Katan Associates Chairman and Co-Founder Stan Yakatan Dies After Brief Illness

HERMOSA BEACH, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 3, 2014) - Katan Associates, a corporate strategy and finance advisory group focused on the global life sciences industry, announced today that its co-founder and chairman Stan Yakatan had died at his home in Hermosa Beach, California after a brief illness. Private services were held on October 1, 2014 and a memorial service is being planned for November 1 with details to be announced.

"Stan was widely recognized as a leader in the development and launch of biotech (biopharmaceutical) products and leadership of life sciences companies. So many people in the industry got their start with Stan or had worked with Stan in some capacity. The respect that garnered from senior research scientists and sophisticated investors was un-paralleled. His impact was global and his loss is not only a loss for the firm and the industry, but a huge loss for the hundreds of people around the world who knew and loved Stan," said Seth Yakatan, Stan's son and Katan co-founder currently serving as Vice President of Business Development for Invion Limited, a clinical-stage drug development company focused on the development of treatments for inflammatory diseases. 

"Everyone at Katan Associates is grateful for the foundation he laid for the company in the Life Sciences arena. Over his 50 year career, he founded or co-founded more than 20 companies in the U.S., Canada, Israel, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Australia, Taiwan and Germany often serving as CEO, and Chairman. At the time of his death, he was CEO of TheraKine Ltd., a privately held company with a novel drug delivery technology for biologics and small molecules and a member of the board of directors of several public and private companies. He has served as a senior advisor in Life Sciences to State, Provincial and Federal government agencies in the U.S. and abroad in an effort to assist governments interested in developing incentives and initiatives to fund, foster and develop regional Life Science clusters. He completed and advised on numerous acquisitions and corporate finance transactions raising in excess of $1.0 billion dollars in the public and private capital financing markets."

"Earlier in his career, he advised several of the world's leading venture capital firms including TVM (Germany), Ventana (USA), MSP (USA), H&Q Life Sciences (USA) and Biocapital (Canada). Stan was a frequent speaker at financial and biotechnology conferences throughout the world and in 2012 was appointed to the Teaching Faculty at Skolkovo School of Management in Moscow," Seth Yakatan continued.

Stan Yakatan is survived by his wife of 47 years, Harriet Yakatan, children, Seth Yakatan and Blake Yakatan, and grandchildren, Ema Yakatan and Jacob Yakatan.

Contributions may be made to the American Heart Association at heart.org.