Pfizer’s Golden Ticket Program Funds Innovative Research

In addition to his career as the founder, CEO, and chief investment officer of Granite Point Capital, Warren Lammert has been actively involved in the biopharmaceutical industry. Warren Lammert is the chairman and co-founder of Tevard Biosciences, a Boston-based gene therapy company. In 2018, Tevard’s gene therapy technique for Dravet syndrome received a “Golden Ticket” in the inaugural year of Pfizer’s Golden Ticket Program.

Pfizer partnered with nonprofit startup incubator LabCentral to provide promising early-stage life sciences companies with the resources they need to accelerate their discoveries. The award program is part of Pfizer’s $150 million investment in entrepreneurial neuroscience companies. Golden Ticket winners receive a free year of LabCentral residence for one of their scientists.

The award includes access to not only state-of-the-art lab equipment and space, but also maintenance services. The Golden Ticket Award is open to companies throughout the United States, and out-of-state winners can also use it to relocate to LabCentral’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is a biotech hub. In 2019, Pfizer awarded two therapeutics companies investigating treatments for autoimmune disease and fibrosis.

A Primer on Venture Capital

Warren Lammert is an experienced finance professional who has worked as a chief investment officer at Granite Point Capital in Boston, Massachusetts, since 2004. Outside of his endeavors at Granite Point Capital, Warren Lammert possesses an interest in various aspects of the financial industry, such as venture capital.

A subset of private equity, venture capital represents a specific type of financing that investors offer to startups and other types of small businesses. Typically, venture capital is provided by investment banks, individual investors, and financial institutions. Venture capital funding has become a popular way for new companies to raise capital, particularly if they do not have access to bank loans or capital markets. In addition to providing funding for emerging companies, venture capitalists often draw on their experience to offer advice to entrepreneurs on managing new enterprises.

Venture capital traces its roots to the 19th century. After World War II, venture capital emerged as an industry. Georges Doriot, a former professor with the Harvard Business School, is frequently considered to the be the “Father of Venture Capital.” In 1946, he started the American Research and Development Corporation, which became the world’s first publicly owned venture capital firm.