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Prophets and presidents alike have implored their followers and supporters to give as they have been given to. Or, to provide opportunities through what they have earned. Those who’ve been given much have an obligation, or calling, to give that back. If not more.
Stella Robertson
Dr. Stella Robertson, co-founder and partner of Bios Partners in Fort Worth, has embodied that selflessness for over 10 years in practice, and significantly longer in person. She’s being honored as the recipient of the 2023 Fort Worth Inc. Supporter of Entrepreneurship award. This award is a part of Fort Worth Inc.’s annual Entrepreneur of Excellence awards program, which started in 2017.
Robertson is also a member of the board at TechFW, a local nonprofit incubator/accelerator that provides programs for startups and early stage companies. She is also a member of Cowtown Angels.
The Supporter of Entrepreneurship award is presented to an individual who has provided support and advancement to the entrepreneur community in the Greater Fort Worth area by helping entrepreneurs succeed through economic, academic, or business means. She’s receiving these accolades, in part, thanks to recognition among her peers and community members, as the Supporter of Entrepreneurship award is an open-nomination process along with Fort Worth Inc.’s Entrepreneur of Excellence honors.
“I am truly honored to be able to give back to the next generation and work with amazingly smart, driven, innovative researchers as they develop their ideas into new medicines and disease treatments,” Robertson says.
The Goucher College alumna completed her doctoral work at Johns Hopkins University. She earned her doctorate in biology and immunology, going into research and development roles, notably with Alcon Laboratories. As a vice president for R&D at Alcon, Robertson developed pharmaceutical ophthalmic products from research through formal development, seeing their progression through regulatory filings for registration in and outside of the U.S.
“I always wanted to help people,” she says. “In third grade I thought I would be a medical doctor and was set to train for that, but in college [Goucher College], I was advised that a PhD for teaching and research was a better ‘life balance’ path.”
And she did so successfully in Fort Worth at Alcon, retiring in 2009 after serving in another VP role to develop the medical information department at Alcon.
In short time, she took the first official steps in helping to provide the pathway for other entrepreneurs and startups to take their first official steps. Robertson established Arrochar Consulting in 2013 in an effort to help those early-stage emerging tech concepts “tighten up” their business models in preparation for success.
“Arrochar” by definition implies a tightening of the screws, and Robertson continues to operate her consulting company today. Arrochar specializes in due diligence and translational research, along with product development, for life sciences.
In 2015, she joined forces with Bios co-founders Les W. Kreis, Jr. and Aaron G.L. Fletcher to establish their company. Bios Partners is a Fort Worth-based private equity investment firm that mentors and invests in early biotech companies with life-giving technologies. Moreover, Bios focuses on identifying advanced biotech in overlooked and under-invested markets in the U.S. The Bios team, located off University Drive in Fort Worth, helps cultivate new pharmaceutical products and bring them to market.
The story of Encore Vision Inc.’s work in farsightedness is well-documented. Encore was a local Fort Worth company, originally founded by two Austin eye doctors to develop a treatment for presbyopia. Bill Burns, its CEO and an experienced marketing executive, raised funds from numerous investors, including the Cowtown Angels and the early Bios Partners. Les Kreis, Aaron Fletcher, and Robertson actively helped nurture the company.
In 2016, it sold to Novartis for $375 million in upfront payments plus undisclosed future milestones.
Spun off of that sale was Bios Partners.
With a strong belief in giving a lift to the brilliance and innovation stemming from STEM schooling, training, and innovation, Bios specifically is focusing on investing in opportunities semi-locally. The company’s targets are entrepreneurs who exude compelling science across the central U.S. that are often overlooked and undervalued.
Propelling products and success are nothing new to Robertson. And she’s done so at such a consistent pace throughout her career that accolades for her service are also common. At Alcon alone, Robertson helped bring 17 products to the ophthalmology market.
“It is really rewarding and exiting to see an entrepreneur grow his/her idea into a company,” she says. “Most of the successful pharmaceutical or biotech startups have entrepreneurs that acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses, build a team with members that complement their strengths, and develop close working relationships with their investors and potential strategic partners.”
A true pioneer leading other pioneers, she was the first woman with a Ph.D. hired in Alcon’s R&D department and the first to head a research group. As a senior scientist, Robertson founded the immunology and cell biology laboratory at Alcon in 1981, which developed some of the first human ocular cell lines used for eye drug discovery.
“My focus now is on giving back,” Robertson says. “I am also working to encourage students to stay in STEM education in high school and college and to expand and grow the translational research and entrepreneurial community in Fort Worth.”