Frederick Frank, Chairman (2014-2021) Rest in Peace (1932 - 2021)
Frederick Frank, one of the founding fathers of biotech investment banking who transformed the sector by constructing the first Genentech-Roche deal, passed away Saturday. He was 89. Frank was one of the industry’s first dedicated drug analysts and investment bankers. After completing his MBA at Stanford University, Frank began his Wall Street career at Smith, Barney and Co. in 1958. Here, Frank would encourage his boss to split up coverage of chemicals and drugs and give him the drug beat. A decade later, Frank joined Lehman Brothers as a partner — he would eventually become vice chair — putting him on a path that would see him lead more than 200 deals and earn a reputation as a creative dealmaker, mentor, and one of the most gentlemanly bankers ever to grace Wall Street. Most of all, he was known for his visionary dealmaking. “Fred helped form the infrastructure that today holds together one of the greatest strategic assets of the industrial base of the United States,” Jeremy Levin, CEO of Ovid Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:OVID), and Paul Sekhri, president and CEO of eGenesis Inc., wrote in a tribute published by BioCentury. “His fingerprints and influence are to be found on nearly every major transaction that has led to the ecosystem that today supports the companies that invest in and produce new technologies, medicines, and diagnostics to save lives.”
