David H. Crean
E: david.crean@cardiffadvisory.com | P: 858-245-4905
In parallel to his investment banking and strategic advisory leadership for Cardiff Advisory, Dr. Crean currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Objective Capital's Investment Banking services, and is in leading roles on the Boards of Directors for Histogen, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSTO) as Board Chairman and Chair of Audit, and the California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) as Chairman of Development and a member of the Executive Committee. He is a limited partner with a leading life sciences venture fund, Mesa Verde Venture Partners, and a member of Corporate Directors Forum. Dr. Crean is also a contributing author for Forbes.com through his work with Forbes Los Angeles Business Council and a contributing author for PharmaBoardRoom.com. For his outstanding advisory work, Dr. Crean was recognized by San Diego Business Journal for SD500 Most Influential Business Leaders in 2019 and 2020, M&A Advisors for the 2019 Investment Banker of the Year, San Diego Business Journal’s 2018 Healthcare Hero, 2017 Thought Leader of the Year and 2017 Advisor of the Year Awards. Dr. Crean is also active in the non-profit sector where he serves in leading Board of Director roles for the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) San Diego as President, and as Chairman of the Board for the Alzheimer’s Association of San Diego/ Imperial Counties and Student Success Programs of the Charter School of San Diego.
Dr. Crean holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) Degree with a finance concentration from Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Management. Additionally, he holds a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Degree in Biophysics and a Masters of Science (MS) Degree in Oncology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Crean also earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) Degree in Biology/ Pre-Med from Canisius College.
Articles: David H. Crean
JP Morgan 2024 In Review: Good Vibrations
USA / Cardiff Advisory’s David H. Crean outlines the positive atmosphere and sentiment observed at JPM 2024, the annual healthcare financing conference held near San Francisco’s Union Square. Dr. Crean picks up some of the key trends to emerge from the conference around sustainability, deal flow, venture funding, and AI, and provides several suggestions to ponder for…
Potential Impacts of the US Antitrust Environment on Biopharmaceutical M&A
USA / David H. Crean, Ph.D., Managing Partner at Cardiff Advisory, provides his insights on the potential impact of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s antitrust policies on biopharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions. Crean expects to see a continuation of 2023’s strong start to M&A and questions whether the FTC’s newly-aggressive approach will be maintained but does caution…
Biopharma Investment in 2023: “A Flight to Quality”
Global / David H. Crean, Managing Partner for Cardiff Advisory, highlights the tone and tenor of J.P. Morgan’s recent 2023 Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco in light of the uncertain economic environment that saw fewer IPOs in 2022 than in previous years and numerous negative enterprise value companies trading below cash positions. However, Crean remains optimistic…
The Inflation Reduction Act & the Economics of Drug Development
USA / David H. Crean, Managing Partner for Cardiff Advisory, discusses the economic impact of the signing and implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on the biopharmaceutical industry and innovation. America’s biopharmaceutical research companies are researching and developing new medicines to meet unmet needs and continuing research and development even after US Food and Drug…
BIO2022: Limitless Possibilities Despite Challenges in Capital Markets
Global / David H. Crean, Managing General Partner for Equitos Venture Partners and Cardiff Advisory, highlights news from the recent BIO Convention held face-to-face in San Diego, CA for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. After more than two years, the 2022 BIO International Convention (BIO2022) was back in-person in San Diego, California.…
The Road Ahead for Life Sciences Transactions & Financing in 2022
Global / David H. Crean, Managing General Partner for Equitos Venture Partners and Cardiff Advisory, highlights the latest trends and recommendations for business and corporate development transactions and capital financing of life sciences companies in 2022. We are currently experiencing economic headwinds, making it a challenging time for growth companies such as in the biopharmaceuticals and medtech…
J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2022: Glass Half Full
Global / David H. Crean summarizes the recent 40th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2022 that was held in a virtual format. Crean underlines the importance of the Conference for establishing the tone and tenor for the industry and highlights some of the biopharma topics to monitor. 39 years ago, JPM launched Wall Street’s premier investor conference…
The Cell & Gene Therapy Market: Excitement Abounds
Global / David H. Crean, Managing General Partner for Coast BioVentures, updates and highlights the latest trends in the cell and gene therapy market for deal activities and financings over the past two years since his original article on the topic was published on PharmaBoardroom in June 2019. Cell and gene therapies (CGTs) continue to be at…
JP Morgan 2021 Virtual Healthcare Conference: A Course Correction for Future Meetings
Global / David H. Crean summarizes the recent 39th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2021 that was held in a virtual format, noting potential changes in format for future events. Crean does, however, underline the importance of the Conference for industry networking and highlights some of the biopharma topics to watch under the Biden Administration. Compared…
Is the USA’s Innovation Leadership Position At-Risk?
