Just south of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, in a rural town called Radford that was once a thriving rail and manufacturing center, biotechnology has slowly taken root over the past few decades. From the outside, there's little to explain biotech's presence in the pleasant, 20,000-person town, with its parks, quaint downtown and local university. But locals know the reason: Randal J. Kirk, a local lawyer turned entrepreneur who, according to Forbes, is worth about $2.2 billion, nearly all from a decade or so of venture investing, company building and dealmaking.
Kirk, 58, is a major figure in biotech these days. "He seems to have sort of a prescience in terms of what new drugs and technology will gain value in a matter of years," says George Zavoico, an analyst with New York-based McNicoll, Lewis & Vlak LLC who has covered Kirk's companies. "He has a tremendous value-add to anything he's touched so far. If that pattern continues, he'll make a lot of people wealthy as well."
To read the full, original article click on this link: Biotech billionaire (The Deal Magazine)
Author: David Holley
