Synergy Life Science Partners Closes $143M Debut Medical Device Fund

PORTOLA VALLEY, CA (January 8, 2008)...Synergy Life Science Partners, LP, a venture capital limited partnership focused on investments in emerging medical device technologies, today announced the successful completion of fundraising for its debut fund with an aggregate of $143 million in committed capital. The firm has closed on six investments to date.

Founded in 2006 by John Onopchenko, Richard Stack, M.D., and William Starling, Synergy invests directly in private, early-stage medical device firms or emerging companies that are developing disruptive technologies to address unmet or under-served human healthcare needs. Areas of therapeutic interest include cardiovascular disease, orthopedic and spinal diseases and injuries, metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity, neuro-mediated disorders, oncology and ophthalmic conditions.

“We’re excited about our fundraising accomplishments and our early portfolio,” said Onopchenko, a managing director of Synergy. “We’ve received a great deal of support from our new limited partners, who share our vision for building and accelerating the delivery of innovative medical products. Our goal is to help dramatically improve the standard of patient care in our therapeutic categories, while generating exceptional returns to the customers of and investors in our portfolio companies.”

For Synergy’s limited partners, the decision to participate has been based on a unique set of factors. “Synergy’s innovative strategy for medical device investing is an ideal fit for our portfolio,” said Tracy Harris, Director for Parish Capital Advisors, LLP. “We believe the unmatched industry expertise of the managing directors and the fund’s strategy of targeting early-stage companies in large therapeutic areas position Synergy to offer outsized returns for investors.”

Synergy intends to invest in early-stage companies in large therapeutic areas in both the medical device and the combination product sector. Synergy seeks companies with productive, domain-experienced leadership teams. Additionally, Synergy has the right to invest in companies initiated by Synecor, LLC, a medical device incubator co-founded by Stack and Starling.

Over the last 25 years, Synergy’s three principals have established themselves as successful, highly respected venture capital investors, inventors, entrepreneurs, and senior leaders in the healthcare industry.

Onopchenko has spent his entire 25-year career in the medical device field, including senior management positions at General Electric and Johnson & Johnson. Most recently, he was the lead medical device investor for Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, one of the largest corporate venture investors in the healthcare industry. Companies he has invested in and served as a director of include Volcano (NASDAQ: VOLC), Epicor, NuVasive (NASDAQ: NUVA), Vascular Control Systems, and Vivant Medical.

In addition to co-founding Synecor, Stack is a prolific educator, researcher, and inventor with 28 years experience as an international medical device thought leader. Formerly the head of interventional cardiology at Duke University Medical Center, he has authored 360 manuscripts, book chapters, and abstracts, been a principal or co-principal investigator for three National Institutes of Health grants, and received multiple research awards, including the International Award for Best Experimental Researcher in 1995 from Thoraxcenter, the Netherlands. He currently holds 70 worldwide patents and patents pending for a variety of vascular and therapeutic devices, many of which have been adopted worldwide.

Starling, also a Synecor co-founder, has spent 30 years in the medical device industry. He was a founding management team member for Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (acquired by Lilly/Guidant/Abbott), and was a co-founder, officer, and board member of Ventritex, Inc. (IPO in 1992, acquired by St. Jude Medical in 1997). In 1992, he was co- founder, chairman, and president and chief executive officer of Cardiac Pathways Corporation (IPO in 1996, acquired by Boston Scientific Corporation in 2001). Starling has been primarily responsible for raising more than $300 million in private and public capital for the companies that he has co-founded, which have combined annual revenues exceeding $2.75 billion.

About Synergy Life Science Partners
Founded in 2006 by John Onopchenko, Richard Stack, M.D., and William Starling, Synergy Life Science Partners, LP, is a venture capital fund based in Portola Valley, CA that invests directly in private, early-stage medical device firms or emerging companies that are developing breakthrough, disruptive technologies to address unmet or under- served human healthcare needs. For more information, call 650-854-9171 or visit (www.synergylsp.com)

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