David Hung

Dr. David Hung, MD, founder, President and CEO of Medivation, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the rapid development of therapies to treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, was also named the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 National Overall Award winner.

Hung is known for his inspiring work creating Medivation, which identifies, in-licenses and develops visionary technology for life-threatening diseases, as well as the urgency with which he's tackling these illnesses. Medivation acquires early-development stage pharmaceuticals and medical devices that have promising clinical, intellectual property and commercial prospects, and then identifies and executes the strategic pathway that will allow the most rapid, efficient and effective development of these products.

A graduate of Harvard University and the University of California, San Francisco Medical School, Hung is a hematologist, oncologist and scientist. His early work with patients had a profound effect on him, and this experience made him understand that while he was passionate about treating patients as a doctor, he was limited in the number that he could reach. He felt compelled to help more. Hung realized he could affect millions of people by developing new, revolutionary technology, and with that goal in mind, he made the tough decision to leave academic medicine for industry.

His gamble was a success. He founded Medivation in 2003 with a $1 million bridge loan and took the company public through a reverse merger in 2004. Today the company is one of the biotech industry's greatest success stories. Additionally, Hung has richly rewarded those that invested in Medivation at its origin from its original capital raise in 2003, the share price has seen a 100 fold return for those investors.