A trusted industry expert, VonderBrink joined BLS in January 2000, bringing vast experience in clinical nutrition, pharmaceutical product development, sales, marketing and management.
BLS chairman and CEO Leo Zhang remembers VonderBrink for his admirable ability to speak about ribose in a way that created great discussions with scientists and PhDs, as well as non-technical people: “Tom was brought on to grow the ribose business,” he said. “He was able to take it from a great compound with good research to a multimillion dollar business and a diversified portfolio. He created and developed the Corvalen brand, which was later sold and still a viable brand today. He successfully managed the sale and transition of Bioenergy Life Science to the new ownership with Chengzhi Life Science.”
In the industry, Tom became synonymous with ribose. His enthusiasm for business was infectious with customers and employees.
“Tom was very passionate about his work and was a great storyteller, engaging everyone within hearing distance,” said director of marketing Penny Portner. “He shared his knowledge and insights with great detail and liveliness, whether it was about Bioenergy Ribose or a current event. But Tom’s greatest passion was for his family. Tom lit up whenever he talked about his grandkids.”
Prior to joining BLS, VonderBrink spent 25 years with the Novartis Corporation (formerly Sandoz), where he was a general manager of account management.
He began his career in the clinical nutrition division, then moved to the pharmaceutical division before retiring from that company in 1999.
Source: Bioenergy Life Science
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