What was once Adeona Pharmaceuticals (and before that Pipex) is now
Synthetic Biologics after the Ann Arbor-based pharmaceutical company executed a rebranding effort earlier this year.
The 9-year-old company's new CEO, Jeff Riley, says the new name is thanks to a recent investment by
R.J. Kirk, whom Riley describes as a "very successful" angel investor in bio-tech and pharmaceutical start-ups. "We immediately received a rise in our share price because of the our association with Mr. Kirk," Riley says.
Synthetic Biologics specializes in drugs that address problems in the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's. Last year it received a $409,426 grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to further the development of its drug Trimesta. Synthetic Biologics commonly licenses these drugs at the clinical stage to large pharmaceutical companies.
"There are a lot of very solid product," Riley says. "The problem is they are 1-2 years away from clinical information."
He expects Synthetic Biologics to continue development of its portfolio and add a few drugs on top of it. "I would like to have a full pipeline of products (a year from now)," Riley says.
Synthetic Biologics is currently comprised of a dozen employees. Riley expects to grow that staff to 20 people as the company grows. "Going forward we will probably add some more folks," Riley says.
Source: Jeff Riley, CEO of Synthetic Biologics
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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