David Kabakoff

David Kabakoff is a chemist-turned-entrepreneur and investor with more than four decades of life-sciences operating and investing experience. He earned a BA in chemistry from Case Western Reserve University and a PhD from Yale University. Early in his career he was a senior executive at the San Diego diagnostics pioneer Hybritech, where the teams he led developed landmark products including the first rapid home pregnancy test, the rapid strep-throat test, and the PSA test for prostate cancer.

Over his operating career, Kabakoff served as President, CEO, or Chairman of multiple pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He was Executive Vice President of Dura Pharmaceuticals (a specialty pharmaceutical and pulmonary drug-delivery company) and President and CEO of its affiliate Spiros Development Corporation, as well as CEO of Corvas International. He later co-founded Salmedix, a cancer-drug developer, and served as its Chairman and CEO until the company was acquired by Cephalon. The companies he has led are credited with producing billions of dollars in returns for investors and employees.

Kabakoff joined Sofinnova (then Sofinnova Ventures, now Sofinnova Investments) in 2007 as an Executive Partner, where he works on the firm's biopharmaceutical portfolio. In 2012 he became a Founding Partner of HealthQuest Capital, a San Diego–based healthcare growth-equity firm, focusing on diagnostics and devices. He is a well-known figure in the San Diego life-sciences community (recognized on the San Diego Business Journal's "SD 500") and has been active with the industry trade group Biocom.

As an investor he is primarily a board-level value creator. He has chaired or sat on the boards of numerous portfolio companies including NextCure (where he is independent Chair), Trius Therapeutics, Amplimmune, InterMune, Principia Biopharma, Castle Biosciences, and RareCyte, among others.

• Invests through two complementary platforms: Sofinnova Investments (biopharmaceutical/late-stage and crossover biotech) and HealthQuest Capital (growth-stage diagnostics, devices, and healthcare).
• Targets companies "developing disruptive technologies and solutions, that possess strong intellectual property, and are led by experienced management teams."
• Investment philosophy centers on backing innovations that "address critical unmet medical needs, improve clinical outcomes, and enhance efficiency within the healthcare ecosystem."
• At HealthQuest, his stated focus is on "innovative diagnostic and devices that improve patient care."
• Brings deep operating credibility — having personally built and run diagnostics and pharma companies — and tends to engage as a board chair/director rather than a passive check-writer.