Overview
DFB Pharmaceuticals is a private investment group with an entrepreneurial drive for developing new products and businesses in healthcare. DFB and its principals have established a successful track record of creating value through strategic acquisitions of companies and technologies, internal product development, brand optimization, and pharmaceutical operations. DFB has realized more than $1.5 billion from the growth and sale of companies in pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing, dermatology, and wound care. Today, we embrace that same entrepreneurial spirit to identify, invest in, and develop new products and businesses. Collaborating with corporate partners, academic institutions, clinical experts, and other investor groups, our business model enables us to remain entrepreneurial and flexible to solve critical unmet healthcare needs and build value in turn.
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Our History
DFB was founded in 1990 by H. Paul Dorman and two partners with the purchase of Dermatological Products of Texas (DPT) from Alcon Laboratories. DFB leveraged DPT's product development expertise to create novel topically applied wound care products and established Healthpoint in 1992 to market these products. Through internal product development and brand acquisition, DFB grew Healthpoint by pioneering use of pharmaceuticals in wound care and also established a dermatology company called Coria in 2001 and a surgical antisepsis division called Healthpoint Surgical in 2003. DFB also purchased Phyton Biotech in 2003, which had a long term supply contract with Bristol-Myers Squibb related to its Taxol® brand. DFB operated and grew all of these businesses over two decades until it sold several major operating companies in 2012, retaining Phyton as a strategic asset. Today, DFB continues to invest in identifying and solving critical unmet medical needs.
Business successes
DPT Laboratories: Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) of sterile and nonsterile liquid and semi-solid pharmaceuticals
1990 – Acquired Dermatological Products of Texas from Alcon, renamed it DPT Laboratories
2012 – Sold a majority interest to Renaissance Pharmaceuticals, a portfolio company of RoundTable Healthcare Partners
2016 – Sale of nonsterile, dermatology-focused division by Renaissance to Mylan
Healthpoint Biotherapeutics: The leading pharmaceutical company in wound care with the largest selling drug and a strong R&D pipeline including a phase III biologic
1992 – Founded by DFB Pharmaceuticals
2006 - Acquired Santyl® and grew it to the leading pharmaceutical in wound care
2012 – Sold to Smith & Nephew as the basis for its biotherapeutics platform
Coria Laboratories: Dermatology company with a portfolio of drug and OTC products
1994 – Founded as a division of Healthpoint
2001 – Established as a separate company, Coria Laboratories
2008 – Sold to Valeant Pharmaceuticals as its initial acquisition into dermatology
HealthPoint Surgical: Developed and commercialized a portfolio of surgical antisepsis technologies
2003 – Established as a separate division by Healthpoint
2010 – Licensed USA marketing rights for Surgicept® and Triseptin® to CareFusion (now Becton Dickinson)
2011 – Licensed USA marketing rights for Aldahol® to Olympus
2017 – Established a manufacturing and distribution relationship in China
Phyton Biotech: Oncology API development and manufacturing via plant cell fermentation (PCF®)
2003 – Acquired Phyton, which included an exclusive long-term supply relationship with BMS supplying PCF® paclitaxel intermediate for its Taxol® Paclitaxel Injection, the first taxane approved for oncology
2012 – Launched its own commercial oncology API business selling paclitaxel and docetaxel API's on a global basis
2014 – Expanded development services via PCF® for plant-derived pharmaceuticals
2018 – Captured several high profile development opportunities in Europe and China including grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
2021 – Received Regulatory Approval from China’s NMPA for its plant cell fermentation-derived Paclitaxel Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient
2023 – Continues to expand its capabilities around plant cell and specialty fermentation solutions and its broad application to pharmaceuticals, food ingredients, cosmetics, and traditional Chinese herbal medicines
NanOlogy LLC: Clinical-stage oncology company advancing a patented particle engineering technology aiming to improve the treatment of solid tumors
2015 – Founded NanOlogy through acquisition of a proprietary particle engineering technology designed for intratumoral delivery
2018 – Expanded technology to 2 investigational drugs studying 6 solid tumors
2024 – Completed 7 Phase 1/2 clinical trials setting the stage for partnering on the next phase of clinical research
Our Business Model
Management Team
Chairman and Ceo
H. Paul Dorman
Paul is Chairman and CEO of DFB Pharmaceuticals. In 1990, Paul and two partners founded DFB with the purchase of DPT Laboratories from Alcon. From there, Paul expanded DFB into a portfolio of healthcare companies growing from $18 million to more than $400 million in annual sales, with operations in Texas, New Jersey, Germany, and Canada. This growth was achieved with no shareholder dilution. By the end of 2012, DFB had sold major operating companies including Coria to Valeant, Healthpoint to Smith & Nephew, and majority interest in DPT to Renaissance Pharmaceuticals. In all, under Paul’s leadership, DFB has realized more than $1.5 billion of value to date.
