Seth Rudnick

Bio

Seth Rudnick’s comprehensive experience bringing new medicines to fruition provides invaluable perspective to Canaan. He is passionate about working hand-in-hand with innovative companies to develop and market new drugs to help cure the most nefarious diseases. Since he joined the firm in 1998, Seth has led investments in Chimerix, developer of orally-available, highly potent antiviral drugs for life threatening diseases such as smallpox and HIV; CombinatoRx, a pioneer in the field of synergistic combination pharmaceuticals (CRXX); Esperion, a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular disease (acquired by Pfizer); Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, a pioneer in personalized medicine through population genomics and informatics (public, acquired by Clinical Data which was acquired by Forest Laboratories); Immunicon, developer of proprietary cell- and molecular-based human diagnostic products (IMMC); Liquidia Technologies a nanotechnology company that designs and manufactures precisely engineered particles and films for life and material science applications; Pozen, a pharmaceutical company developing therapeutic advancements for treatment of acute migraine (POZN); and VaxInnate, a biopharmaceuticals company that is developing novel vaccines for pandemic and seasonal influenza. Prior to Canaan, Seth led many drug discovery and development projects, gaining deep operational experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He served as CEO and Chairman of CytoTherapeutics (CTII), a company developing stem cell-based therapies to combat chronic diseases, and also helped start and headed R&D for Ortho Biotech, a division of Johnson & Johnson that provides life-improving products to individuals with chronic illnesses. At Ortho Biotech, Seth was instrumental in creating a portfolio of products that still provide significant Johnson & Johnson revenue today. Seth began his career at Schering-Plough, a global science-based healthcare company, leading clinical trials, and also directed pharmaceutical development efforts at Biogen. He currently sits on the boards of Chimerix, Liquidia Technologies, ORTHOCON, Pozen, Spine Wave and VaxInnate. Seth was a Yale Fellow in medical oncology where he was a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar. He received his medical training at Washington University Barnes Hospital. He earned his medical degree at the University of Virginia and holds a BA in history from the University of Pennsylvania. Seth has twice been named to the Midas List, a prominent venture capital ranking of the best dealmakers in technology and life science. He is currently a Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, teaching and advising faculty members on biotechnology issues.