Ernest Mario, Pappas partner who steered Alza into J&J deal, passes away

Pappas Ventures announced the passing of Senior Venture Partner Ernest Mario, a longtime biopharma executive who led and invested in biopharmas across several decades. He was 86.

Mario may have been best known for guiding delivery company Alza Corp. through its $12.3 billion acquisition by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in 2001, a deal that was among the largest in pharma history when it took place. Before joining Alza in 1993, he had been CEO of Glaxo plc, now GSK plc (LSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK), for nearly four years...