Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com December 5, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 9 Quality Construction + Butler Manufacturing = Repeat Customers www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Goodwill Brookfield | 2007 | 13,050 sq. ft. Goodwill Westport 2011 | 9,960 sq. ft. Goodwill Torrington 2002 | 14,690 sq. ft. Contact us at 1-855-BUILD-86 or visit us on the web. TERMS • 5,7, and 10 year terms available • Up to 30-year amortization on all terms • Up to 80% financing available • Interest only available • Stepdown prepayment available • Debt Coverage as low as 1.20 • Cash Out equity CPC is offering a rebate on our Freddie Mac Multifamily Small Balance Loan (SBL) Offering – Save up to $5,000 by submitting application and deposits before December 31st, 2016 CONTACT US Matthew Nelson SmallBalanceLoans@communityp.com 518.649.9094 ACQUISITION OR REFINANCE LOAN SIZE: $1M - $5M BUILDING SIZE: 5+ UNITS - BIG DEAL ON SMALL LOANS - Up to $5,000 REBATE for Freddie Mac Small Balance Loans UNCOMMON EXPERTISE. UNMATCHED IMPACT. COMMUNITYP.COM The 'XX' factor in CT's bioscience ecosystem By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com F rom its earliest days, women have had important roles in shaping and guid- ing the course of Connecticut's biosci- ence sector. Take Susan Froshauer, a former Pfizer Co. drug researcher who in 2001 co-founded Rib-X Pharmaceuticals in New Haven, and ran it until 2010 as chief executive officer. The company now calls itself Melinta Thera- peutics and is located in New Haven. "I was unusual,'' said Froshauer, now CEO of Connecticut United for Research Excel- lence (CURE), which promotes and lobbies on the sector's behalf, "because there were not many women CEOs [in bioscience]. I was an outlier.'' Gender, Froshauer said, was the furthest from her and her colleagues' minds beyond their shared goal of developing and commer- cializing pharmaceutical breakthroughs. "There was no issue,'' she said. "We were all equals. … We loved the science and we loved our mission.'' Melinta continues today with a Froshau- er protégé as CEO: Erin Duffy, a Yale biosci- ence alum who worked at Pfizer in New Lon- don, and, later, at Achillion Pharmaceuticals in New Haven, before joining Rib-X. "From the top to the bottom,'' Duffy said, "the [Rib-X/Melinta] leadership has always featured women.'' While Duffy credits Froshauer as a men- tor, Froshauer says she found a leadership muse in Barbara Dalton, a veteran venture- capitalist who sat on Rib-X's board when Froshauer ran it. "She helped me on my board that was predominately comprised of men, to set a tone,'' Froshauer said. "It truly was a lot of guys who had a lot of experience in what they were doing, but weren't accustomed to women in a leadership role.'' Dalton, who oversees drug giant Pfizer Inc.'s venture investments from its New York City headquarters, says she probably stood out as a role model to other women because she herself is among the few, then and now, conducting venture funding in bioscience. "There's not that many women in venture capital, so you tend to stand out,'' said Dalton, a 30-year pharmaceutical industry veteran. More women are leaders in the biosci- ence world, Dalton said, yet the pace at which they are being embraced is measured. "It's slow in big companies. It's slow in small companies,'' she said. At Achillion, Mary Kay Fenton has overseen its finance func- tions since 2000, and today is its executive vice president and chief financial officer. Fenton also sits on the board of the Con- necticut Business and Industry Association. Fenton was CFO when Achillion launched its initial public offering, the 10th anniversary of which she and the compa- ny this month celebrated by ringing Wall Street's opening bell. Dave Wurzer, who at the time was finance chief at CuraGen, was Fenton's mentor, she said. Fenton said she, Wurzer, Neurogen's CFO, along with Kevin Rakin, a co-founder and executive at Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, and other executives from neighboring startups formed "a CFO round- table" that regularly met to discuss ideas and issues over lunch. "I can say it was very collegial,'' Fenton said of those early days. If there was one thing Dalton could do to improve women's visibility in running bio- science companies, it would be, she said, "to make any company run by a woman phenom- enally successful. It's all about success.'" n (Top left) Susan Froshauer, CEO, Connecticut United for Research Excellence (CURE); (top right) Erin Duffy, CEO, Melinta Therapeutics (formerly Rib-X); (bottom left) Mary Kay Fenton, executive vice president and chief finan- cial officer, Achillion Pharmaceuticals; and (bottom right) Barbara Dalton, a venture capitalist at Pfizer. P H O T O S | H B J F I L E Building Bioscience A N H B J S E R I E S O N C T ' S B I O S C I E N C E S E C T O R

• Cover