He received numerous awards and honors. Mr. Bock was selected as by the US Commission for UNESCO as the nominee representing the United States in the international competition for the 2011 Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science. He was a recipient of the Hoyt S. Vandenberg Prize from the Air Force Association for the best STEM Education Program and of the 2014 Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize of the Society of Developmental Biology. He was selected by Venture Capital Journal as one of the “Ten Most Influential Venture Capitalists,” by Red Herring as one of the “Top Ten Innovators,” by Forbes-Wolfe NanoReport as the “Number One Powerbroker in Nanotechnology,” by Ernst & Young as a Finalist for “Entrepreneur of the Year,” and by Small Times as “Innovator of the Year” and “Top 3 Business Leaders of the Year.” He received the Einstein Award by the Jerusalem Foundation for lifetime contributions in the field of life sciences. And he was one of a dozen individuals invited to the signing of the 3.7B 21st Century Nanotechnology Act by President George Bush in the Oval Office.
Mr. Bock was the Founder and Initial CEO of Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: NBIX– neuroimmunology), Nanosys Inc., Pharmacopeia (NASDAQ: PCOP -combinatorial chemistry (which spun off Accelrys (NASDAQ: ACCL – computer-aided-drug and material discovery)), GenPharm International (Private – transgenic animals, acquired by Medarex for 100M and also spun off Pharming Group N.V.), Caliper Technologies (NASDAQ: CALP – lab-on-a-chip and subsequently acquired by Perkin Elmer for $650 Million), Illumina Technologies (NASDAQ: ILMN – human genotyping), IDUN Pharmaceuticals (Private – apoptosis, acquired by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) for 250M)) Metra Biosystems (NASDAQ: MTRA – musculoskeletal disease diagnosis, merged with Quidel (NASDAQ: QDEL)), and FASTTRACK Systems (Private – accelerated clinical drug development). Mr. Bock was a co-founder of Argonaut Technologies (NASDAQ: AGNT – automated chemistry merged with Biotope (NASDAQ: BIOT)), ARIAD Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA – intra cellular signal transduction), Athena Neurosciences (NASDAQ: ATHN – molecular neurobiology, acquired by Elan Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: ELN) for 700M)), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX – rational drug design), and Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ONXX – molecular oncology).
He also helped found and was previously on the Scientific Advisory Board of Conforma Therapeutics (Private – cellular chaperones – acquired by Pfizer for 250M). Mr. Bock was a seed stage investor in Acceleron Pharma (Private – metabolic and musculoskeletal diseases), Aurora Biosciences (NASDAQ: ABSC – high throughput drug discovery, acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals for 650M), Cambrios (Priviae – biology directed electronic assembly), River Medical (Private – drug delivery, purchased IVAC from Eli Lily in an LBO and did a 700M merger with IMED to form Alaris Medical (NASDAQ: AMI – medical devices)), Genocea Biosciences (Private – vaccine development) Plexikon Pharmaceuticals (Private – scaffold based drug design which was acquired by Daiihi Sankyo for $800 M) Poland Partners (Private – a 62.5M venture capital fund investing in Central Europe), Sequana Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SQNA – genomics, merged with Arris Pharmaceuticals to form AXYS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AXPH) and subsequently acquired by Celera Genomics (NASDAQ: CRA)), Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (Private – gene regulation), Software Transformation (Private –object based software programming, acquired by Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) for 25M), Surface Logix (Private – nano- imprint lithography), and Talarian (NASDAQ: TALR – real time, high content information processing over distributed networks merged with TIBCO (NASDAQ: TIBX)). He was also on the Scientific Advisory Board of Protia L.L.C.
Larry was also an early stage venture investor in Biosym Technologies (Private –computer-aided-drug discovery – acquired by Corning (NYSE: GLW) for $250M. GenProbe (NASDAQ: GNPR – DNA diagnostics, acquired by Chugai Pharmaceuticals for 180M), Gensia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GNSA – cardiovascular drugs, merged with Sicor to become Gensia-Sicor and subsequently acquired by TEVA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TEVA)), IDEC Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IDEC – monoclonal antibody therapy, merged with Biogen to become Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB)), Oclassen Pharmaceuticals (Private – dermatology, acquired by Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) for 180M), and Viagene (Private – gene therapy, acquired by Chiron Corporation for 100M).
Mr. Bock was involved in several government agencies. He was a Member of the Advisory Board and the Technology Advisory Board of the NanoBusiness Alliance. He served as a Member of the Nanotechnology Technical Advisory Group (NTAG) reporting to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), a Member of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology formed by Congressman Mike Honda and California State Controller Steven Westly. He was on the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.
Larry and his wife, Diane, established the Larry and Diane Bock Chair in Nanotechnology at the University of California, Berkeley held by Dr. Paul Alivisatos. They also founded Community Cousins, a non-profit foundation focused on breaking down racial barriers, which was selected by former Vice President Al Gore as one of ten outstanding grass root efforts nationally.
He received his B.A. in Biochemistry (summa cum laude) from Bowdoin College and his M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA.
Larry’s accomplishments in life were a testament to his brilliance, passion, drive, and love. He was taken from us much too early. But the Science Festival will go on, combining his love of science, entrepreneurship, jovial spirit, sense of adventure and his fondest hopes and dreams as a Dad.