In 2013, Paul and a remaining partner invested some of the proceeds into a new vision for DFB. This vision leveraged retained operating company, Phyton Biotech, to establish a foothold in oncology, and discover new investment opportunities in and around oncology. This led to the identification of an innovative supercritical precipitation technology, and collaboration with CritiTech and US Biotest in 2015, to develop a supercritical carbon dioxide particle drug development platform under a newly created affiliate, Nanology, LLC. Through Nanology, Paul assembled a team of internal and external experts who has recently progressed this platform into multiple clinical trials across oncology and other serious diseases.
Today, Paul continues to lead DFB and is also involved in a number of philanthropic endeavors. Before founding DFB, Paul had nearly two decades of executive leadership experience with Johnson & Johnson and Baxter. He is also the past owner of three industrial distribution companies, which he turned around to profitability from Chapter 11 status at acquisition, and, ultimately, sold to a large, public corporation. Paul serves on the board of directors of Renaissance Acquisition Holdings LLC, Multicultural Alliance, and RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tulane University and a Juris Doctor of Law from Loyola University.
Chief Legal Officer
managing director
Mark A. Mitchell
Mark is a Managing Director of DFB, and has over 25 years of experience as an executive in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition to serving as DFB’s General Counsel, Mark is on the Executive Committee of Phyton Biotech and part of the Nanology management team. As outside counsel, Mark joined the DFB board of directors in 1990, and joined DFB as its Chief Legal Officer in 1993. He has also established and lead Quality, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance functions across multiple pharmaceutical businesses in the DFB family of companies.
Prior to joining DFB, Mark spent twelve years as a corporate lawyer in private practice. He currently serves on the board of DFB Pharmaceuticals LLC, TableTop Media LLC, and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctor in Law from Southern Methodist University.
Managing Director
Maxwell Lea
Maxwell is a Managing Director of DFB and is part of a team that manages DFB’s business interests in pharmaceutical manufacturing and product development. He also plays a lead role in developing, evaluating, structuring and executing new business and investment opportunities. Prior to his current role, Maxwell was Vice President of Corporate Development for DFB, where he led strategic planning, acquisition and growth initiatives across multiple life science and medical technology businesses. For four years prior to its sale, he was a member of the senior management team of Healthpoint Biotherapeutics (a DFB company), leading business development and international sales and marketing. He initially joined DFB as Director of Corporate Finance with responsibility for capital raising and financial planning and analysis for DFB and its portfolio of companies.
Before joining DFB, Maxwell was an investment banker with Bank of America Securities, where he was responsible for the execution of capital raising and M&A transactions in a variety of industries. He currently serves on the boards of Renaissance Acquisition Holdings LLC, Table Top Media LLC, Bio NorthTX, and Tech Fort Worth. He has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Business Administration from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
Managing Director
Marc A. Iacobucci
Marc is a Managing Director of DFB and serves on the board and management team of Nanology LLC, a majority-owned company of DFB. He is part of a small team responsible for identifying new healthcare investment opportunities and leading them through development to value creation for DFB. He is currently involved in extensive preclinical and clinical oncology development programs for Nanology, which was formed in 2015. Prior to his current role, Marc led establishment of DFB-owned Phyton Biotech as a commercial operation and the identification of the NanOlogy opportunity.
Marc has been with DFB since 1993 with leadership roles in business development, marketing, project management, and operations across DFB's family of companies. Earlier in his career, Marc worked for Procter & Gamble as a market analyst, Merck as a pharmaceutical representative, and as a clinical pharmacist in Ohio and Texas. A graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Clinical Pharmacy, Marc received his Master of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin.