Robert Capon was the co-founder and former CEO of Charlottesville-based Adenosine Therapeutics, one of the world’s leaders in adenosine drug discovery and development with a program in phase III clinical development and where Capon negotiated collaborations with Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, the University of Virginia, the University of Massachusetts and NIH. Adenosine Therapeutics was acquired in August 2008 by Clinical Data, Inc., where Capon served as the senior vice president of business development and where he was the architect of the transaction between Clinical Data and CombinatoRx, Santen Pharmaceuticals and Epix Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Capon is currently a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Virginia Darden Graduate School of Business Administration where he teaches “Transactions and Dealmaking in the Life Sciences.”

Capon is a seasoned entrepreneur and CEO, having been at the helm of four companies. He was a co-founder of ViroLogic, a pioneer in antiviral drug resistance testing that went public as a NASDAQ firm in May 2000. He also co-founded HJC Software, the makers of Virex, the first commercial antivirus software for the Macintosh personal computer. 

Capon served on Virginia Governor Mark Warner’s Biotechnology Commission and the Virginia Research and Technology Advisory Commission. He currently chairs the University of Virginia’s McCormick Observatory Advisory Board and is the immediate past president of the University of Virginia Hillel Foundation. He also serves on the boards of the Virginia Biotech Association and the Piedmont Virginia Educational Foundation. Capon received an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School and a BS in mechanical engineering with highest distinction from the University of Virginia.