Steve Kanzer

With more than 20 biotechnology companies to his name, entrepreneur and legal professional Steve H. Kanzer, CPA, JD, leverages more than two decades of experience in his work as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of a New York-based venture capital firm group. Steve Kanzer’s achievements in the biotechnology sector include the privatization and sale of the Institute for Drug Research Kft. (IDR). A pharmaceutical giant in Hungary since 1950, IDR conducted cutting-edge drug research and met the pharmaceutical needs of medical practices across Eastern Europe. Leading the team that oversaw the transition, Mr. Kanzer moved to Budapest, Hungary, to act as CEO. He held that position from the privatization proceedings through the sale of the company in 1999 to IVAX Corporation, which later merged with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., an international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel. In addition to his work with IDR, Steve H. Kanzer has founded and served on the boards of numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporations, including PolaRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.; Discovery Laboratories, Inc.; Accredited Ventures Inc.; and Accredited Equities Incorporated. Furthermore, he cofounded Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and led the company in various executive positions until 2008. Steve Kanzer acquired much of his expertise in founding, buying, and selling corporations through his work as an attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions law. A Baruch Scholar, Steve Kanzer earned his BBA in Accounting with honors from Baruch College at The City University of New York. Mr. Kanzer went on to study law at the New York University School of Law, where he received his JD in 1998. A donor to both of his alma maters, Steve Kanzer also supports Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In his spare time, he enjoys playing golf and tennis and reading up on the latest developments in theoretical physics and life science.