A L T I T U D E
Life Science Ventures
"Altitude’s deep expertise in intellectual property strategy and investment diligence gives them a unique ability to add value to what is often the most valuable asset of biotech companies -- the intellectual property portfolio. I’ve benefitted greatly from long sessions with the Altitude team obsessing over portfolio and business strategy, claim construction, and patent prosecution, and the connection between our IP and our near- and long-term business objectives.”
Geoff von Maltzahn, General Partner Flagship Pioneering, CEO of Lila Sciences, Co-founder of Generate Medicines, Tessera Therapeutics and Sana Biotechnology
Investment Team
Dave Maki | Managing Partner
Kristen Wong | Venture Partner
James MacDonald | Venture Partner (UK)
David (Dave) Maki has been associated with life science companies for the past 40 years. Prior to founding Altitude Life Science Ventures in 2004, Dave served as a partner with Perennial Ventures and previously as a vice president of Tredegar Investments, where he was responsible for the sourcing and management of investments in early-stage life science companies. From 1987 to 1999, Dave served as a partner at the intellectual property firm of Seed and Berry (now Seed IP Law), where he focused on strategic planning for healthcare companies, particularly in relation to R&D programs, competitive analysis, and corporate collaborations and licensing transactions. Under his leadership as senior partner in the biotechnology group, the firm built the client base to represent over 60 healthcare companies. During his career, Dave has served as a director for a diverse set of life sciences companies and has managed over 40 healthcare investments. Dave currently serves as a director on the board of Iris Medicine and Interdict Bio, and as an board observer at Tessera Therapeutics, Mozart Therapeutics, and Nutcracker Therapeutics, among others, and has previously served on the Board of Effector Therapeutics, Omniome and as Chairman of the Board of the Infectious Disease Research Institute.
Kristen joined Altitude Life Science Ventures in 2015. Prior to Altitude, she worked at Bayer HealthCare where she was responsible for high level project management activities for the commercialization of two pipeline drugs with expenditures totaling more than $150M. These activities included a high priority project to collect and analyze issues pertaining to the commercial manufacturing process and to ensure follow-through and close-out of critical activities. Disciplined adherence to these tight timelines, communication with cross-functional teams, and resolution of complex issues were of utmost importance to ensure that these drug products remained within company timelines for FDA submission and licensure. Kristen has also held roles as a Conformance Investigator and Process Development Scientist. She holds a MBA from University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School and undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Biology from Stanford University. Her specific areas of interest include minimally invasive medical devices, nanorobotics, and the application of artificial intelligence to the healthcare arena. She is also a registered patent agent (USPTO Registration No. 79,212).
Mr. MacDonald has been associated with life sciences companies for over 13 years. Mr. MacDonald co-founded Sana Biotechnology, Inc. and served as Sana’s Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary from 2018 to August, 2022, where he was responsible for all legal matters and government affairs, including Sana’s private financings, initial public offering, intellectual property matters, mergers and acquisitions, strategic transactions, employment matters, and securities, corporate governance and compliance matters. Prior to Sana, Mr. MacDonald served as Senior Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Juno Therapeutics, Inc. from 2014 to 2018, where he was responsible for all worldwide intellectual property matters through Juno’s private financings, initial public offering, and eventual acquisition by Celgene Corp. in 2018, including intellectual property strategy, development, transactions, litigation, and counseling. From March 2009 to March 2014, Mr. MacDonald held both legal and business roles at Tessera, Inc. and Tessera Intellectual Property Corp. (subsidiaries of Xperi Corporation) (collectively, Tessera), which are semiconductor technology and intellectual property licensing companies, and most recently served as Executive Vice President of Intellectual Property & Business Development, where he was responsible for business development, patent portfolio development and acquisitions, licensing, and litigation. Prior to Tessera, Mr. MacDonald held senior roles at BigBand Networks, Inc. (later acquired by ARRIS Group), a provider of platforms for broadband multimedia services, and Tumbleweed Communications Corp. (later acquired by Axway Inc.), a secure internet communication solutions company, practiced law at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC, and was a research and development engineer at The Procter & Gamble Company. Mr. MacDonald received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School and his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University.