A PHILOSOPHER ON WALL STREET
When Fred Frank arrived on Wall Street in 1958, he became a key member of a small, whip-smart cadre of young financiers who began challenging the stodgy, risk-averse scions of old-world investment banking. He also became the first banker to specialize in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and health care services. Frank’s perpetual search for the new—pioneering technologies, innovative business models, and the “alpha” that creates real investor wealth and groundbreaking industries—has transformed our world.
A Philosopher on Wall Street is an intriguing account of
· a force of verve and ingenuity on Wall Street who oversaw hundreds of IPOS and mergers and acquisitions totaling tens of billions of dollars
· a history of the Street, the rise of technology in America, and the pharma and biotech industries
· colorful stories from top innovators, scientists, executives, and investors about deals, intrigue, genius, booms and busts
This is the story of a master artist of finance whose erudition and grace helped shape our world, who has always believed that inspired science, entrepreneurship and investing are the key to a better future.
FRED FRANK
Fred Frank passed away at the age of 89 on September 11, 2021.
Please see Fred’s obituary in the New York Times.
Frederick Frank was Chairman of EVOLUTION Life Sciences Partners (ELSP). He was also Co-founder and Managing Partner of Life Sciences Partners, LLC, a financial advisory firm. Mr. Frank began his investment banking career at Smith, Barney & Co. in 1958, where he attained the positions of Co-head of Research, Vice President, and Director. In 1969, he joined Lehman Brothers as a partner and eventually became Vice Chairman. At Lehman Brothers, Frank provided investment banking services to numerous companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare services, medical device, and nutraceutical industries, and was involved in hundreds of financings, strategic alliances, and merger and acquisition transactions in the global healthcare industry. Mr. Frank was also Vice Chairman at both Barclays Capital and Peter J. Solomon Company.
Mr. Frank’s clients included Marion Laboratories, from leading the company’s initial public offering to its acquisition of the pharmaceutical division of Dow Chemical, creating Marion Merrill Dow. Together with Mary Tanner, Frank represented Marion Merrill Dow in its merger with Hoechst to form Hoechst Marion Roussel. Frank also represented Synthélabo in France in its acquisition by Sanofi, and Genentech, commencing in 1995, with the purchase of a controlling interest by Roche and in its 1999 extension & modification. He advised CV Therapeutics in its $l.4 billion sale to Gilead Sciences; BioDuro, a China-based company, in its sale to PPD; TargeGen, in its sale to Sanofi-Aventis, CGI Pharmaceuticals, in its sale to Gilead Sciences; and OSI Pharmaceuticals in its sale to Astellas Pharma.
Mr. Frank was honored for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Immunology in 1998 by the Irvington Institute for Immunological Research, and, in 1997, he received the Biotech Meeting at Laguna Niguel Hall of Fame Award for Special Recognition for an Individual. He received The Albert Einstein Award from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2004, the 2006 Gilda’s Club of New York City Visionary Award and was selected The Top 100 Living Contributors to Biotechnology by Reed Elsevier and in 2007 he received the Award for Excellence from the American Liver Foundation.
MARY TANNER
Mary Tanner is Senior Managing Director of EVOLUTION Life Sciences Partners (ELSP). She is also co-founder and Managing Partner of Life Sciences Partners, LLC, a financial advisory firm. At Life Sciences Partners, Tanner specialized in healthcare investment and strategic advisory work. She is a former Senior Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Peter. J. Solomon Company.
At Lehman Brothers, with Frederick Frank, she headed a global healthcare investment banking franchise for over twenty years. Tanner has devoted more than 25 years to the global healthcare and biotechnology industry. Her expertise includes the ethical pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical devices, healthcare services, cosmetics and consumer medicines, as well as green technologies in chemicals.
In addition to her well known work with large companies, she specializes in domestic and cross-border transactions between large and small companies, including corporate partnering and minority investments and cross-border mergers. Tanner has directed over 500 mergers and acquisitions, over 130 initial public offerings and hundreds of financings. Tanner’s clients have included Pfizer in its $60 billion acquisition of Pharmacia, Amgen in its $16 billion acquisition of Immunex, Rhône-Poulenc in its $1.8 billion acquisition of Rorer, followed by representing Rhône-Poulenc Rorer in its £ 1.8 billion acquisition of U.K. company Fisons, Marion Merrell Dow in its $7.1 billion acquisition by Hoechst BASF/BASF Pharma, in its £ 840 million acquisition of U.K. Boots Pharmaceuticals.
Tanner received a B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University. Ms. Tanner is a former member of the Board of Directors of Lineagen, Inc. (sold to Bionano), a molecular diagnostic company; Genticel, S.A., an immuno oncology company, and its successor corporation Genkyotex; and Evotec A.G. She serves on the Dean’s Council of the Yale Medical School and the Yale School of Organization and Management Advisory Board. Ms. Tanner has been honored for her contributions to biotechnology with numerous awards, including the highest award of Springboard Enterprises, the Oracle, for professional accomplishment and mentoring of women entrepreneurs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Ewing Duncan is an award-winning, best-selling author of eleven books published in 21 languages; an award-winning journalist and broadcaster; and the co-founder and curator of Arc Fusion, a consulting, media and events company. David writes for Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Atlantic, Wired, Fortune, National Geographic, Inc., Fast Company, MIT Technology Review, Newsweek, Discover and many other publications. He is a former commentator for NPR's Morning Edition and formerly a special correspondent and producer for ABC’s Nightline and 20/20; a producer for Discovery Channel; and a correspondent for PBS NOVA's ScienceNow! He was the founding director of the Center of Life Science Policy at UC Berkeley and is a member of the faculty at Singularity University.
David’s latest book is: Talking to Robots, Tales from Our Human Robot Futures (Dutton-Penguin, 2019). Other recent books include When I'm 164: The new science of radical life extension, and what happens if it succeeds (TED Books), Experimental Man: What One Man's Body Reveals about His Future, Your Health, and Our Toxic World (Wiley); and the global bestseller The Calendar: Humanity’s Epic Quest to Determine a True and Accurate Year (Harper-Collins). He is finishing a book co-authored by Craig Venter, The Secret Lives of Earth’s Smallest Creatures (Harvard Press, 2021) about the microbiome of the Earth. He also is finishing his first novel, The Cure, a biomedical thriller.
David’s awards include Magazine Story of the Year from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). His articles have three times been nominated for National Magazine Awards; his work has appeared twice in The Best American Science and Nature Writing. He also has served on a special committee at the National Academy of Sciences on science and communication.
He lives in San Francisco and is a member of the San Francisco Writer’s Grotto. His website is www.davidewingduncan.com.