De Novo Ventures Expands Investment Team; Former Guidant executive Jay Watkins joins De Novo as Managing Director.Business Editors MENLO PARK Menlo Park. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 28,040), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1874. Electronic equipment and aerospace products are manufactured in the city. Menlo College and a Stanford Univ. research institute are there. 2 Uninc. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 2002 De Novo [Latin, Anew.] A second time; afresh. A trial or a hearing that is ordered by an appellate court that has reviewed the record of a hearing in a lower court and sent the matter back to the original court for a new trial, as if it had not been previously heard nor decided. Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on the life sciences industry, announced today the addition of Jay Watkins as its fifth managing director. Watkins will be responsible for identifying new investment opportunities in medical technology companies and supporting De Novo's current portfolio companies. Most recently, Watkins was a vice president of Guidant Corporation and president of Compass, Guidant's corporate business development and new ventures group. He played an active role at Guidant in the acquisitions of several cardiovascular companies, including Endovascular Technologies Inc. and CardioThoracic cardiothoracic /car·dio·tho·rac·ic/ (-thah-ras´ik) pertaining to the heart and the thorax. car·di·o·tho·rac·ic n. Of or relating to the heart and the chest. Systems Inc. Watkins earlier served as president of Guidant's Cardiac and Vascular Surgery Vascular surgery is a subspecialty of general surgery in which diseases of the vascular system, or arteries and veins, are managed, largely via surgical intervention. The vascular surgeon is trained in the diagnosis and management of diseases affecting all parts of the vascular Group, one of Guidant's three operating business divisions. "Jay is a seasoned executive and brings to De Novo an ideal combination of operating, business development and entrepreneurial experience," said Fred Dotzler, another De Novo managing director. "Our portfolio companies will benefit greatly from his insights and experience at creating and building successful life science companies." In 1989, Watkins co-founded Origin Medsystems and served as its founding president. Focused on minimally invasive surgery minimally invasive surgery Laparoscopic surgery, see there. See Laparoscopic cholecystectomy. , the company was acquired less than three years later by Eli Lilly Eli Lilly can refer to:
"I am especially excited to join De Novo's team of veteran innovators at this juncture in the life sciences industry," Watkins said. "We are working with a more sophisticated technology base than ever while we simultaneously confront substantial unmet clinical needs." Yet building value in today's environment requires more than a novel concept, Watkins added. Highly specialized skills and increasingly diverse management teams are required to take the next generation of promising ideas from the laboratory bench to the patient. "De Novo has already demonstrated its commitment to building the capabilities needed to meet these challenges," Watkins said. Prior to founding Origin Medsystems, Watkins was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. He earned an MBA MBA abbr. Master of Business Administration Noun 1. MBA - a master's degree in business Master in Business, Master in Business Administration from Harvard University Harvard University, mainly at Cambridge, Mass., including Harvard College, the oldest American college. Harvard College Harvard College, originally for men, was founded in 1636 with a grant from the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. and undergraduate degree from Stanford University. About De Novo Ventures: De Novo Ventures invests in early stage life science companies, based primarily in the western United States Noun 1. western United States - the region of the United States lying to the west of the Mississippi River West Santa Fe Trail - a trail that extends from Missouri to New Mexico; an important route for settlers moving west in the 19th century . The partnership targets medical devices, biotechnology/pharmaceuticals, genomics and drug delivery. De Novo raised a $100 million partnership in 2000 and has invested in 14 portfolio companies. The four current managing directors have been successful entrepreneurs, executives, and investors in early stage medical and pharmaceutical companies. They use their broad experiences and extensive networks to help founders and management teams build valuable companies. For more information, visit www.denovovc.com |
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