Your browser doesn't support JavaScript or you have disabled JavaScript.
Keynote Address: What's Coming?
Brian Fortune, Chief Political Strategist The Marwood Group Brian Fortune is the Marwood Group's Political Strategist and a Managing Director of its healthcare research group. Before joining the Marwood Group in 2002, Mr. Fortune served as the Staff Director of the House Republican Leadership's policy analysis division, where he worked closely with the senior staff of all House committees, focusing particularly on Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce, and Appropriations. During his tenure on Capitol Hill, Mr. Fortune worked on many Medicare and other healthcare initiatives including the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 as well as early versions of prescription drug legislation. Mr. Fortune is a graduate of Oregon State University. He holds the FINRA Series 7, 65, 86 and 87 securities licenses. (back to top)
Panelist, Anne E. Phelps The Washington Council Ernst & Young Anne E. Phelps is a member of Ernst & Young’s Washington Council Ernst & Young practice. Anne has extensive policy and legislative experience in a broad range of federal health care legislative and regulatory issues. Her experience includes employee health benefits, health insurance and Medicare law for plans and providers, health care savings and tax vehicles, and pharmaceutical and device industry issues. Anne has been in Washington, D.C. since 1989 and has held several health policy, legislative and political positions. Prior to joining Washington Council Ernst & Young in 2002, she served in the Bush Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy (Health). She served as the Chief Health Policy Advisor to the President for the Domestic Policy Council, where she developed proposals and recommendations on national health policy issues, pending legislation and regulatory matters. She also served as the Executive Director of the 2004 Republican National Platform Committee. Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Anne worked for Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) as the Staff Director for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Subcommittee on Public Health. Her main areas of focus included health insurance and managed care, public health and biomedical research, bioterrorism, medical records privacy and bioethics issues. Anne also worked for Senator Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS), Chair of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. Prior to her work on Capitol Hill, Anne spent nearly five years working at the National Institutes of Health in a variety of health policy and legislative roles. Anne received a B.A. from the University of Dayton and an M.A. in public policy from The George Washington University. (back to top) Greg Browne, Managing Director CapitalSource As the Managing Director and head of the Healthcare Leveraged Finance Group within the Commercial Finance Business, Mr. Browne is responsible for originating and underwriting leveraged senior loans primarily to private equity owned companies in the healthcare sector. He oversees a portfolio of approximately $500 million in commitments to over 25 companies in various sectors within the healthcare industry. Prior to joining CapitalSource in 2003, Mr. Browne served as a Senior Vice President at GE Capital's Healthcare Financial Services group (formerly known as Heller Financial) where he spent eight years in various capacities including both cash flow lending and, to a lesser extent, asset based lending. During his tenure at GE Capital, Mr. Browne was one of the original members of their healthcare-focused, cash flow lending team which financed middle-market, private equity-sponsored transactions. Prior to GE Capital, Mr. Browne worked as a Group Vice President within the Special Assets division at Sanwa Business Credit Corporation. The division managed Sanwa's troubled asset portfolio which included both general industry and healthcare transactions. Prior to completing his first tenure at GE Capital between 1989 and 1991, Mr. Browne worked at Lloyds Bank for three years. He began his finance training at Chemical Bank where he completed the bank's credit training program and later joined the bank's Multinational Division which covered the Fortune 500 agriculture and construction equipment manufacturers. (back to top)
Brian Miller, Partner & Co-Founder Linden Capital Partners Brian Miller is a Partner and Co-Founder of Linden Capital Partners, a Chicago-based healthcare and life science focused private equity fund. Prior to Linden, Brian was a founding member of the healthcare and life science team at First Chicago Equity Capital. Mr. Miller began his career in the investment banking division of Salomon Brothers Inc (currently Citigroup). He is currently a board member of BarrierSafe Solutions International, CORPAK MedSystems, and Hycor BioMedical, and was a board member of Suture Express. Mr. Miller holds a Bachelor of Arts with honors in Economics from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, with a concentration in healthcare. He is the Founder and President of the Health Care Private Equity Association, an officer of the Harvard Business School Health Industry Alumni Association, the founder of Private Equity Analysts of Chicago, and a member of the Alumni Board of the Latin School of Chicago. Linden Capital Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on leveraged buyouts in the healthcare and life science industries. Linden’s strategy is based upon three elements: i) healthcare and life science industry specialization, ii) integrated investing and operating expertise, and iii) strategic relationships with large corporations. Linden’s current and past portfolio includes BarrierSafe Solutions International, Behavioral Centers of America, Corpak MedSystems, Drayer Physical Therapy Institute, Focused Health Solutions, Hycor BioMedical, Ranir, and Suture Express. For additional information, please visit www.lindenllc.com. (back to top) David Koo, Senior Partner RoundTable Healthcare Partners Mr. Koo is a Senior Partner of RoundTable Healthcare Partners and is the firm’s lead transaction partner. He is involved in all aspects of the transaction process, including deal sourcing, transaction structuring, valuation, due diligence, negotiations, financing and execution. He serves as a board member on a number of RoundTable’s portfolio companies. Mr. Koo joined RoundTable at its inception as a Principal and was promoted to Partner in 2005 and Senior Partner in 2006. RoundTable Healthcare Partners is an operating-oriented private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. RoundTable partners with companies that can benefit from its extensive industry relationships and proven operating and transaction expertise. RoundTable currently manages $1.1 billion in capital. Previously, Mr. Koo worked in the Investment Banking Department at Credit Suisse First Boston from 1994 through the beginning of 2001. Mr. Koo was most recently a Vice President in CSFB’s Global Health Care Group where he was responsible for advising healthcare companies on M&A transactions and corporate financings. While at CSFB, Mr. Koo completed 25 strategic M&A transactions valued in excess of $17 billion, including six multi-billion dollar M&A transactions. He also advised on 20 corporate financings raising over $7 billion of capital for corporate clients. Mr. Koo worked in the audit department of KPMG Peat Marwick from 1993 to 1994 and was a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Koo graduated Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame and received a B.B.A. in Accountancy. (back to top)
