Howard C. Birndorf

Mr. Birndorf is a biotechnology entrepreneur and one of the founders of the biotech industry in San Diego, California. In 1978, Birndorf co-founded San Diego’s first biotech, the monoclonal antibody company Hybritech. The company was subsequently bought by Eli Lilly and Company in 1986, and Mr. Birndorf went on to found or co-found a number of other successful companies including Gen-Probe, IDEC Pharmaceuticals (which merged with Biogen to form Biogen-Idec), and Ligand Pharmaceuticals. Birndorf was also involved in the formation of Gensia (Sicor) and was a director of Neurocrine Biosciences. He was the founder and co-chair of the Coalition for 21st Century Medicine and was co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Nanogen, Inc. Birndorf received his B.A. in Biology from Oakland University, an M.S. in Biochemistry from Wayne State University, and has received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Oakland University and Wayne State University.