NCBiotech’s Ken Tindall, G1 Therapeutics, NeuroTronik Win SEBIO Awards
Ken Tindall, Ph.D., senior vice president of science and business development at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, has won Southeast BIO’s Leadership Award, one of several honors announced at SEBIO’s 19th Annual Investor and Partnering Forum in Pinehurst.
Tindall earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Montana State University and a Ph.D. in genetics through the University of Tennessee at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has served since 1994 as an adjunct professor in the toxicology curriculum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also serves on SEBIO’s board of directors.
“Simply put, he has done everything for SEBIO that has been asked of him and more,” SEBIO said in announcing Tindall’s award. “Ken has served on the board for a very long time. He has chaired the organization, served on the executive committee, chaired the conference, led the raising of sponsorship dollars and provided wise leadership over the years.”
Doug Edgeton, NCBiotech president and CEO, praised Tindall for his 17 years of NCBiotech leadership. "As a valued member of the Center's senior management team, Ken has contributed significantly to the organization's transformational vision for North Carolina: a global life science leader," said Edgeton. "I know of no one more deserving of this recognition than Ken Tindall."
Other SEBIO award winners from North Carolina include two Research Triangle Park companies G1 Therapeutics, for SEBIO Deal of the Year: IPO, and NeuroTronik, for SEBIO Deal of the Year: Strategic Investment.
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Therapeutics, a clinical-stage oncology company, became publicly traded in May with a $105 million initial public offering of 7 million shares of stock priced at $15 a share. G1, a UNC spinout, received $500,000 in loans from NCBiotech in 2011 and 2012.
NeuroTronik, a medical technology company focused on heart therapy, closed on a $23.1 million Series B preferred stock financing. The funding was led by Boston Scientific Group and joined by other investors including Hatteras Venture Partners, Synergy Life Science Partners, Lord Baltimore Investment Partners, Mountain Group Capital and Sovereign’s Capital.
Award winners from other states include:
- Femasys, an Atlanta-based developer of contraceptive medical devices, for SEBIO Deal of the Year: VC Transaction. In December 2016, Femasys closed on $40 million in Series C financing arranged by Salem Partners, a Los Angeles-based investment bank, which also was a principal investor.
- HemoShear Therapeutics, a drug-discovery company based in Charlottesville, Va., for SEBIO Deal of the Year: Strategic Transaction. HemoShear and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. announced a partnership to discover and develop novel therapeutics for liver diseases, including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
- Intezyne Technologies, a cancer therapy company based in Tampa, Fla., for SEBIO Deal of the Year: Initial Funding. Intezyne raised $10 million in an oversubscribed Series A round led by existing investor Gaston Capital Healthcare Fund.
- “Southeast BIO’s Awards Program recognizes the companies and individuals that are driving the growth of the Southeast’s life sciences industry,” said David Day, executive director of SEBIO. “SEBIO award winners are a measure of the strong companies, exciting new technologies, and executive leadership contributing to the development of a robust industry across the region.”
SEBIO is a regional nonprofit organization that fosters the growth of the life sciences industry in the Southeastern United States. SEBIO’s geographic footprint includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.