The 2006 Virginia 100 - Feathering his nest
Randal J. Kirk builds companies and fortunes

by Jack Milligan
Virginia Business
June 2006

"I love the purity of these birds, which are neither domesticated nor stereotypical…,” he says. "They are wild animals that can be coaxed into a mutually productive relationship with man. The experience of holding a raptor on one’s wrist is like looking into the eyes of a lion — but with considerably less risk.”

Falconry takes Kirk away from the pressures of running an up-and-coming biotech firm and raising money for a potential presidential bid by former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner.

Kirk, 52, devotes most of his attention to New River Pharmaceuticals in Radford, where he is chairman and CEO. He started the company in 1996 at about the same time he sold a previous company, General Injectables & Vaccines Inc. — a pharmaceutical distributor he co-founded in 1983 — for a reported $100 million. The money positioned Kirk to start New River, which focuses on developing drugs that are safer and improved versions of widely prescribed pharmaceuticals in large and growing markets.

For example, the company is developing an amphetamine derivative, NRP104, for treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children. The drug is in the final clinical trial stage, and New River hopes for a product launch by year’s end. It would be the first drug the 10-year-old company has brought to market.

Most large pharmaceutical companies no longer focus on developing new generations of existing drugs, notes Kirk. Instead, they tend to spend their massive R&D budgets looking for the next big breakthrough. New River’s approach is different. "We’re trying to produce blockbusters — which have sales of $1 billion — on a budget of $30 million, start to finish.”

The company’s net loss actually widened from $14.3 million in 2004 to $29.9 million in 2006. Financial R&D costs spike when a new drug enters the clinical trial stage, says Kirk, and that accounts for most of the increase.

In addition to biotechnology, Kirk has tried his hand at investing. He serves as senior managing director of Third Security LLC, a money-management firm he formed in 1999 to handle his investments along with those of various New River Pharmaceuticals executives and a few outsiders. The firm invests in companies in the life sciences, information-technology and investment-advisory arenas.

When he’s not building companies, Kirk often raises money for causes he supports. A graduate of Radford University, Kirk went on to get a law degree from the University of Virginia. He recently co-chaired Radford’s capital campaign, which raised more than $44 million, exceeding its fund-raising goal of $40 million. Several years ago, Kirk endowed the university’s Mandarin language curriculum and study abroad opportunities in China with a $1 million gift.

His fund-raising skills extend to politics, with Kirk recently hosting an event in Boston for Warner, a Democrat. That endorsement might seem odd given Kirk’s past support for Republicans Mark Earley and Jerry Kilgore, who ran for governor and attorney general, respectively, in 2001. Last fall Kirk supported Democrat Tim Kaine (and contributed a reported $100,000 to his campaign) in Kaine’s successful run for governor against Kilgore. Try to stick Kirk with a political label, and he bridles. "I don’t belong to either party,” he says. "That’s deliberate. I passionately hate both parties.”

What Kirk seems to value most in politics is competency. That’s what attracts him to Warner, whose governorship gets high marks from Kirk. "I think it’s important for the country to have a man of Mark Warner’s ability.”

If Warner is elected president in 2008, it may be time for Kirk to add to his collection of raptors. An American bald eagle, perhaps?