New Leaf Venture Partners Expands Leadership Team, Naming Liam Ratcliffe, M.D., Ph.D., as Venture Partner

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sept. 2, 2008 — New Leaf Venture Partners (NLV Partners) announced today the appointment of Liam Ratcliffe, M.D., Ph.D., as venture partner. Dr. Ratcliffe recently served as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Research and Development for Pfizer. Dr. Ratcliffe’s appointment is effective immediately, and he will be based in NLV Partners’ New York office.

“During his 12 year tenure at Pfizer, Liam worked at the interfaces between drug discovery, pre-clinical development and experimental medicine,” stated Philippe Chambon, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Director at NLV Partners. “These experiences have given him a deep understanding of the opportunities and risks along the clinical development axis and across therapeutic fields. This background will be a great asset as Liam works with existing and potential portfolio companies in helping them de-risk their most critical pipeline projects.”

Dr. Ratcliffe commented, “I am pleased to join NLV Partners, which has a leading franchise in healthcare technologies. My pharmaceutical background complements the experience of the seasoned NLV team and provides another perspective for young companies assessing their allocation of resources and business development strategies.”

Dr. Ratcliffe most recently served as senior vice president and development head for Pfizer Neuroscience, as well as worldwide head of Clinical Research and Development. Additional positions at Pfizer included vice president of Exploratory Development for the Mid West region, and head of Experimental Medicine at Pfizer’s Sandwich, UK Laboratories.

As head of Neurosciences, Dr. Ratcliffe was responsible for the development of several successful late-stage projects and marketed products, including PD 332, 334, Lyrica, Chantix and Geodon. In previous roles, he gained extensive experience in early drug development and translational research across multiple therapeutic areas, including inflammation, pain, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases and genitor-urinary medicine.

Dr. Ratcliffe began his career in the pharmaceutical industry in a medical marketing role at Roche in South Africa. He received his M.D. degree and Ph.D. degree in immunology from the University of Cape Town and his MBA degree from the University of Michigan. Dr. Ratcliffe completed his internal medicine training and fellowship in Immunology at Groote Schuur Hospital and additional teaching hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa.

About NLV Partners
NLV Partners is a life science-dedicated venture capital firm with offices in Menlo Park and New York. Founded by an experienced team of venture capitalists with deep healthcare industry experience, NLV Partners invests primarily in companies focused on clinical-stage biopharmaceutical products, early-stage medical devices, and molecular diagnostics. NLV Partners manages over $1.3 billion of assets, including NLV-I, NLV-II and the healthcare technology portfolio of Sprout Group. For further information, visit the NLV Partners website at www.nlvpartners.com.