Alan Walton

Alan G. Walton OBE (April 3, 1936 – July 4, 2015) was a scientist and the Chairman of Oxford Bioscience Corporation, who also served on numerous Boards of Directors. Walton was instrumental in the development and funding of the Human Genome Project. T

Through his association with Oxford Bioscience, Walton managed over $850 million in a portfolio that included 80 companies.^[1] In 2012 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth. He died in 2015 at his home in Westport, Connecticut.^[2]

Early life

Walton's academic preparation included a B.S. in Chemistry, a DSc. in biological chemistry and a PhD. in Physical chemistry, all from the University of Nottingham.^[3]

Academic career

Dr. Walton served on the faculty of Case Western Reserve University, where he was Professor of Macromolecular Science, and Harvard University. He was also a member of President Jimmy Carter's Technology Transfer Committee from 1976-1981.^[3] Walton was also an author of over 120 scientific articles and 10 books.^[1]

Degrees: Ph.D., University of Nottingham, UK (1960) Chemistry; D.Sc., University of Nottingham, UK (1973) Biological Chemistry; L.L.D. (Hon.), University of Nottingham, UK (2006) Contributions to Life Sciences

Honors & Awards: Israel State Medal Presented by Israel Academy of Science (1972); Sigma Chi Research Award For contributions to science (1974); Rudjer Boskovic Institute Award Presented by Yugoslav Academy of Science (1979); Honorary Distinguished Adjunct Professor Case Western Reserve University (2007); Order of the British Empire (OBE) (2012); Richard J. Bolte Sr. Award for supporting industries (2013)^[4]

Areas of Research: Aging, molecular hematology, biopolymers, epitaxy, gene splicing, new prodrugs. Molecular basis of various diseases.

Publications 120 publications, 10 books and two patents including: • Formation and Properties of Precipitates, Walton, Elsevier - 1967 • Biopolymers, Walton and Blackwell, Academic Press - 1973 • Peptides, Polypeptides & Proteins, Walton, Elsevier - 1981

Editor of several books including: • Recombinant DNA, Walton, Elsevier - 1981 and two patents

Business career

Having run a successful part-time private business from the Case Western Reserve University campus from 1978-81 (Biopolymer Corp.), Walton moved from academics in 1981 to be founder, president and CEO of one of the first biotechnology companies, University Genetics.^[5] The company was originally founded to enhance and commercialize university-based inventions and the company had exclusive licenses to patent or sell all inventions from 12 major universities and non-exclusives with 71.

Perhaps the most successful company founded based on licensing alone was Applied Bioscience, one of the biggest successes in the biotech industry.

University Genetics - UGEN - was virtually financed with $60,000 of equity and a $2.3 million R&D partnership. In 1983 the company went public (symbol UGEN) and in 1986 completed a secondary offering in which the original investors were bought out for $3.6 million, giving them a 60X return on investment in 5 years.

The company’s strategy evolved into funding start-up companies in incubators and exit either through sale or IPO. Chief operating divisions were Applied Animal Genetics, which was in the business of implementing and exporting superior bovine embryos, and Applied Plant Genetics whose principal business was cloning rare miniature plants.

During Walton's seven years as president and CEO of University Genetics Inc. he was co-author of several treatises on the companies active in the biotechnology field (public and private), their strategies and relative success and failures (biotechnology Yearbook, Elsevier, 1983, 1985, 1986-1987) which led to his consulting with several venture capital firms.

In 1987 Walton joined Oxford Partners (Venture Capital). UGEN had about 150 employees and a revenue run rate of about $17 million per year when he left.

Walton was probably the first former tenured professor of molecular biology in the V.C. industry, which in 1987 was mainly run by MBAs with little biotechnical understanding. His strategy was to finance new and different university based, cutting edge technologies with strong patent positions and make them the centerpiece of new companies.

Walton was on the Board of Directors of more than 20 companies and was the Senior Partner in a $1 billion plus venture capital fund at Oxford Bioscience Partners.

Some of his biggest successes included:

1) Martek (MATK) founded in 1988. Alan led the initial financing of the company, which discovered that DHA and ARA were vital components of mother’s milk, lacking in baby formula. DHA was shown to aid the development of the brain in premature and newborn infants. Now added to baby formula, DHA and ARA have aided the cognitive development of millions of infants.

2) Gene Finding and Genome Sequencing Genmap, founded in 1989, was the first company to seek functional genes. This led to the subsequent work with Craig Venter and the founding of the Institute for Genome Research (TIGR) and Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) - see “A Life Decoded” J. Craig Venter - Viking 2007.

3) Geron (GERN) founded in 1989. Financed by Michael West and Alan Walton, the story of the search for life extension genes is spelled out in “Merchants of Immortality” Stephen S. Hall, Houghton Mifflin (2003).

4) Exelixis (EXEL) founded in 1995. Co-financed by Stelios Papadopolous, Jean Francois Formela and Alan Walton based on the work by Prof. Artavanis-Tsakonas (Yale), Gerry Rubin and Corey Goodman of Berkeley, EXEL was the first company in the functional genomics field. It showed that the genes in the brain of fruit flies had a similar function to that in humans. Thus, it was one of the first companies to unlock part of the complex circuitry of the brain.

5) Gene Logic (GLGC) found in 1995. Gene Logic was based on an idea by Alan that the molecular basis of disease could be understood by comparing the genes turned on or off in diseased tissue with those in normal tissue. This concept was confirmed by Prof. Weismann at Yale University and was commercialized under the leadership of Dr. Michael Brennan. At its zenith in 2001 the market cap of the company was over $6 billion.

A frequent lecture on the venture capital and Biotech Futurist circuit, Alan was a founder of the National Conference on Biotechnology Ventures held in Redwood Shores/San Francisco from 1987-2002 where many of today’s prominent biotech companies and strategies were first aired.

Adventurer

Walton was well known for his adventure travel exploits. He was one of the first 100 people to pay for a trip into space through Virgin Galactic. He also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, sky dived at the North Pole, bungee jumped off the Blaukrans Bridge (709 feet) near Cape Town, South Africa (2009), HALO jumped from 29,600 feet and was a member of the first team of people to skydive over Mount Everest.

References

1. 1 2 "Alan G. Walton, DSc, PhD". Research America. Retrieved 2007-06-15. 
2. ↑ "Alan G. Walton, 79". Retrieved 2015-07-08. 
3. 1 2 "Management, Board of Directors". Avalon Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved 2007-06-15. 
4. ↑ "Richard J. Bolte Sr. Award for Supporting Industries". Chemical Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 1 December 2016. 
5. ↑ Careers: Business and Science E. M. Fowler in The New York Times, June 24, 1981.