMagazineRankings.pdf
  23. ^ http://www.euroinvestor.co.uk/News/ShowNewsStory.aspx?StoryID=9682180&BW=20071218006054
  24. ^ New York Times, 12/24/98

External links [edit]

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