Michael F. Bigham is a founder and managing director of Firebrand River Capital since 2022. He served as CEO of Paratek Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biotechnology company, from 2014 to 2019 and served as executive chairman of the board of directors from 2019 to 2023. Prior to joining Paratek, he was a general partner of Abingworth LLP, a leading international life sciences investment group. Bigham was also formerly vice chairman of Corixa Corp., a publicly traded biotechnology company, and president and chief executive of Coulter Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded oncology company, until it merged into Corixa. He was an early employee at Gilead Sciences, where he served in various capacities including executive vice president of operations and chief financial officer. Before joining Gilead Sciences, Mr. Bigham was a Partner at Hambrecht & Quist where he became Co-Head of Healthcare Investment Banking.

Mr. Bigham received his bachelor’s degree in commerce with distinction from the University of Virginia and qualified as a CPA before completing his MBA at Stanford University.