Leerink Partners

SVB Leerink From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search Leerink Partners LLC Type LLC Industry Financial Services Founded 1995; 24 years ago Founder Jeffrey A. Leerink Headquarters 1 Federal St, 37th floor Boston, MA, United States Products Investment banking Website www.leerink.com Leerink Partners is a specialist investment bank focusing on the healthcare sector, headquartered in Boston, MA. Leerink offers capital markets capabilities, M&A advisory, corporate access and equity research. Through its subsidiary Leerink Capital, the firm engages in principal investments. Leerink Partners was founded in 1995 by Jeffrey A. Leerink.[1] Contents 1 History 2 MEDACorp 2.1 Expert network controversy 3 Incidents 4 References History[edit] 1995 – Founded as Leerink Swann LLC with a focus on sell-side research[1][2] 1996 – Established MedaCorp expert network as a joint venture with Dan Dubin[1] 1999 – Inc. Magazine's America's 500 fastest growing private companies[3] 2014 – Leerink Swann is renamed as Leerink Partners LLC[4] 2019 – Leerink Partners LLC was acquired by SVB Financial Group, parent company of Silicon Valley Bank[5] The company has offices in Boston, New York, San Francisco and Charlotte. MEDACorp[edit] MEDACorp, established 1996, is a strategic knowledge resource at Leerink Partners. It operates a global network of key opinion leaders in various fields of expertise. The aim of this network is to connect medical knowledge with the financial industry. Uses are e.g. validation of new products and commercial viability in the assessment of company financials, corporate due diligence in the medial field as part of M&A advisory or capital raising.[1] Expert network controversy[edit] A 2010 probe into expert network focused on potential for conflict of interest and insider dealings through expert network across the entire industry.[6] The SEC investigated a 2009 merger between Cougar Biotech and Johnson & Johnson in which Leerink advised Cougar.[7] MedaTech client SAC Capital had been an investor in Cougar Biotech. The focus of the investigation was whether any information about the transaction flowed from Leerink via MedaTech to SAC.[8] According to Leerink, the firm operates strict information barriers.[9] Speculations about MedaTech’s shut down as part of the investigation proved unfounded.[10][11] Incidents[edit] In 2012, the SEC charged a former Leerink analyst for insider trading. The analyst had obtained confidential information about a merger transaction Leerink was working on and passed this information on to a friend to place trades on his behalf. The analyst gained around $600,000 from this investment and was later sentenced for insider trading.[12][13]