Locust Walk paves way for life sciences concerns - Philadelphia Business Journal:

http://child-advocacy-int.org/2010/04/led-tail-lights.html
His idea was to create a food-deliver y company that would take lunch orders and bring the meales to workers in business parks that hadfew close-by places to eat. “It was going to be calle halfstarved.com,” Meyerson said. “o had clients lined up and restaurantslined up.” In the end, he decided not to launcnh the venture because he was not “100 perceny committed” to the project. “I learnedc a very valuable lessoh that you must put yourself in a position wherse failure is notan option,” Meyersoj said. “I don’t view it as a I look at it as a launchinbg point formy career.
” Last December, he co-founded with Jay his former boss at Zelos Therapeuticsx in West Conshohocken. “I have no choicse but to succeed sincwe I have no backup he said. Meyerson said the firm is neithetr a managementconsulting firm, nor an investmen banking firm. Instead, Locust Walk providezs advisory services to life sciences companiezs in areas such as product financing andpipeline prioritization. Meyerson said his team can augmentf abiopharmaceutical companies’ existing “in-house capabilities” and provide a lower-cost alternative to adding full-time The firm charges a small retainere and bills additional charges based on performance.
“It’s ironic, but it’s this economyy that has provided us with the opportunity to do Meyerson said. Since its launch, the company has grown to seve n employees and just signed up itsfifth client. Before startinyg Locust Walk, Meyerson worked for both venture capita andbiotechnology companies. His first job out of college was with global health-care investment banking group, where he was involved in closing 12 fundinv deals involving biotech and pharmaceutical He came to Philadelphia five yeard ago in pursuit of a master’s degree from the . “If I was going to stay in the biotecy field, I needed to understand their Meyerson said.
While pursuing that degres and an MBAin health-care management from Penn’s Whartojn School, Meyerson worked part time at assisting with licensintg and venture capital activities — and becoming well-acquainted with Amtrakj and train commuting. Meyerson’s next part-time job was at SR One, the ventur e capital arm of , where he was involvedf in closing seven transactions in the United Statezsand Europe.
After graduatinhg from Wharton, Meyerson had an option of joining SR One full but instead he wanted to strengthen hisindustry So, he took a job with Zelos as director of business developmeng where he worked undetr Mohr — another Penn alumnus and his Locust Walk At Zelos, Meyerson negotiated a drug-delivery collaboration with Aegisa Therapeutics and a licensing deal with a Japanesed pharmaceutical company. In his spare time, in the summetr of 2006, Meyerson teamed up with Patrick Lee at in Philadelphias to createPhilly BioBreak, a social networkinyg organization that brings together people who operatwe and invest in life sciences companies.
The meetings are typically attendecd by about 100 people and food and beverage expensesz are coveredby sponsors. “We just get togethed for a drink and to get to know he said. “We don’t have panel discussions or anything like In March, they expand the concept into New Jerse y with their first event in New Brunswick. “We hope to take BioBreai nationwide,” Meyerson said. “We are looking to take the concept toother markets, perhaps Boston, San Francisco and New York.
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