By Emma Gallegos
The Daily Journal
A personal tragedy prompted John Petrovich to leave big law for the biotech sector. Now general counsel of the nonprofit Alfred Mann Foundation, Petrovich says he couldn't be happier with his choice.
Before a career detour into biotechnology, John Petrovich hadn't taken so much as a high school chemistry class.
Petrovich started out working at big firms, including Morrison & Foerster, doing legal work in the communications and media sector. But his late wife's cancer prompted him to seek more flexible hours.
He started as a biotech lawyer, then his finance degree eased him into the CEO seat at two start-ups, Insert Therapeutics and Calando Pharmaceuticals, companies that parlayed cutting-edge cancer research developed at Caltech into human clinical trials. The start-ups didn't survive the recession, but Petrovich was eager to stay in the biotech industry.
In March, he was hired as general counsel of the Alfred Mann Foundation. The nonprofit medical-research foundation based in the hills of Santa Clarita is part of a larger family of companies created by billionaire Alfred Mann, who made his fortune in the aerospace and medical-technology industries. The foundation has long had an interest in translating university research into market-ready medical devices, from the modern-day cardiac pacemaker in the late '60s to pending $100 million development of wireless prosthetics using military technologies.