John Clarke entered the venture industry in 1982 with DSV Partners, a pioneer venture capital fund formed in 1968. John led DSV’s health care and life sciences efforts, and was a co-founder and served as interim CEO of numerous successful companies including Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS), Arris Pharmaceuticals, DNX and Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CBST). As managing partner at DSV in later years, Mr. Clarke led the firm’s evolution into Cardinal Partners. Building on two decades in venture capital, John co-founded Cardinal Partners in 1997. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, (NASDAQ:ALNY), aTyr Pharma, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, (NASDAQ:MNTA), Rib-X Pharmaceuticals and Verastem . He has also served as a director for Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline NYSE:GSK), TechRx (Acquired by NDCHealth) and Visicu (acquired by Phillips Electronics).
John has served on the National Venture Capital Association’s Board of Directors where he was Chairman of its Regulatory Committee and Membership Committee. John was a founding director of the Greater Philadelphia Venture Group as well as its past President and Chairman. John is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Board of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation Penn Venture Group. He has served as a member of the University of Pennsylvania Advisory Panel on Technology Transfer. John is also a Trustee of Hands Together, a non-profit organization that provides health care and education support to the needy in Haiti. Prior to his venture capital career, John worked for the General Electric Company in various sales and marketing positions.
Mr. Clarke received his A.B. in Economics and Biology from Harvard University and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.