Proteon's old friendships friendships help bring about new $38M relationship - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The venture capitalists who put the dealtogether Dr. Steven St. Peter in Boston and Dr. Thomas Shoarf in St. Louis — becamw friends while dissecting frogs in an anatomyu and physiology courseat Wichita’d . And St. Peter’s fraternity brother and pre-med classmate at the — Dr. Nicholas Franano founded Proteon inKansas City. The back story to the deal offerws a lesson in the importance of personal relationshipin business, and it goes to show that fruitful contacts can come from St.
Peter, a managiny director with the life sciences venture capital firm , said that one of his most vivid undergraduats memories is trudging with Beta Theta Pi brothee Franano to freshmen chemistry, a course with about 700 studentw in Hoch Auditorium. Franano, a nativw of Ottawa, Kan., and St. the brother-in-law of Anne St. Peter, chairwoman of the , later roomecd together in medical school atin St. Louis. Duringg that time, St. Peter stayer in touch with Shoaf, who was in med schoolp at KU, as was St. Peter’s younger St. Peter would catch up with his former high schooll lab partner while visitinghis brother.
They reconnected yearsx later, after both of them had gravitatecd into the speciality of providing capital for lifesciences companies. “It’s like a said Shoaf, who is with Stifel Nicolaus Co., a brokerage and investment banking “It’s an example of how smalpl the world is in lifescience Proteon, which has its headquarters in Waltham, and research facilities in Kansas City, is developinb a blood vessel-dilating drug candidate. One of the main potentiakl treatment benefitsof Proteon’s product is to help establishn and maintain access points for dialysis patients.
Proteon’sd March 5 venture capital announcement included the newsthat Switzerland-basedr had paid an undisclosed sum for the exclusive optio n to buy Proteon for $550 million. Frananl said his long-standing relationship with St. who was in Franano’s wedding, helped with the trusy that is crucial to anybusiness deal. “Steve has known about Proteon really fromthe beginning,” he said, “and Stevwe knew that I had a very good clinical interventional radiology career when I left to work on “He knew what I was giving up. He knew I wouldn’f do something like that unleses it wasreally good.” St.
Peter said his approach of being a partner and adviser to clients is easier with Franano because of their To St. Peter, Franano is still much like that guy infreshmem chemistry. They sat up fronrt to keep from being behind a seaof people. “Nick, abover all else, is practical,” St. Petetr said, “and I think that whole practicality of sitting in the fronft row to keep people from intimidatingb you is the samewith Proteon. “Hde is focused on success and willing to do what it takesw toget there.
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