Giaconda is an Australian biotechnology company headquartered in Sydney. The company was founded in 2004 to commercialise a number of drug combinations developed by Professor Thomas Borody, a Sydney-based gastroenterologist.
History
Giaconda was named after the Giaconda Winery, which is located nine kilometres south-west of Beechworth in the northeastern part of the Australian state of Victoria. That vineyard in turn derives its name from La Gioconda, which is a nickname for the Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci. Giaconda uses a stylised version of the Mona Lisa in its company logo.
Giaconda's CEO is Mr Patrick McLean, a Canadian who was previously senior vice-president European Commercial Operations of the Montreal-based Axcan Pharma. Giaconda was a public company whose stock was traded on the Australian Securities Exchange under the stock code GIA. The company completed an initial public offering in September 2005, issuing 12 million shares at 50 Australian cents each. Thomas Borody currently owns around 70% of the stock.
In August 2010 it sold the patents for Myoconda, Heliconda and Picoconda to RedHill Biopharma
The company went into voluntary administration in February 2011.