InterWest Press Releases
Medical Devices Specialist and Life Sciences Executive, Drew Hoffmann, joins InterWest Partners
Menlo Park, CA - May 13, 2008 - InterWest Partners, a leading diversified venture capital firm, announced that Drew Hoffmann has been appointed as Executive-in-Residence. Hoffmann will pursue investment opportunities in the life sciences sector with a particular focus on medical devices as well as continuing to act as CEO of InterWest portfolio company Synvascular.
With over twenty five years of experience in the life sciences industry, Hoffmann has led numerous early stage companies in their efforts to transform research into marketable products. Prior to joining InterWest, Hoffmann was CEO of Inspiration Medical Inc., where he directed the company in establishing novel sleep apnea therapies. He also held executive positions at Epicor and Ventritex and co-founded Sysflow Medical Inc. to assess the feasibility of an improved hemodialysis blood pump.
"Drew brings a wealth of life sciences experience to InterWest, from medical prototype development to senior level management experience," said Michael Sweeney, InterWest general partner. "His unique combination of technical expertise and operating experience will greatly benefit our portfolio companies as we continue to support them throughout their lifecycle."
Hoffmann graduated from Stanford with a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering. He built his expertise in medical devices by developing and bringing to market intravenous pumps, implantable pacemakers and defibrillators, and cardiac ablation devices. Hoffmann holds 12 patents and has published numerous peer-reviewed articles about medical devices, materials, and polymer science.
"As someone who has worked with InterWest for many years as an entrepreneur, I have experienced firsthand their commitment to supporting start up companies in their endeavor to deliver novel solutions for the healthcare industry." said Hoffmann, "I have witnessed the impact that new life saving technologies have on those in need. As part of the InterWest team, I look forward to using my experience in this field to identify promising technologies and help to successfully bring these products to market."
About InterWest Partners
InterWest Partners (www.interwest.com), founded in 1979, is a leading diversified venture capital firm focused on building long-term relationships with entrepreneurs and portfolio companies. Currently investing its tenth fund, InterWest X, a $650 million fund, InterWest has raised more than $2.8 billion of capital since inception. InterWest has a total of 13 partners and general partners in Menlo Park, CA and Dallas, TX, who bring together deep domain knowledge in life sciences and information technology.
The firm's past successful investments in life sciences include: ArthroCare (ARTC), Aspreva Pharmaceuticals (ASPV, acquired by Galenica group, SWX:GALN), Cor Therapeutics (CORR; acquired by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, MLNM), Corixa Pharmaceuticals (CRXA; acquired by GlaxoSmithKline, GSK), Coulter Pharmaceuticals (CLTR; acquired by Corixa Pharmaceuticals, CRXA), Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST), Epicor Medical (acquired by St. Jude Medical, STJ), Inspire Pharmaceuticals (ISPH), IntraLase (ILSE; acquired by Advanced Medical Optics, NYSE:EYE), Myogen (MYOG, acquired by Gilead, GILD), NovaCardia (acquired by Merck, MRK) Spinal Dynamics (acquired by Medtronic, MDT), TheraSense (THER; acquired by Abbott Labs, ABT) and Ventritex (VNTX; acquired by St. Jude Medical, STJ).
The firm's past successful investments in information technology include: CIENA (CIEN), Copper Mountain Networks (CMTN), Crystal Semiconductor (acquired by Cirrus Logic, CRUS), Cyrix (CYRX; acquired by National Semiconductor (NSM), Lightera (acquired by CIENA), PlaceWare (acquired by Microsoft, MSFT), SiTera (acquired by Vitesse, VTSS), Silicon Graphics (SGI), Stratacom (STRM; acquired by Cisco, CSCO) and Xilinx (XLNX).
