Ligand Pharmaceuticals Unveils Two New VPs of Investments, Business Development

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, a royalty aggregator with numerous biopharmaceutical companies, has two new Vice Presidents of Investments and Business Development.

Peter Renehan, MD, and Lee Brown will both report to Ligand Senior Vice President of Investments and Business Development Paul Hadden. Their responsibilities will include sourcing and transacting royalty financing opportunities.

Additionally, Lauren Hay is elevated by Ligand to its senior leadership team as Vice President of Portfolio Strategy and Investments.

New and Familiar Faces at Ligand

Hadden commented on the potential the personnel moves have to impact new investment opportunities whether inside or outside Ligand’s portfolio.

“Deepening our bench with these new hires and expanding Lauren’s role will allow Ligand to capitalize,” Hadden said. “These moves are a signal of robust demand for the type of royalty financing transactions that set Ligand apart.”

Renehan was most recently a Principal at Blackstone Life Sciences. Prior to that, he worked in healthcare investment banking with Lazard. Renehan also has experience in corporate strategy at Moderna Therapeutics and Flagship Pioneering.

Brown comes to Ligand after serving as Global Team Leader for Healthcare at Third Bridge Group. He was a Portfolio Manager at Visium Asset Management, and is the founder of Reef Knot Capital.

Backgrounds in Investment & BD

Ligand CEO Todd Davis said both are “highly regarded for navigating the full capital structure and identifying undervalued opportunities.”

“[This] further strengthens our team and supports Ligand’s long-term value creation for shareholders,” Davis said.

In her new role, Hay is tasked with growing and optimizing Ligand’s existing portfolio assets. She is also responsible for portfolio company leadership partnerships, in managing existing investments.

Currently, Ligand has economic interests in more than 100 development and commercial-stage assets. Its proprietary technologies, Captisol and Nitricil, are licensed across the company’s network to support drug development and formulation.