Mark Levin Named s 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner in Boston

▤ Summary

Third Rock, Levin says, spends up to four years finding the right mix of business executives and scientists to tinker with an idea—such as whether a genome scan could identify the best drug for each patient—just to decide if there’s enough there to start a company. “That was my mindset growing up.” He went on to earn a biochemical engineering degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and began his career working for big companies like Eli Lilly and Miller Brewing. In the late ’70s and into the ’80s, Genentech gave Levin first-hand experience at the beginnings of genomic medicine—the science of using insights extracted from the study of the human body at the genetic level to develop medical treatments. During those years at Mayfield, Levin identified areas of biology where he saw promise, and sought out experts across the globe to help clarify and compose a business plan for the firm’s portfolio companies. At the same time, the potential of mining data—from genome sequencing, from brain banks, from disease research—combined with tech advances like artificial intelligence, is creating new opportunities for scientists and investors.

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