Nick Pliam
M.D., Ph.D.
Venture Partner
Dr. Nick Pliam is a venture partner at Decheng Capital. He has been with the firm and Bay City Capital since 2005, and focuses on evaluating investment opportunities. Dr. Pliam is trained as a cell biologist and orthopedic surgeon, and has worked within, and as an advisor to, biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies. He is a founder of Guided Delivery Systems, a medical device company developing a minimally invasive technology for treatment of mitral valve regurgitation, and a founder of Pharmagenesis, a natural products pharmaceutical company. As an independent consultant and as managing director of a boutique investment banking firm, he has advised life science companies and investors (including Biomet, Devax, Hanwha Pharmaceutical, Marubeni Group, Micrus Endovascular, and Triage Medical) on financing transactions and strategy. He is an inventor with patents in medical devices and biopharmaceuticals. Dr. Pliam serves on the boards of directors of Aragon Surgical and Nevro Corporation. He holds an MD from Dartmouth Medical School and a PhD in Endocrine Physiology from the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Pliam completed his surgical training at UCSF and Stanford University. He completed his undergraduate degree in German literature from the University of California, Berkeley, and studied at Georg August Universitaet in Goettingen.