Full Name
David Scheer
Job Title
President
Company
Scheer & Company, Inc.
Speaker Bio
David I. Scheer
David I. Scheer, MS, is a 40+ year veteran life science entrepreneur, advisor, and company builder. He is president of Scheer & Company, Inc., a company that has provided corporate strategic and transactional advisory services in the life sciences industry. He currently chairs five boards of privately-held life science companies Adela, Inc. (an oncology-focused, diagnostics company), and Refactor Health (a digital health company), Apriligen (pediatric rare disease gene therapy company), OrphAI Therapeutics (clinical stage company in pulmonary hypertension), BiologicsMD (preclinical company working on alopecia areata),Inc. Mr. Scheer has served in an advisory capacity for many life science companies as well as for not-for-profit research institutions and health care systems involved in research commercialization. He has played a key role as transactionalist, cofounder, and board member/Chair for spinoffs from corporate and/or university research.
Mr. Scheer launched his first four companies, all of which saw successful exits, while part of the Health Care Investing Team at Oak Investment Partners, with three of these four having transaction value of $1 billion+, with an aggregate exit value of $7 billion. Mr. Scheer was a co-founder of Achillion Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Alexion in 2020, now a unit of AstraZeneca), a publicly-held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of small molecule therapeutics for complement-related diseases, and for 21 years, he served on its board of directors, including for many years, as its Chairman of the Board. He was also involved in launching, building, and serving on the boards of Viropharma (virology, infectious disease, orphan) acquired by Shire), OraPharma (oral pharmaceuticals, acquired by Johnson & Johnson), and Esperion Therapeutics (HDL therapeutics, acquired by Pfizer). In subsequent years, he was involved in the founding and building of a series of other life science companies in the orphan space, along with regenerative medicine, and neuroscience, serving as Chair of each of these companies, with programs in cardiology, rare disease, ophthalmology, and neuroscience.
Much of his not-for-profit as well as for-profit activities have been focused on bringing therapies to patients with high unmet needs, including those with rare diseases. He is intricately familiar with the issues that underly successful translation of research into innovation via life science companies. He has given talks at business schools, including at the Yale School of Management, the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Management, and at the Wharton School.
He is currently a co-chair of the board of directors for BioCT, member of the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Advisory Committee, involved in venture investments on behalf of the State of CT’s venture unit, Connecticut Innovations. He has been an advisor for the Wolverine Foundation and the Progeria Research Foundation, and has served as a founding member of the director’s advisory committee for the Rutgers Global Health Institute (“Impact Council”). For a number of years, he was an advisor to the CEO of the Rett Syndrome Research Trust. He has volunteered as a chair of a strategic advisory committee working with the CEO for the National Organization for Rare Disorders and has moderated numerous panels for their annual Breakthrough Summits. He has also served as organizer and moderator for rare disease panels at the Yale Innovation Summit, and for the Rare Disease Summit at Jackson Laboratories for Genomic Medicine. He has served as a member of the Center for Biomedical Innovation and Technology Advisory Board at Yale University and on a range of initiatives in the public and global health arenas at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, including the Harvard Malaria Initiative, the Unfinished Agenda in Infectious Diseases, along with an initiative focusing on Cancer in the Developing World. During these years he was also a member of the Leadership Council and was involved in the organization of the AIDS@30 conference which in 2012, commemorated the 30th anniversary of the identification of the first AIDS patient.
He was involved in the founding and was a member of the State of CT’s Reopen CT Advisory Committee, which during the height of pandemic, worked with the Governor and his administration to define the path and arranged for some of the resources for reopening the State in 2020.
He was a founding member and continues to serve on the NYU Langone Health Compassionate Use and Preapproval Access (CUPA) Working Group.
He was a cofounder and is Chair of the Soderstrom Scholars Fund, which was launched to cultivate students from underrepresented communities of Connecticut who are interested in pursuing careers in STEM, through scholarships, mentorships, and internships.
Recently, he has been serving as a member of an ad hoc Committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine -- Committee on Strategies to Better Align Investments in Innovations for Therapeutic Development with Disease Burden and Unmet Needs.
