About Us

Who We are

We are a group of investors with a passion for company-building, each with decades of experience in the life-science industry.

As former founders, operators, and board directors of businesses in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare sectors, we appreciate the challenges early-stage companies face and have experience in addressing them.

As successful seed investors, we understand the requirements for securing follow-on financing and how to best represent businesses to prospective investors.

As entrepreneurs with proven track records of success, we work tirelessly and collaboratively with our companies to define and realize their business goals.

Access to Over 100 Years of Experience

Kevin Conner

Founding Partner

Sarah Faust

Partner

Frank Gallagi

Founding Partner

David Owens

Founding Partner

Nancy M. Ruiz

M.D., FACP, FIDSA, Partner

info@bowmanstowerventurepartners.com
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Kevin Conner

CPA, Founding Partner

Kevin is a Founding Partner of Bowman’s Tower Venture Partners, with over 30 years of operational and board level experience in public and private companies. He founded and is the Managing Director of Conner (CA), a professional services firm that provides corporate restructuring, tax, and litigation consulting services on behalf of public/private companies, investment firms and high net-worth individuals. In addition to his role at Bowman’s Tower Venture Partners, Kevin is also a general partner with Westrock Capital Partners, where he invests in and actively advises early-stage and growth-stage companies in various sectors, such as fintech, biotech, and medtech. He leverages his expertise in financial analysis, valuation, and due diligence to identify and support promising and innovative ventures. Currently, he is a strategic advisor to The Medici Project and HeartPass Technologies, two social impact startups that aim to improve access to investment education and medical-grade cardiovascular healthcare. Furthermore, he serves as an independent board member and chair of audit at NuZee, Inc., a leading coffee company with a global presence. Kevin is an active angel investor with being a member of Broad Street Angels and Keiretsu Southern California Angel Forum.

Skills:

  • Certified Public Accountant
  • Deep understanding of SEC and corporate governance
  • Skilled business strategist and mergers & acquisitions
  • Experienced across a diverse range of industries from the highly regulated financial sector to consumer/medical technology products

Sarah Faust

Partner

Sarah is a commercial leader with over 30 years of US and global experience in the pharmaceutical/ biotech industry. She has a proven track record of providing commercial strategy for early-stage assets, through to launching and growing robust, multi-million to multi-billion-dollar brands in the specialty, retail and institutional settings. Sarah operates her own commercial consulting business and currently acts as Chief Commercial Officer for Neumentum, a development-stage company dedicated to developing and commercializing non-opioid pain treatments, and provides business planning and strategic expertise to one of BTVPs portfolio companies, ThirdLaw Molecular. Previous roles include Vice President, Sales and Marketing, for the specialty dermatology company, PharmaDerm (sold to Sandoz), Sr. Vice President of Marketing for the specialty pharma company, King (sold to Pfizer), and Business Team Leader for the world’s leading low molecular weight heparin, Lovenox, at Aventis (now Sanofi).

Skills:

  • Accomplished commercial leader and strategist
  • Expert in business planning and forecasting
  • Skilled at conducting commercial assessments, including identifying and answering essential business questions through analysis and market research
  • Effective at building high-performing teams
  • Deep understanding of surgical, thrombosis and hemostasis, and pain therapeutic categories

Frank Gallagi

Founding Partner

Frank, a Founding Partner of Bowman’s Tower Venture Partners, brings 15+ years of drug discovery, medical device, and specialty ingredient senior management experience to the team. He is the Chief Financial Officer of two of BTVP’s portfolio holdings — BiologicsMD, an early-stage drug development company, and ThirdLaw Molecular, a company pioneering the development of a transformational drug discovery platform. Frank, a long-time venture capital investor and consultant also holds operational roles in various non-BTVP companies, most notably FEMSelect, Ltd, a commercial stage medical device company offering minimally invasive solutions to pelvic organ prolapse. Prior to joining BTVP, Frank was the Chief Financial Officer of OrthogenRx, and managing partner at various boutique venture capital firms since 2005. Frank graduated with a B.S. in Accounting from Fordham university and began his career at KPMG in Stamford, Connecticut.

Skills:

  • Certified Public Accountant
  • Extensive senior-level experience in operations and finance
  • Deep understanding of medical device reimbursement and product pricing
  • Expert in financial modeling and reporting
  • Experienced in early-stage product launches and go-to-market strategies

David Owens

Founding Partner

David is a Founding Partner for Bowman’s Tower Venture Partners. He is the President & CEO of BiologicsMD, an early-stage drug development company, and a Board Member of ThirdLaw Molecular, a company pioneering the development of a transformational drug discovery platform. Previous roles include Co-CEO & Board Director of OrthogenRx, Inc. (sold to Avanos in 2022), Chief Business Officer of Novira Therapeutics, Inc. (sold to J&J in 2015), Senior Vice President and Business Unit Head of the Surgical Products Division at King Pharmaceuticals (now Pfizer), Vice President of Global Marketing & Medical Affairs at Aventis Pharma (now Sanofi), and other commercial positions at Genentech, Merck and Abbott Labs. David has been an active private investor and angel investor since 2009 and was previously a member of the Mid-Atlantic Angel Group Fund II and the Delaware Crossing Investor Group.

Skills:

  • Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry leader with extensive network
  • Expert in the commercialization of biopharmaceuticals and biologics
  • Deep understanding of surgical, thrombosis and hemostasis, cardiovascular and immunology therapeutic categories
  • Experienced fund-raiser
  • Effective company-builder

Nancy M. Ruiz

M.D., FACP, FIDSA, Partner

Nancy is a board-certified physician who is an exceptional strategic & scientific leader with over 25 years of global experience in all phases of drug development. She has led the development of several small molecules and biologics in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Throughout her career she has had cross functional oversight of Research, Clinical Development, Regulatory & Medical Affairs, Pharmacovigilance, Clinical Operations, HEOR, Pre-Clinical Toxicology, Quality Affairs, Project Management, and has been involved intricately in business development activities. She has demonstrated experience in therapeutic area strategy and portfolio management across several therapeutic areas and vast experience interacting with worldwide regulatory authorities. Nancy has held leading senior level positions such as Vice-President Pipeline & Portfolio Management at Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals and Merck Research Labs. She has been Chief Medical Officer at InfaCare Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. She also was Chief Medical Officer and Head of Prescription Drugs, Generics and Over the Counter Medications at Meda Pharmaceuticals. Most recently, she has been Chief Medical Officer at Larimar Therapeutics, a rare disease company focusing on Friedreich’s ataxia. Nancy is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Disease Society of America.

Skills:

  • Extensive small molecule and biologic drug development experience
  • Cross-therapeutic and cross-functional bio/pharma expertise
  • Sound scientific due diligence understanding
  • Portfolio management
  • Team building and leadership
  • Regulatory strategy
  • Clinical development/medical affairs
  • Deep experience in fields of immunology, infectious diseases, allergy/respiratory, women’s health, rare diseases, and consumer health