Nathaniel David

Nathaniel David
Born	December 27, 1967 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Fields	Biotechnology, Sustainable Energy
Institutions	Kilimanjaro Energy, Sapphire Energy
Alma mater	Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley
Known for	Structural biology, Crystallography, Sustainable Energy
Notable awards	MIT Technology Review Young Innovators Under 35

Nathaniel David (born December 27, 1967 in San Francisco, California), is an American scientist and entrepreneur, who co-founded a series of technology companies in the biotechnology and sustainable energy sectors, including Syrrx (acquired by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company^[1]), Achaogen, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Sapphire Energy and Kilimanjaro Energy. These companies have raised more than $700 million and employ more than 300 scientists, engineers and business people.

Biography

David earned an A.B. in Biology from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from University of California, Berkeley. In 2002, he was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.^[2][3]

David co-founded his first company, Syrrx, during the final year of his doctoral work at UC Berkeley. Syrrx was the first company in the world to build a high-throughput structural biology ‘factory,’ i.e.: the use of automation, nano-scale experiments, and crystallography to make the determination of atomic structures of proteins easier, faster and cheaper,^[4]. It was also the first company in the world to fund the construction of a synchrotron beam line at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

He left Syrrx to co-found Achaogen and Kythera Biopharmaceticals. He served as Chief Science Officer of Kythera for four years, during which time two first-in-class drugs entered human clinical trials—ATX-101, a fat destroying drug with worldwide sales projected to be in excess of $1B annually, is currently in Phase III clinical trials in ten countries and is partnered with Bayer AG outside of North America. ATX-104, an ‘injectable implant’ that, if approved, would allow the creation of any convex feature on the human face, was the co-invention of David and Johns Hopkins University professor Dr. Jennifer Elisseeff. This material can be injected into people, shaped, and then locked into any desired shape with light, enabling the rapid and non-invasive alteration of human appearance. ATX-104 entered clinical development but was later withdrawn due to the development of foreign body responses.

In 2007, while still serving as Chief Science Officer at Kythera, David co-founded Sapphire Energy, a company with the mission to develop renewable, algae-derived, transportation fuels that are 100% compliant with the existing energy infrastructure. In 2008, Sapphire successfully produced 91-octane gasoline from algae that fully conforms to ASTM certification standards. In 2009, Sapphire participated in a test flight using algae-based jet fuel in a Boeing 737-800 twin-engine aircraft. That same year, Sapphire provided the fuel for the world’s first cross-country tour of a gasoline vehicle powered with a complete drop-in replacement fuel containing a mixture of hydrocarbons refined directly from algae-based Green Crude. In 2010, Sapphire began construction of its Integrated Algal Bio-Refinery in Southern New Mexico, a project that was awarded more than $100 million in federal grant money from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act through the United States Department of Energy and a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bio-refinery Assistance Program.

David recently co-founded Kilimanjaro Energy^[5] a startup developing technologies that capture atmospheric CO2 for fuel production, turning the world’s largest waste stream (CO2) into the world’s largest product (transportation fuels). David lives in Northern California with his wife, Maureen, and their son, Magellan.

References

1. ^ [1], “San Diego Tribune', Feb 8, 2005.
2. ^ "2002 Young Innovators Under 35". Technology Review. 2002. http://www.technologyreview.com/tr35/?year=2002. Retrieved August 16, 2011. 
3. ^ [2] “MIT’s Technology Review' 2002.
4. ^ [3], “San Francisco Chronicle', Feb 22, 2004.
5. ^ [4], “Marc Gunther', Feb 27, 2011.

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