USA / David H. Crean, managing director for Objective Capital Partners, provides insights on US innovation and long term sustainability. The life sciences industry within the United States makes significant contributions to both America’s health and economy and is a leader in R&D and innovation based on numerous proxies including patents received, government and venture funding, R&D…
COVID-19: A Material Disruptor
Opinion / Regular PharmaBoardroom contributor David Crean looks at how the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak has impacted the global economy, how the biopharmaceutical industry is responding, and what the longer-term consequences of the crisis and responses to it will be. The latest disruptor to global health and the economy is the ongoing outbreak of the respiratory…
A More Measured Tone at J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020
USA / David Crean summarises the mood at the recent J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 in San Francisco, noting a more subdued atmosphere than previous years, with reduced attendances and no big M&A announcements. Crean does, however, underline the importance of the Conference for industry networking and highlights some of the biopharma trends to watch in the…
AI in Healthcare M&A: On the Rise
Opinion / David H. Crean, managing director for Objective Capital Partners, highlights the latest trends in mergers and acquisition (M&A) activities involving companies with artificial intelligence/machine learning platforms and technologies and their application to healthcare companies. Artificial Intelligence Advances in technologies, an incorporation of entrants from outside the industry and changing consumer expectations are driving a global…
The Cell & Gene Therapy Market: Coming into Its Own
Opinion / David H. Crean, managing director for Objective Capital Partners, highlights the latest trends in the cell and gene therapy market for investments and deal activities. Background Cell and gene therapies hold the promise of bringing significant clinical benefits to patients by directly targeting the underlying cause of disease. With tremendous momentum taking place over the…
The Ongoing Battle to Crack the Alzheimer’s Treatment Dilemma
Opinion / David H. Crean highlights R&D efforts and ongoing investments in Alzheimer’s disease treatments as we enter the month of June, brain awareness month. Alzheimer’s disease is a complex chronic disease characterized biologically by the accumulation of extracellular protein plaques, neurofibrillary protein tangles, a loss of functional synaptic connections, and eventually complete loss of neurons. It…
The Medical Cannabis Investment Landscape
Opinion / David H. Crean, managing director for Objective Capital Partners, highlights the progress that has been made over the past year in investments in medical cannabis and the outlook for 2019. Due to ongoing research and studies, positive results are leading countries to reconsider the cannabis plant The cannabis industry has been one of the…
Closing the Gender Investment Gap
Opinion / On International Women’s Day 2019, David H. Crean, managing director for Objective Capital Partners, highlights the progress that has been made to close the gender investment gap, touching on key trends and biases in venture capital funding and outlining why investing in women matters. When women business owners pitch their ideas to investors for early-stage…
Why Invest in Rare Diseases & Orphan Drugs?
Rare Diseases / In the run-up to Rare Disease Day 2019, David H. Crean, PhD, Managing Director for Objective Capital Partners, reviews the investment and deal activity for orphan drugs in 2018 and delves into future forecasts for the rare disease space. With drugs currently available for only about 5% of rare diseases, the future is wide open…
Perspectives from J.P. Morgan’s 2019 Health Care Investor Conference
Opinion / Our contributor at large, David Crean, Managing Director for Objective Capital Partners, attended J.P. Morgan’s 2019 Health Care Investor Conference, one of the biggest events in the life sciences calendar and a fantastic indicator of what is to come in healthcare for the year ahead. Here, Crean gives us the inside scoop. The heart of JPM is…
2018 Venture Investment Activity in Life Sciences
USA / David H. Crean, PhD, Managing Director for Objective Capital Partners, a leading investment banking advisory firm examines the venture investment activity in life sciences for the past year. In order to have a successful life sciences R&D program, biotech and pharma companies must develop game-changing therapeutics, companion diagnostics and personalized medicines. According to…
Elevated Valuations Across the Board for Life Sciences in 2018
USA / David H. Crean, PhD, Managing Director for Objective Capital Partners, a leading investment banking advisory firm examines the healthcare market for 2018. Following a decade high of VC invested in 2017, and on a record pace again in 2018, valuations continue to move higher across all stages within life sciences. It has…
M&A trends and activity in 2018
M&A / It has been a robust first half in 2018 within the life sciences sector for mergers and acquisition (M&A) and investment activities. Deal-tracking sources demonstrate M&A values witnessed meaningful increases in Q2 2018, with deal volumes in the quarter reminiscent of 2016 and 2017 levels [1]. I and others [234] continue to witness companies and institutional…
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