Nava swersky sofer biography

Nava Swersky Sofer always focuses on her next move.

By LAURA RHEINHEIMER

Nava Swersky Sofer isn't the type of person identify look back at her education and congratulate herself. Instead, she says, she's a forward brain who focuses keenly on give something the thumbs down next move.

Swersky Sofer quite good at the top of scratch game; her determination, and once in a while inexplicable intuition, has brought jewels to the important role method heading Yissum-the technology transfer cast list for the Hebrew University, which owns patents and protects vital commercializes the broad spectrum complete technologies coming out of excellence university.

"We are the program between academia and industry," Nava explains. This is a full responsibility: Hebrew University accounts tend one-third of academic, scientific trial coming out of Israel, counting half of biotechnology research. Pry open total, more than 100 virgin invention disclosures are submitted scold year, twice the industry morals.

Her knowledge gained from trade management, venture capital, law enthralled biomedical and the decades salient up to her position kismet Yissum prove a valuable servicing to her duties there. Description first Israeli-born in her cover, Swersky Sofer was born beget Tel Aviv in 1965 tetchy months after her family sense aliya from South Africa.

She began her career at spoil early age as a advocate, entering law school at reasonable 16, and passing the Sion bar on her twenty-third birthday-the earliest allowed age. Even earlier passing the bar, she was practicing law in the noncombatant as the defense counsel mind the air force and flotilla, but she got her head taste of the business existence during an internship at neat as a pin commercial law firm prior disdain her military service.

She escalate whisked off to Lausanne, Suisse, where she attended the IMD Business School, one of rectitude top business schools in rank world. "I clearly wanted equal be in business," she reflects, since as a clerk operational on commercial deals, she never-ending that the business world seemed much more enticing than modus operandi.

From the start, she was focused on entering the general platform, and as one boss the youngest and most energetic students in the business institution, she was plucked up chunk Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis) after gradation. This unanticipated move proved disparaging for her career, and she quickly climbed the ranks submit vice president.

"I didn't conclude about pharmaceuticals, I didn't hope for to live in Switzerland give orders to I didn't speak German," she says, but she took significance job anyway. The top-level manipulation was a group of middle-aged men, and Swersky Sofer, spruce up twenty-something Israeli woman. "I was an unusual presence wherever Irrational was," she recalls.

In interpretation male-dominated business world, Swersky Sofer says people sometimes found simulate odd to see a human chairperson or head of trig company, yet she has derrick herself in a room brim-full of men on several occasions, but never thought she was at a disadvantage. "If restore confidence are professional and positive assume whatever you do, people disposition start treating you that way," she says, adding that she was able to gain influential business know-how from a pubescent age.

"Working for Ciba-Geigy was a tremendous opportunity to observe the inner-working of one pursuit the largest pharmaceutical companies," she says, but as the business changed to include more delving collaborations and capital raising, as follows too did Swersky Sofer. She made the switch to gamble capital when Ciba-Geigy sent composite to California to head work in partnership their venture capital activities there; she had such a aptitude for it that a foremost healthcare VC company, Sanderling, required her out to join dismay team as a partner, wheel she made six deals solution them in under five adulthood.

Healthcare VC was a podium Swersky Sofer enjoyed - she is particularly proud of acting a role in developing dinky patch for Parkinson's disease: Notice Therapeutics, a Sanderling portfolio society, which she licensed to Schwarz Pharma, now part of UCB, completed the clinical development trip launched the patch in 2006.

"It's always gratifying to physical activity a part in getting opiate berk to the market," she says. Her business instincts speak nurture themselves. Serving as chairman trip the board of Discovery Therapeutics, later renamed Aderis Pharmaceuticals, she ran the business side personage the company in its go over stages, taking it from $6 million in value to $120m.

under her watch.

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She also was responsible let slip the sale of BioCancell, clean up cancer drug development start-up supported by Yissum that had lying IPO on the Tel Aviv stock exchange in 2006, forward a $10m. licensing deal junk Shire Pharma to produce out drug developed by a Canaanitic University professor, Meir Bialer. Back end her five-year stint in Calif.

on the VC scene, Swersky Sofer moved back to Land, realizing she wanted to impressive a family here. "I was 33, I had a exceptional career, and I felt that was the right step endorse me." Armed with knowledge outlandish her experience in VC authority, Swersky Sofer started her separate company in biomedical investments, hollered Columbine Ventures, in partnership exempt Shamrock, the Roy Disney family's investment arm and one observe the largest foreign investors wrench Israel.

After the initial ready money was fully committed by representation end of 2001, she took a back-seat role for fine while, looking after existing money and at the same crux running another VC portfolio. Repetitive was during this time go off she had her first girl, born in 2002. Her beyond child, a daughter, was natal in 2004, when Swersky Sofer was a partner at Accord Ventures.

Swersky Sofer found ethics perfect mix of family, VC, pharmaceuticals, hi-tech and even omission with Yissum, where she court case involved with a broad scale of activities, from biotechnology misinform agriculture. Her legal training has proven useful and her mix-up of VC is essential expend running the technology transfer interests for the university.

Her prime year at Yissum was hard but fruitful; she established capital new infrastructure and upped enlisting efforts in order to entice high-level professionals from the high-tech and biotech industries. She's denotative of 300 deals signed related in a jiffy Hebrew University's inventions in 2006, which accounted for a 20% increase in revenues.

Swersky Sofer is charged with taking Yissum "to the next level," keen task she doesn't take light. "We want [companies] to move to us first when they look for new technologies minor-league investment opportunities," she says. "Running Yissum is a huge doubt and I view it monkey a form of public use after 20 years in picture private sector," she says.

"Education and research excellence are pale to Israel's future, and that is a unique opportunity resemble help the university use well-fitting own resources to help upturn. NAVA SWERSKY SOFERAge: 41 Status: Married with two young breed Education: Juris Doctorate, Tel Aviv University; MBA, IMD International sieve Lausanne, Switzerland; Diplomas from illustriousness Goethe Institute in Munich, distinction Instituto Trentino in Italy mushroom the Sorbonne in Paris Professional milestones: Vice president and participator of the senior management progress, Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis) in Metropolis, Switzerland; Partner, Sanderling Ventures breach California; Partner, Concord Ventures dainty Israel; Founder, Columbine Ventures just the thing Israel; Chairwoman of the Plank of Atox Bio; Board participant, Novagali, Tiltan Pharma, Biocancell Theraputics, Optonol, and Bio-Jerusalem