David M. Wurzer currently serves as executive vice president and chief investment officer at Connecticut Innovations (CI) in Rocky Hill, Conn. Mr. Wurzer is responsible for managing the investment function at CI, which includes staffing, portfolio and risk management, outreach, budget planning and performance measurement. He also is responsible for oversight of the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund (CBIF) and the Regenerative Medicine Research Fund (RMRF).
When Mr. Wurzer joined CI in 2009 as senior managing director of investments, he had extensive senior-level experience in operations and finance, including more than 10 years as executive vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer of CuraGen Corporation, a former CI portfolio company. Mr. Wurzer guided the biotech company through its initial public offering and helped raise more than $700 million. Mr. Wurzer was also involved in negotiating strategic and business development alliances with several pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including Roche, Bayer and Amgen-Freemont (Abgenix). Mr. Wurzer helped to grow CuraGen and its technology development subsidiary into an operation with more than 500 employees and a market capitalization as high as $5.3 billion.
Mr. Wurzer began his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand in Hartford, Conn. (now part of PricewaterhouseCoopers), where he held various accounting and managerial positions.
Mr. Wurzer currently serves on the board of directors for several private and public companies, including Standard Diversified Opportunities, Inc. (NASDAQ:SDOI), Summit Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SMMT; LON:SUMM), ReNetX Therapeutics (f/k/a Axerion Therapeutics), Natural Polymer Devices, Thetis Pharmaceuticals. His various responsibilities on these boards include lead director, audit committee chair, compensation committee chair, nominating member and audit and compensation committee member. Mr. Wurzer previously served on the board of directors for DUSA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:DUSA), Response Genetics (NASDAQ:RGDX), 454 Life Sciences Corporation, CyVek, EmmeE2MS, LegiTime, My Gene Counsel, NovaTract Surgical, Sematifi, SmartPay Solutions and ZetrOZ. His various responsibilities on those boards included audit committee chair, compensation committee chair and audit and compensation committee member.
Mr. Wurzer is a board financial expert for SEC purposes and Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Wurzer earned his bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind., United States.