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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(BA,)[2]
University of Virginia School of Law(JD)[3]
Occupation(s)Biotechinvestor;CEOofIntrexon Corporation;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)
Children4[6]

Randal J. Kirk[7][5](born March 1, 1954) is an American billionaire businessman and investor inpharmaceuticalsandbiotechnology.Kirk was thechairmanandchief executive officerofIntrexon(NYSE:XON), a biotechnology company, until 2020. Kirk started as a lawyer, but is best known for his investments in pharmaceutical and biotech companies. In addition to high-profile sales of New River Pharmaceuticals, and Clinical Data, Kirk founded investment firm Third Security, and has held board seats with biotech companies, such as Scios. As of May 2024,Forbesestimated his net worth at US$1.4 billion.[8]

Early life and education

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Randal J. Kirk was born inPleasanton, California.[9]The son of aU.S. Air Forcemaster sergeant,[10]Kirk and his family moved from California toTexasbefore settling inVirginiaandFlorida.[9]Kirk graduated fromPulaski High SchoolinPulaski County, Virginia.[5]Following high school, Kirk worked selling cars and motorcycles, and enrolled part-time atRadford Universityto study business.[5]He earned abachelor's degreeinEconomicsatRadfordin 1976, followed by aJuris Doctorat theUniversity of Virginiain 1979.[6]

Career

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Kirk was admitted to the bar in 1980, becoming the only attorney inBland, Virginia,and began a practice he ran until 1990.[7][9][2]In 1983, he partnered withBland CountypharmacistJohn Gregoryto found the next-day pharmaceutical distributor General Injectables and Vaccines. Kirk and his partners would go on to sell the business toHenry Schein, Inc.for $65 million in 1998.[10][11][12]

In 1996, Kirk founded New River Pharmaceuticals, where he served as chairman and CEO and took the company public in 2004.[13][14]The developer ofattention-deficitdrugVyvanse,New River would prove to be Kirk's single biggest payoff when he sold the company toShirein 2007 for $2.6 billion, making over a $1 billion for Kirk himself.[7][15]

In 1999, Kirk founded the life-sciences investment firm Third Security, LLC, where he is senior managing director, CEO and chairman.[16][17]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 toJohnson & Johnsonfor $2.4 billion.[18][19]Kirk also became the majority stock holder and chairman ofNewton, Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company Clinical Data, Inc. In 2011, shortly after Clinical Data's drug Viibryd received regulatory approval,Forest Laboratoriesbought Clinical Data for $1.2 billion.[20]

Kirk became involved withbiotechnologycompanyIntrexonin the 2000s. He was named chairman of its board in 2008 and became CEO in 2009.[21]Kirk took Intrexon public in 2013, taking the company's market cap to $2.5 billion with theIPO.[22]In early 2020, Intrexon adopted the name of its subsidiary, Precigen, and narrowed its focus to human gene editing.[23][24]With the change in name the CEO of subsidiary Precigen, Helen Sabzevari, took over leadership of the company from Kirk.[25]

Intrexon soldAquaBounty[26]to TS Aquaculture, LLC, a privately held company managed by Third Security, LLC, a venture capital firm led by former Intrexon Chairman & CEO Randal Kirk.[27]In addition to AquaBounty's development of genetically modified salmon, Kirk is involved in other companies advocating the approval of genetic engineering, including disease-resistant mosquitoes[28]and an apple which resists browning.[29]Other projects of Kirk's companies include creating cancer treatments, gasoline substitutes, crop protection, and improvingbovinegenetics.[7][30][31]

Recognition

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Kirk has been profiled by SynBioBeta andForbes.[32][33]In 2008,VirginiaGov.Tim Kainenamed Kirk Virginia's Outstanding Industrialist for the Year.[34]He has spoken at the SynBioBeta Conference,[32]BioFlorida,[35]Klick Ideas Exchange[36]and was a Borlaug Dialogue Speaker at the World Food Prize.[37]

Philanthropy and other roles

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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 ofUniversity of Virginia's board of visitors from 2009 to 2012.[38]

Kirk has also donated substantially to political causes. He considers himself a political independent, and has supported bothRepublicansandDemocrats.[39]He has been especially involved in Virginia politics, donating $1.8 million to candidates for state office, including $200,000 toTerry McAuliffe's2009 Virginia gubernatorial election.[40][41]

Personal life

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Kirk lives inWest Palm Beach, Floridaand has four children.[7]According toForbes,Kirk is worth $2.0 billion and ranks No. 1135 on its billionaires list.[3]Kirk's hobbies include falconry.[42]

