James Gale
Founding Partner & Managing Director
James (Jim) Gale is the founding partner of Signet Healthcare Partners. Jim has over 30 years of healthcare investing and finance experience.
Jim is a Managing Director in Signet Fund IV and is currently the Chairman of the Board of Alpex Pharma S.A. and Teligent (NSDQ: TLGT, formerly IGI Laboratories), and also serves on the Board of Directors of Bionpharma Inc., Chr. Olesen Synthesis A/S, CoreRx Inc, and Spepharm AG. Prior portfolio company boards include Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Amarin Corporation, eResearch Technologies Inc., and Valera Pharmaceuticals.
Prior to founding Signet, Jim was head of principal investment activities and head of investment banking for Gruntal & Co., LLC. While at Gruntal, he made a number of investments including Andrx Corporation, Royce Laboratories (merged with Watson Pharmaceuticals), Lifecell Corporation, Neurocrine Biosciences, and BML Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Endo Pharmaceuticals).
Prior to joining Gruntal, he originated and managed private equity investments for the Home Insurance Co., Gruntal’s parent. Earlier in his career, Jim was a senior investment banker at E.F. Hutton & Co.
Jim received his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.
Ashley Friedman
Managing Director
Ashley Friedman has over 15 years of healthcare investing and finance experience. Throughout his career, he has focused on the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors.
Ashley joined Signet Healthcare Partners in 2014 and is currently a Managing Director in Signet Fund IV. Ashley focuses on pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostic investments. Ashley currently serves on the Board of TelaBio.
Prior to joining Signet, Ashley spent over 11 years, most recently as a Vice President, working for Investor Growth Capital (Investor AB), a venture capital firm focusing on private and public healthcare investments. While at Investor Growth Capital, Ashley was involved with several successful investments in the biotechnology, specialty pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. Prior portfolio companies include Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ: ACHN), Cayenne Medical (acquired by Zimmer Biomet), CHF Solutions (acquired by Gambro), and Corcept Therapeutics (NSDQ: CORT). Ashley began his career at Lehman Brothers as a healthcare investment banker.
Ashley holds a Bachelor of Science from Yale University in both Economics and Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology (MCDB) with a concentration in biotechnology.
Nikhil Puri
Managing Director
Nikhil Puri has over 20 years of experience serving the pharmaceutical industry. Nikhil has held senior positions within the pharma industry and as a healthcare investment banker.
Most recently prior to joining Signet as a Managing Director in Signet Fund IV, Nikhil was responsible for worldwide business development of the Global Established Pharmaceuticals ("GEP") business at Pfizer that encompasses a broad portfolio (annual revenues of c. $25 bn) of legacy brands, sterile injectables, generics and bio-similars. During his five-year tenure at Pfizer, a number of key inorganic growth initiatives were consummated for GEP including the acquisitions of Hospira, Innopharma and Nextwave Pharmaceuticals within the United States as well as several international transactions, including in Latin America, Japan and China. Nikhil was a member of both Pfizer's Business Development leadership team and the GEP leadership team and Investment Committee.
Prior to joining Pfizer, Nikhil spent 15 years as an investment banker in the United States and in Asia at firms including Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, predominantly focused on the pharmaceutical sector. During that time period he was involved in the consummation of over 50 capital raising and strategic advisory transactions with an aggregate value exceeding $20 bn for clients including Endo Pharmaceuticals, Valeant Pharmaceuticals and MedPointe.
Nikhil received his Masters of Business Administration from New York University. He has a bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Mumbai and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.