From the Frontlines: Chicago & Midwest Healthcare Success Stories
Initiate Systems Armando Pauker, Partner Apex Venture Partners Armando is a general partner with an investment focus in enterprise infrastructure (hardware, software, security) and cleantech. Prior to joining Apex, Armando served as Vice President of Networking Products for Cybernet Systems Corporation, a Linux-based software start-up. Previously, he was a senior product manager for Electronics for Imaging, a developer of high performance digital imaging servers. Armando also served as a management consultant with Booz.Allen & Hamilton, where he worked with clients in technology industries. Prior to Booz, Armando was a senior engineering manager at Tandem Computers, Inc., where he led product strategy, and hardware and software development in computer subsystems. Armando holds an MBA with High Distinction from the University of Michigan, and he received his BS in Engineering from California Institute of Technology. Armando currently serves on the board of BrightCloud. He previously served on the boards of Informative (acquired by Satmetrix), Initiate Systems (acquired by IBM), and led Apex's investment in Illumitex and Suniva.(back to top) Ovation Pharmaceuticals Jeff Aronin, Chairman and CEO Paragon Pharmaceuticals, former President and CEO of Ovation Pharmaceuticals
Jeffrey S. Aronin is the chairman and chief executive officer of Paragon Pharmaceuticals, an innovative global development and biopharmaceutical investment firm that establishes, fosters and manages life science companies.
Between 2000-2009, Mr. Aronin was president and chief executive officer of Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company he founded in 2000. In March 2009 Ovation Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Lundbeck Inc. for $900 million. Mr. Aronin served as president and chief executive officer of Lundbeck Inc. in 2009.
Mr. Aronin built Ovation into a fast growing biopharmaceutical company with a strong CNS pipeline and diverse base of marketed pharmaceutical medications. Under his leadership, Ovation Pharmaceuticals was widely recognized for its success and received awards that included Frost & Sullivan’s 2009 North American Entrepreneurial Company of the Year, Scrip's 2006 and 2007 Pharmaceutical Company of the Year for companies with revenues up to $5 billion, and the 2007 Chicago Innovation Awards. Prior to founding Ovation and partnering with private equity firm GTCR, Mr. Aronin led MedCare Healthcare, a publicly held healthcare company where he served as Chairman and CEO. He also held various executive positions at American Health Products Corporation where he led both Marketing and Business Development. Previously, he spent six years at Carter-Wallace, a Fortune-500 company, where he held several management positions within its pharmaceutical division.
In recognition of Mr. Aronin’s business leadership, he was named to the 2007 and 2008 Crain’s Chicago Business list of Top Health Care Executives, awarded Ernst & Young’s 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year among Emerging Companies (Lake Michigan area), named one of Pharmaceutical Executive’s 45 under 45, and recognized in 2005 and 2008 as one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in the life sciences industry by readers of PharmaVOICE magazine. Mr. Aronin was inducted into the Illinois Entrepreneur Hall of Fame in 2005 and in 2004 was listed by Crain’s as one of the 40 Most Influential People Under 40.
For his support of patient advocacy organizations, Mr. Aronin received the Partner of the Year award from the American Porphyria Foundation, the Keeper of the Flame award from the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago (EFGC), and the 2007 Rovner Award, the EFGC’s highest honor. He has been featured in more than 40 publications, including The Pink Sheet, Pharmaceutical Executive and Scrip.
Mr. Aronin serves on several boards including Discover Financial Services (NYSE), the University of Chicago Medical Center, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Young Presidents’ Organization, and the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. (back to top) Constantine "Dean" Mihas GTCR Constantine S. Mihas joined GTCR in 2001. Prior to GTCR, Mr. Mihas was CEO and co-founder of Delray Farms, LLC, a leading specialty food retailer. Prior to Delray, Mr. Mihas was with McKinsey & Company. Mr. Mihas earned an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Business, and a BS degree with high distinction in Finance and Economics from the University of Illinois, Chicago. Mr. Mihas is a director of BNY ConvergEx Group, Graceway Pharmaceuticals, Devicor Medical Products, LLC, and Actient Pharmaceuticals, LLC. Mr. Mihas was previously on the boards of Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Managed Healthcare Associates, CompBenefits, and Polypore. (back to top)
Barry Freeman is a Healthcare Advisory Partner with Summer Street Capital Partners, a middle market private equity fund with approximately $300 million under management. He has over 15 years of healthcare industry M&A expertise. He has advised Boards and management teams in a wide array of healthcare services sectors including payors, alternative site and home care providers, technology enabled service companies, and other clinical and administrative business process outsourced service providers. Prior to joining Summer Street Capital Partners, Mr. Freeman was a Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Services investment banking with Lazard Middle Market. He was also a Partner and Managing Director with Goldsmith Agio Helms where he led the firm’s Healthcare practice and launched its Chicago Office. Mr. Freeman has successfully completed over 50 mergers and acquisition transactions representing approximately $4.5 billion in enterprise value. Mr. Freeman started his career with the transaction services group of Arthur Andersen where his clients included United Healthcare. He earned an MBA with High Honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and holds a CPA license (inactive). (back to top)