In addition to high-profile sales of New River Pharmaceuticals, and Clinical Data, Kirk founded investment firm Third Security, and has held board seats with biotech companies, such as Scios.
[9] The son of a U.S. Air Force master sergeant,[10] Kirk and his family moved from California to Texas before settling in Virginia and Florida.
[5] Following high school, Kirk worked selling cars and motorcycles, and enrolled part-time at Radford University to study business.
[7][9][2] In 1983, he partnered with Bland County pharmacist John Gregory to found the next-day pharmaceutical distributor General Injectables and Vaccines.
[7][15] In 1999, Kirk founded the life-sciences investment firm Third Security, LLC, where he is senior managing director, CEO and chairman.
[18][19] Kirk also became the majority stock holder and chairman of Newton, Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company Clinical Data, Inc.
[29] Other projects of Kirk's companies include creating cancer treatments, gasoline substitutes, crop protection, and improving bovine genetics.
[34] He has spoken at the SynBioBeta Conference,[32] BioFlorida,[35] Klick Ideas Exchange[36] and was a Borlaug Dialogue Speaker at the World Food Prize.