Mike Clayman, MD

Mike Clayman, MD
Chief Executive Officer

Mike brings over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical development. Most recently, he was Vice President, Lilly Research Laboratories and General Manager of Chorus, Lilly's development accelerator.

During a long career at Lilly, Mike held a number of senior positions including Global Regulatory Affairs (where he managed seven global submissions), Cardiovascular Discovery Research and Clinical Investigation, Product Development and Technology at Advanced Cardiovascular Systems (a subsidiary of Eli Lilly), the Internal Medicine Division, and the Lilly Clinic (Eli Lilly's dedicated Phase I unit). He also served as Chair of Lilly's Bioethics Committee.

Mike received a BA, cum laude, from Yale University, and MD from the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine. Following internship and residency in internal medicine at the UC San Francisco Moffitt Hospitals, he completed clinical and research fellowships in nephrology at the University of Pennsylvania. He was appointed Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and is a recipient of the Physician Scientist Award from the National Institutes of Health.

Neil Bodick, MD PhD

Neil Bodick, MD PhD
Chief Medical Officer

Neil brings over 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical development to Flexion. He was the founder of Chorus, Lilly's early-phase development accelerator, where he served as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Operating Officer. At Chorus, he was also responsible for the de novo development of innovative information systems distributing the work of development through a global network of suppliers.

Previously at Lilly Research Laboratories, Neil was responsible for early phase clinical investigation (Candidate Selection through end of Phase II) with oversight across five therapeutic areas. His therapeutic focus is in Neuroscience and in his early years at Lilly, he led multiple clinical programs in the development of therapeutics for Alzheimer's and Psychosis.

Neil received an AB from Cornell University, PhD in Neuroscience from Columbia University, MD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and MBA from the Wharton School. Following internship in Neuropathology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Neil was appointed Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; he is a recipient of the Biomedical Research Service Award and the New Investigator Research Award from the National Institutes of Health.

Tom Woiwode, PhD

Tom Woiwode, PhD
Chief Business Officer

Tom is an entrepreneur, having joined Flexion from Synosia Therapeutics where he developed the business plan and licensing agreements critical to the formation of the company. Tom also collaborated in the formation of two other early-stage companies: Amira Pharmaceuticals, where he served as the acting Chief Business Officer, and Sentient Therapeutics, where he continues to serve on the Board of Directors.

Previously, Tom was a medicinal chemist at XenoPort developing methods to improve the gastrointestinal absorption of drug candidates. In this role, he led the design and deployment of a new high-throughput screening technology, which identifies pathways for transport of large-molecule therapeutics across the gastrointestinal barrier.

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

Christine Willwerth, BS

Christina Willwerth, BS
Vice President, Clinical Operations

Christina joined Flexion from Viacell, Inc where she held the post of Vice President, Product Development. She served as a member of the ViaCell's Executive Management team and had interdisciplinary program management responsibility for its cellular therapy and fertility preservation development programs.

During a 15-year career in pharmaceutical development, Christina previously served as Senior Director, Product Development at The Medicines Company where she focused on the clinical and product development of its cardiovascular therapy. She also held clinical operations positions with increasing responsibility at Astra Pharmaceuticals and Biopure Corporation.

Christina has a BS in Biology, with high distinction, from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Robert Blanks, MS,

Robert Blanks, MS
Vice President, Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control

Rob brings over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry in chemistry, manufacturing and control (CMC), quality and regulatory affairs. The majority of his experience has been with small biotechnology companies, where he played a critical role in developing companies' initial drug product candidates, including peptides, monoclonal antibodies and small molecules, from the pre-clinical stage through to commercial registration.

Most recently, he served at Idenix Pharmaceuticals, as Vice President of Quality, assisting with the approval and commercial launch of the company's first product, Tyzeka®. Prior to Idenix, Rob served as Vice President of Technical Operations for Trine Pharmaceuticals and in a similar position as Vice President of Technical Operations and Founder of Phaedrus Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career at GelTex Pharmaceuticals (purchased by Genzyme), Rob was a key participant in the development and registration of RenaGel® and WellChol®.

Rob holds a BS in Biology from Bowdoin College and a MS in Chemistry from Boston College. He is Regulatory Affairs Certified.

Lisa Davidson

Lisa Davidson
Vice President, Finance

Lisa has broad experience in corporate finance thanks to a 15-year career in treasury management, strategic planning, operations finance and controllership. Most recently, she was Director, Finance at OmniSonics Medical Technologies, Inc., a development stage Medical Device Company. Prior to that, she served in finance at Fisher Scientific International, Inc., Pepsi Bottling Group and PerkinElmer, Inc.

Lisa has been involved in a number of M&A transactions, venture and equity financing totaling $35M and numerous product launches.

Lisa received a BA and MBA from the University of New Hampshire.