SoCalBio Elects Veteran Life-Sciences Investor to Board

The Southern California Biomedical Council (SoCalBio) has elected life-sciences investor Joseph (Joe) A. Boystak to its board of directors.

“Joe brings decades of experience in corporate finance and life-sciences investing, and he knows how to help guide SoCalBio’s efforts to improve how local emerging companies access sources of funding,” said Robert Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., SoCalBio board chairman and president and CEO of Sylmar, Calif.-based Second Sight Products Corporation.

Boystak currently serves as a partner at New York, N.Y.- and Santa Monica, Calif.-based Poliwogg Holdings Inc., a financial firm that provides new pathways for accredited investors to invest in early stage health and life-science companies. He also serves as president and CEO of Brightwaters Capital LLC, an investment firm based in Los Angeles, Calif., that focuses on life sciences, medical devices, diagnostics, health care and materials science. In addition, he is managing director and CEO of Hudson | Brightwaters (a division of Hudson Capital Advisors LLC, a registered broker dealer), a boutique merchant bank also based in Los Angeles.

“I am delighted to join the SoCalBio board and to help the organization expand its role as an advocate and conduit for everything necessary to accelerate growth of the L.A. region’s biomedical industry,” Boystak said. “I look forward to working with SoCalBio to improve access to capital resources, including novel and innovative funding opportunities.”

Boystak is a founder or director of several life-science industry firms including Exosome Diagnostics, Bruin Biometrics, Bessor/Brightwaters Pharma, GenoSpace, TrendShift, InSight Health Corp, PapiVax, and Medical eXcellence (MedX). He also serves on the Health Advisory Board at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (where he Chairs the Committee for Innovation & Commercialization), and is a member of the UCLA Foundation Board of Governors.

Previously, Boystak spent more than 25 years as a senior investment banker with several major Wall Street firms specializing in life sciences and healthcare. He served as founding managing director of the Global Life Science Group at Jefferies & Co., as well as global head of Healthcare at Tucker Anthony Sutro and Security Pacific Merchant Bank, and vice president at Dean Witter Reynolds.

Boystak earned a B.A. from Boston University and a Master of Health Science degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“Joe’s passion for innovation, drive to support entrepreneurship, and unwavering commitment to grow the bioscience industry in our region make him a very valuable addition to our board,” said SoCalBio President and CEO Ahmed Enany. “He exemplifies SoCalBio’s core values, and we’re thrilled to have an opportunity to work with him closely on strengthening the L.A. region’s healthcare investing eco-system.”

SoCalBio is a nonprofit, member-supported trade association that promotes life-science research, development, manufacturing, job creation and overall economic growth in the six counties of the greater Los Angeles region (Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Riverside and San Bernardino). The Council’s programs help local firms gain access to capital, potential partners and business support services.