References

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  1. ^"The World's Billionaires".Forbes.March 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 25 April 2013.Retrieved24 April2013.
  2. ^abc"R.J. Kirk".RU Magazine.Radford University.May 1999. Archived fromthe originalon 3 April 2013.Retrieved20 January2017.
  3. ^ab"Forbes #1135 Randal Kirk".Forbes 400.Retrieved18 November2020.
  4. ^Langreth, Robert; Herper, Matthew (22 February 2011)."The Next Big Move For The Smartest Biotech Investor".Forbes.Retrieved25 April2013.
  5. ^abcdefManese-Lee, Angela (20 February 2007)."Meet Randal J. Kirk, Southwest Virginia's first billionaire".The Roanoke Times.Retrieved20 January2017.
  6. ^ab"Randal Kirk".Forbes.Archived fromthe originalon 8 May 2013.Retrieved24 April2013.
  7. ^abcdePollack, Andrew (5 March 2016)."A biotech evangelist".The New York Times.Retrieved20 January2017.
  8. ^"Forbes profile: Randal J. Kirk".Forbes.Retrieved2 May2024.
  9. ^abcGreenberg, Duncan (22 September 2007)."Flying solo".Forbes.Retrieved20 January2017.
  10. ^ab"The 400 Richest Americans".Forbes 400.17 September 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 18 March 2017.Retrieved20 January2017.
  11. ^"Following the smart money: The small cap biotech investments of Randal J. Kirk".Seeking Alpha.11 March 2014.Retrieved23 January2017.
  12. ^"Henry Schein To Acquire VA-Based Marketer Of Injectables And Vaccines".Pharmaceutical Online.5 January 1999.Retrieved24 April2013.
  13. ^"Randal Kirk".Reuters.Archived fromthe originalon 9 June 2016.Retrieved23 January2017.
  14. ^"New River closes $30mm IPO".1 August 2004.Retrieved25 April2013.
  15. ^"Randal" RJ "Kirk".FierceBiotech. 4 April 2013.Retrieved31 January2017.
  16. ^Mintz, Cliff (9 June 2011)."Through the eyes of a billionaire life sciences investor".Life Science Leader.Retrieved23 January2017.
  17. ^"Our people".Third Security, LLC.Retrieved23 January2017.
  18. ^Sturgeon, Jeff (18 December 2004)."R.J. Kirk's prescription for success: Staying busy".The Roanoke Times.Retrieved23 January2017.
  19. ^Hensley, Scott; Sidel, Robin (11 February 2003)."Johnson & Johnson agrees to buy Scios for $2.4 billion".The Wall Street Journal.Retrieved23 January2017.
  20. ^Clarke, Toni (22 February 2011)."Forest Labs to acquire Clinical Data for $1.2 billion".Reuters.Retrieved23 January2017.
  21. ^"Board of directors: Randal J. Kirk".Intrexon.Retrieved23 January2017.
  22. ^Solomon, Brian (9 August 2013)."Biotech billionaire Randal Kirk nets $1.5 billion windfall on Intrexon IPO".Forbes.Retrieved23 January2017.
  23. ^"INTREXON CORPORATION IS NOW PRECIGEN, INC".Precigen.Retrieved6 April2020.
  24. ^Helmstetter, Michael (30 March 2020)."The Promise And Fear Of Gene Editing".Forbes.Retrieved6 April2020.
  25. ^Gilgore, Sara (6 January 2020)."Intrexon will take the name of its subsidiary. That company just scored orphan status for a rare cancer drug".American City Business Journals.Retrieved6 April2020.
  26. ^Pollack, Andrew (19 November 2015)."Genetically engineered salmon approved for consumption".The New York Times.Retrieved23 January2017.
  27. ^House, Douglas G (31 October 2019)."Intrexon sells AquaBounty stake to CEO-affiliated aquaculture business".Seeking Alpha.Retrieved2 December2020.
  28. ^"Press Release: Intrexon to acquire Oxitec, pioneer of innovative insect control solutions addressing global challenges".Oxitec. 10 August 2015.Retrieved16 March2017.
  29. ^Rebecca Randall (4 March 2015)."Synbio firm Intrexon snaps up Okanagan, developers of new GM Arctic Apple".Genetic Literacy Project.Retrieved16 March2017.
  30. ^Kunzig, Robert (16 October 2014)."Cloning cows from steaks (and other ways of building better cattle)".National Geographic.Archived fromthe originalon October 18, 2014.Retrieved31 January2017.
  31. ^Maxx Chatsko (6 September 2016)."Intrexon investors are neglecting this technology platform".The Motley Fool.Retrieved31 January2017.
  32. ^abChristopher Harrison (28 October 2015)."From BIOtech to bioTECH: Meet Serial Entrepreneur Randal Kirk, CEO of Intrexon".SynBioBeta.Retrieved23 January2017.
  33. ^Herper, Matthew (22 February 2011)."Is Randal J. Kirk biotech's best investor?".Forbes.Retrieved23 January2017.
  34. ^"The Virginia 100".VirginiaBusiness.com. 1 June 2008.Retrieved23 January2017.
  35. ^Manning, Margie (17 September 2013)."Biotech entrepreneur says industry falls short of potential".Tampa Bay Business Journal.Retrieved23 January2017.
  36. ^"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.Retrieved23 January2017.
  37. ^"2016 Borlaug Dialogue Speakers".The World Food Prize.Retrieved23 January2017.
  38. ^"Randal J. Kirk resigns from UVa board".The Associated Press.6 October 2012.Retrieved23 January2017.
  39. ^Manese-Lee, Angela; Paul Dellinger (February 20, 2007)."Meet Randal J. Kirk, Southwest Virginia's first billionaire".Roanoke Times.RetrievedMarch 16,2017.
  40. ^Meola, Olympia; Tyler Whitley (April 17, 2009)."Bill Clinton, Trump among McAuliffe's donors".Richmond Times Dispatch.Richmond, Virginia.RetrievedMarch 16,2017.
  41. ^"Money Out (Contributions): Randal J Kirk".Virginia Public Access Project.Retrieved2009-04-22.
  42. ^Milligan, Jack (June 2006)."The 2006 Virginia 100 - Feathering his nest - Randal J. Kirk builds companies and fortunes".Virginia Business Magazine.Archived fromthe originalon April 7, 2009.Retrieved2009-04-22.
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