Clarus Ventures Names William D. Young Venture Partner

Cambridge, Mass. and San Francisco, March 22 /PRNewswire/ --  Clarus Ventures, LLC ("Clarus"), a global life sciences venture capital firm, today announced that William D. Young has joined the firm as a venture partner at its San Francisco office.

Mr. Young currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of Biogen IDEC, Inc., is a member of the board at Theravance, Inc., and is executive chairman of NanoString, a Clarus portfolio company focused on instrumentation and molecular diagnostics.  Mr. Young joins Clarus from Monogram Biosciences, a leader in personalized medicine,  where he served as chief executive officer from 1999 through to the sale of the company to LabCorp in 2009.  Prior to Monogram he was at Genenetch since 1980 in positions of increasing responsibility, including chief operating officer responsible for all of the biotechnology company's development, operations and commercial functions.  Prior to Genentech Mr. Young was at Eli Lilly and Company for fourteen years.  

Mr. Young received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Purdue University, his MBA from Indiana University and an honorary doctorate in engineering from Purdue University.  In 1993 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his leadership in research, development and manufacturing of recombinant proteins using recombinant DNA technology.

"Bill is known and respected for his extensive industry experience and for his contributions to the biotechnology sector," said Nicholas Simon, a managing director for Clarus Ventures.  "His deep operational experience and expertise will help in the implementation of organizational strategies and processes for our portfolio companies and allow him to be directly involved at a macro level with our portfolio companies.  Bill is an outstanding addition, both strategically and functionally to the Clarus team."

Bill Young commented, "The Clarus team is one of deep operating and complementary backgrounds, with a focus on thorough due diligence and a hands-on view of managing investments.  I have known many of the Clarus team members throughout my career and have a deep professional respect for how they both source and manage their investments.  I am extremely excited in joining the Clarus organization and look forward to contributing across the organization."

About Clarus Ventures, LLC

Clarus Ventures is a global life sciences venture capital firm founded by a team of accomplished investment professionals with extensive and complementary industry backgrounds which have enabled them to establish a long history of success in creating value.  Their deep relationships with world thought leaders and decision makers allow this team to identify unique investment opportunities and shepherd them to maturity. Clarus augments its core expertise of investing in biopharmaceuticals and medical technology companies with the deep and diverse expertise of the team in research and development, commercialization, business development and operations management at the global level.  Clarus has $1.2 billion of assets under management across two life sciences dedicated funds.  

For additional information on Clarus Ventures, please visit www.clarusventures.com.

SOURCE Clarus Ventures, LLC