Derek Lee – Senior Advisor

Derek Lee, Advisor

Mr. Lee is a senior member of the healthcare team at Commenda Capital, an Atlanta, Georgia-based merchant bank and consultancy that provides creative, bespoke solutions that span capital formation, corporate strategy and operational support to maximize value to companies and investors.

Mr. Lee is also the Founder and Managing Director of DHL Ventures LLC, a financial and strategic advisory firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Lee has been providing consulting services to Athyrium funds since 2012. Mr. Lee has more than 22 years of experience in life sciences investments across therapeutics, devices, diagnostics and services / HCIT as an investment banker, venture capitalist, entrepreneur and hedge fund analyst. Mr. Lee specializes in structuring and implementing creative and complex deal structures and working closely with management teams on financing and exit strategies.

Prior to founding DHL Ventures, Mr. Lee was a Senior Analyst with Burrage Capital, a life sciences focused long-short equity fund. Previously, Mr. Lee was the Chief Financial and Corporate Development Officer at Talaris Advisors, a biotech accelerator that leverages a strategic drug development discipline to minimize risk and cost while optimizing the odds of success in drug development portfolios.

Before founding Talaris Advisors, Mr. Lee was a Principal with SV Life Sciences (SVLS), a leading healthcare focused venture capital advisor with approximately $2B under management. For close to a decade at SVLS, Mr. Lee was actively involved with more than 55 portfolio companies across biotechnology, medical devices and healthcare services investments. He worked closely with management teams across a range of issues including equity and debt financings, M&A, IPOs, partnerships and exits.

As an investment banker, Mr. Lee was with the Global Healthcare Group at UBS Warburg where he engaged in a variety of equity and M&A transactions in the life sciences sector. Prior to joining UBS Warburg, Mr. Lee was in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Lee received his BS in Finance from Bentley College.