Who we are - SYNVENTA

Executive team

Arthur Gomtsian, PhD - CEO and co-founder - 30+ years of R&D experience focused primarily in the pain and immunology arena in academia and at large biopharma. Prior to Synventa, Arthur was Senior Principal Investigator and the Volwiler Society Associate Fellow at Abbvie, where he was responsible for leading pain and immunology drug discovery efforts culminating in delivery of 3 drug candidates into clinical development.

Anton Bespalov, MD, DMedSci - acting CSO and co-founder - 25+ years of R&D experience in various areas of neuroscience drug discovery and development. Most recently, Anton was a head of pharmacology department at Abbvie's neuroscience discovery. Anton is currently a managing director and CSO at Exciva GmbH.

Scientific advisory board

Vladimir Gevorgyan, PhD - SAB member and co-founder - a Welch distinguished chair in chemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas and a professor at the department of biochemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Andrej A. Romanovsky, MD, PhD - SAB member - former professor at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Dignity Health (Phoenix, AZ); co-founder and director at Catalina Pharma Inc. and Zharko Pharma Inc.

Frank Porreca, PhD – SAB member – Professor of Pharmacology and Anesthesiology at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He also holds an appointment as a Senior Consultant in the Department of Collaborative Research at Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ. He is one of the 10 most cited pharmacologists in the world by the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Todd Vanderah, PhD – SAB member – Regents Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacology and is a Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Anesthesiology, Departments of Neurology and Anesthesiology, University of Arizona in Tucson. He is also a Director of the Comprehensive Center for pain and addiction.