Mr. Scheer holds an A.B. degree cum laude in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College and an M.S. degree in Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Biology from Yale University.
David I. Scheer, MS, is a 40+ year veteran life science entrepreneur, advisor, and company builder. He is president of Scheer & Company, Inc., a company that has provided corporate strategic and transactional advisory services in the life sciences industry. He currently chairs five boards of privately-held life science companies Adela, Inc. (an oncology-focused, diagnostics company), and Refactor Health (a digital health company), Apriligen (pediatric rare disease gene therapy company), OrphAI Therapeutics (clinical stage company in pulmonary hypertension), BiologicsMD (preclinical company working on alopecia areata),Inc. Mr. Scheer has served in an advisory capacity for many life science companies as well as for not-for-profit research institutions and health care systems involved in research commercialization. He has played a key role as transactionalist, cofounder, and board member/Chair for spinoffs from corporate and/or university research.
Mr. Scheer launched his first four companies, all of which saw successful exits, while part of the Health Care Investing Team at Oak Investment Partners, with three of these four having transaction value of $1 billion+, with an aggregate exit value of $7 billion. Mr. Scheer was a co-founder of Achillion Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Alexion in 2020, now a unit of AstraZeneca), a publicly-held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of small molecule therapeutics for complement-related diseases, and for 21 years, he served on its board of directors, including for many years, as its Chairman of the Board. He was also involved in launching, building, and serving on the boards of Viropharma (virology, infectious disease, orphan) acquired by Shire), OraPharma (oral pharmaceuticals, acquired by Johnson & Johnson), and Esperion Therapeutics (HDL therapeutics, acquired by Pfizer). In subsequent years, he was involved in the founding and building of a series of other life science companies in the orphan space, along with regenerative medicine, and neuroscience, serving as Chair of each of these companies, with programs in cardiology, rare disease, ophthalmology, and neuroscience.
Much of his not-for-profit as well as for-profit activities have been focused on bringing therapies to patients with high unmet needs, including those with rare diseases. He is intricately familiar with the issues that underly successful translation of research into innovation via life science companies. He has given talks at business schools, including at the Yale School of Management, the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Management, and at the Wharton School.
He is currently a co-chair of the board of directors for BioCT, member of the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Advisory Committee, involved in venture investments on behalf of the State of CT’s venture unit, Connecticut Innovations. He has been an advisor for the Wolverine Foundation and the Progeria Research Foundation, and has served as a founding member of the director’s advisory committee for the Rutgers Global Health Institute (“Impact Council”). For a number of years, he was an advisor to the CEO of the Rett Syndrome Research Trust. He has volunteered as a chair of a strategic advisory committee working with the CEO for the National Organization for Rare Disorders and has moderated numerous panels for their annual Breakthrough Summits. He has also served as organizer and moderator for rare disease panels at the Yale Innovation Summit, and for the Rare Disease Summit at Jackson Laboratories for Genomic Medicine. He has served as a member of the Center for Biomedical Innovation and Technology Advisory Board at Yale University and on a range of initiatives in the public and global health arenas at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, including the Harvard Malaria Initiative, the Unfinished Agenda in Infectious Diseases, along with an initiative focusing on Cancer in the Developing World. During these years he was also a member of the Leadership Council and was involved in the organization of the AIDS@30 conference which in 2012, commemorated the 30th anniversary of the identification of the first AIDS patient.
He was involved in the founding and was a member of the State of CT’s Reopen CT Advisory Committee, which during the height of pandemic, worked with the Governor and his administration to define the path and arranged for some of the resources for reopening the State in 2020.
He was a founding member and continues to serve on the NYU Langone Health Compassionate Use and Preapproval Access (CUPA) Working Group.
He was a cofounder and is Chair of the Soderstrom Scholars Fund, which was launched to cultivate students from underrepresented communities of Connecticut who are interested in pursuing careers in STEM, through scholarships, mentorships, and internships.
Recently, he has been serving as a member of an ad hoc Committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine -- Committee on Strategies to Better Align Investments in Innovations for Therapeutic Development with Disease Burden and Unmet Needs.
Mr. Scheer holds an A.B. degree cum laude in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College and an M.S. degree in Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Biology from Yale University.
Speaking At
