Insights, Networks, and Deal Expertise

Rahul Chaudhary is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Equity Capital Markets at Leerink Partners. He is responsible for the origination and execution of all varieties of public and private equity offerings, including IPOs, follow-ons and private investments in public equity. Since joining the Firm, Mr. Chaudhary has led more than 500 book run offerings, including more than 150 IPOs.

Prior to joining the Firm in 2009, Mr. Chaudhary was responsible for the origination and execution of healthcare equity and equity-linked transactions on the ECM team at Merrill Lynch. He began his career at Merrill Lynch in 2004 in the investment banking group, centered on the consumer sector, where he worked on a variety of equity, debt and M&A assignments.

Mr. Chaudhary earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Illinois.

Jack Bannister is a Senior Managing Director on the Equity Capital Markets team at Leerink Partners. He partners with healthcare and life sciences companies to raise capital and position them for success in the public markets.

Prior to joining the Firm in 2021, Mr. Bannister served as Vice President of the Healthcare Equity Capital Markets team at Goldman Sachs. He began his career as an Equity Analyst with T. Rowe Price in Baltimore.

Mr. Bannister earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

Patrick Morley is a Senior Managing Director in Leerink Partners’ Equity Capital Markets group, advising private and public healthcare companies on the optimal strategy and tactics to achieve their financing goals. He joined the Firm in 2011 as a member of the Healthcare Investment Banking group before transitioning to his current role.

He earned bachelor’s degrees in Industrial Engineering and Finance from Lehigh University, and is a CFA charterholder.

Prasanth “Burri” Rao-Kathi is a Senior Managing Director at Leerink Partners and leads the Firm’s Convertibles business.

Prior to joining the Firm in 2016, he was the Head of Equity-Linked (Convertibles) Origination in the Equity Capital Markets group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Mr. Rao-kathi joined the ECM group at Merrill Lynch in 1999 and worked on a number of Merrill Lynch’s landmark convertible innovations over the last 15 years including: Contingent Conversion, Contingent Payment, Bond Hedges, HiPrs, Collateralization, Simultaneous Bond and Stock Repurchases, and Prepaid Forwards in conjunction with new issues. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, he worked in Fixed Income Swaps Marketing and Trading and Corporate Finance / Mergers and Acquisitions at J.P. Morgan.

Mr. Rao-Kathi earned degrees in Finance and International Business with a minor in English from Georgetown University (Magna Cum Laude) and his MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Richard Mei is a Senior Managing Director at Leerink Partners focused on Debt Capital Markets.

Prior to joining the Firm in 2018, Mr. Mei was a member of the corporate finance team at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. He has over 16 years of experience advising companies on convertible financing, equity derivatives, and liability management. Prior to Regeneron, he spent over a decade at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in various investment banking and capital markets roles.

Mr. Mei earned a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from New York University.

Peter M. Fry is a Senior Managing Director at Leerink Partners leading our Alternative Equities business. He has over 25 years of experience on both sell-side & buy-side and has built one of the market-leading franchises in At-The-Market (ATM) offerings.

Prior to joining the Firm in 2020, Mr. Fry was a Managing Director and Head of Alternative Equities at H.C. Wainwright & Co. He held similar leadership roles at Guggenheim Securities and Burrill & Company. Earlier in his career, he spent eight years as Senior Investment Officer at Kingsbridge Capital and was a Senior Healthcare Banker and Head of Public/Private Placements at Investec Inc. and RBC Capital Markets.

Mr. Fry earned a B.A. in Economics and Finance from Bucknell University.

Seth M. Christian is a Senior Managing Director at Leerink Partners leading trading for our Alternative Equities business. He has over 20 years of buy-side experience and has leveraged his healthcare fund expertise to maximize trading opportunities for one of the top franchises in At-The-Market (ATM) offerings.

Prior to joining the Firm in 2020, Mr. Christian was a Managing Director and Head of Trading and Capital Markets at Broadfin Capital. He had a similar role and was on the launch team at the healthcare-focused fund, March Altus Capital. Earlier in his career, Mr. Christian held trading roles at Angel Lane Principal Strategy, Catapult/Millenium Partners and Sapphire Capital.

Mr. Christian earned a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University.