Roche:Synosia Deal - Birth of an Innovative Business Strategy

Fintan Walton, CEO of PharmaVentures, talks to Tom Woiwode, VP Business Development & Strategy, Synosia Therapeutics about the unique business model behind the creation and launch of the company in January 2007 before the name change to Synosia. They discuss how Synosia have secured a five-product portfolio of potential CNS therapeutics from Roche's development pipeline and raised US$32 million in seed and series A financing. Tom outlines how Brad Bolzon, Managing Director of Versant Ventures (the founding investor in Synosia) and previously Executive VP, Global Head of Business Development, Licensing & Alliances with F. Hoffmann-La Roche, developed the ideas behind the creation of Synosia. Brad, also Chairman of the Board for Synosia, managed the creation of the firm from inception to launch. In this special interview, the company's business plan is reviewed, as is the firm's overall development going forward. This includes Synosia's intention to take some of their products all the way to launch by developing their own sales and marketing capabilities.

Tom Woiwode PhD

Vice President, Business Development & Strategy, Tom has an investment background in biotechnology, having joined Synosia from one of the founding investors, Versant Ventures. Tom spent four years with Versant, helping to inform investment decisions. Prior to Versant, he helped to develop and implement an innovative technology at Xenoport, a leading early-stage biotech company. The technology was focused on improving the gastrointestinal absorption of both small molecule and macromolecular therapeutics. He spearheaded the development of a powerful new high-throughput screening technology, which was subsequently patented and published, and patented new chemistries regarding the absorption of small molecules. Tom additionally focused on crafting Xenoport's early business development strategies, where he evaluated the technical feasibility and commercial impact of internal research programs.

Tom graduated from UC Berkeley summa cum laude with highest honours for his BA in English. He earned the Departmental Citation for his BSc in Chemistry and earned his PhD in Chemistry from Stanford University as an NSF fellow.