Randal J. Kirk (born March 1, 1954) is an American businessman and investor in

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

and

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

. Kirk was the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Intrexon Precigen, Inc (formerly Intrexon Corporation, NASDAQ: PGEN) is an American biotechnology company. Its president and CEO is Helen Sabzevari. Intrexon was founded in 1998, and is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland. With a suite of proprietary an ...

(

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the List of stock exchanges, world's largest s ...

: XON), a biotechnology company, until 2020. Kirk started as a lawyer, but is best known for his investments in pharmaceutical and biotech companies. In addition to high-profile sales of New River Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Clinical Data, Inc, Kirk also founded investment firm Third Security, LLC, and has held board seats with biotech companies, such as Scios, Inc. He is a billionaire.

Early life and education

Randal J. Kirk was born in

Pleasanton, California Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the Amador Valley, it is a suburb in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 79,871 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. In 200 ...

. The son of a

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

master sergeant, Kirk and his family moved from California to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

before settling in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Kirk graduated from

Pulaski High School Pulaski High School is a public high school in Pulaski, Wisconsin, United States, in Brown County (school district also serves parts of Shawano, Outagamie and Oconto counties), that serves students in grades 9 through 12. Its mascot is the Re ...

Pulaski County, Virginia Pulaski County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,800. Its county seat is Pulaski. Pulaski County is part of the Blacksburg– Christiansburg, VA Metropolit ...

. Following high school, Kirk worked selling cars and motorcycles, and enrolled part-time at

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate programs inclu ...

to study business. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

at Radford in 1976, followed by a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

in 1979.

Career

Kirk was admitted to the bar in 1980, becoming the only attorney in

Bland, Virginia Bland is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Bland County, Virginia, United States. Bland was originally known as Bland Court House. The population as of the 2020 Census was 312. Climate The climate in this area has mild di ...

, and began a practice he ran until 1990. In 1983, he partnered with Bland County pharmacist John Gregory to found the next-day pharmaceutical distributor General Injectables and Vaccines. Kirk and his partners would go on to sell the business to Henry Schein, Inc. for $65 million in 1998. In 1996, Kirk founded New River Pharmaceuticals, where he served as chairman and CEO and took the company public in 2004. The developer of attention-deficit drug

Vyvanse Lisdexamfetamine, sold under the brand name Vyvanse among others, is a stimulant medication that is mainly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in people over the age of five as well as moderate-to-severe binge eating ...

, New River would prove to be Kirk's single biggest payoff when he sold the company to

Shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

in 2007 for $2.6 billion, making over a $1 billion for Kirk himself. In 1999, Kirk founded the life-sciences investment firm Third Security, LLC, where he is senior managing director, CEO and chairman. From 2000 to 2002, Kirk served as a member of the board of directors for Scios, Inc., a maker of heart disease medication that later sold to

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

for $2.4 billion. Kirk also became the majority stock holder and chairman of

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

-based pharmaceutical company Clinical Data, Inc. In 2011, shortly after Clinical Data's drug Viibryd received regulatory approval,

Forest Laboratories Forest Laboratories was a company in the pharmaceutical industry incorporated in Delaware, with its principal office in New York City. It was known for licensing European pharmaceuticals for sale in the United States. On July 1, 2014, the compan ...

bought Clinical Data for $1.2 billion. Kirk became involved with

company

in the 2000s. He was named chairman of its board in 2008 and became CEO in 2009. Kirk took Intrexon public in 2013, taking the company's market cap to $2.5 billion with the

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. In early 2020, Intrexon adopted the name of its subsidiary, Precigen, and narrowed its focus to human gene editing. With the change in name the CEO of subsidiary Precigen, Helen Sabzevari, took over leadership of the company from Kirk. Intrexon sold AquaBounty to TS Aquaculture, LLC, a privately held company managed by Third Security, LLC, a venture capital firm led by former Intrexon Chairman & CEO Randal Kirk. In addition to AquaBounty's development of genetically modified salmon, Kirk is involved in other companies advocating the approval of genetic engineering, including disease-resistant mosquitoes and an apple which resists browning. Other projects of Kirk's companies include creating cancer treatments, gasoline substitutes, crop protection, and improving

bovine Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwee ...

genetics.

Recognition

Kirk has been profiled by SynBioBeta and

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

. In 2008,

Gov.

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...

named Kirk Virginia's Outstanding Industrialist for the Year. He has spoken at the SynBioBeta Conference, BioFlorida, Klick Ideas Exchange and was a Borlaug Dialogue Speaker at the World Food Prize.

Philanthropy and other roles

Following the sale of General Injectables and Vaccines, Kirk donated $1 million to Radford University, creating the Zylphia Shu-En Kirk Endowment named after his daughter. Kirk has served on the board of directors of the Radford University Foundation and the school's board of visitors. Kirk was a member of

's board of visitors from 2009 to 2012. Kirk has also donated substantially to political causes. He considers himself a political independent, and has supported both Republicans and Democrats. He has been especially involved in Virginia politics, donating $1.8 million to candidates for state office, including $200,000 to

Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 ...

2009 Virginia gubernatorial election The 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election took place in Virginia on November 3, 2009. The incumbent Governor, Democrat Tim Kaine, was not eligible to run due to term limits established by the Virginia Constitution, though others in the state's e ...

Personal life

Kirk lives in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

and has four children. According to ''Forbes'', Kirk is worth $2.0 billion and ranks No. 1135 on its billionaires list. Kirk's hobbies include falconry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Randal J. 1954 births Living people People from Pleasanton, California Businesspeople from Virginia Radford University alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni People from Dublin, Virginia Virginia lawyers American billionaires People from Bland County, Virginia 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century American lawyers Businesspeople from California