Case Study: Refreshing the SynDevRx Website

You could say the same thing about a lot of professions, but I’ll say it anyway: As a copywriter, the most challenging projects are often the most rewarding ones.

Yes, it’s satisfying when you nail a tagline or marketing email without breaking a sweat. On the other end of the spectrum are those projects that you toil over for months before everything finally comes together.

A recent website project fell into that latter category. Our friend Michael Flint from Metropolis Creative contacted us about a website they were building for a small biotechnology firm in Cambridge, Mass.

SynDevRx specializes in metabo-oncology, “an area of research focused on the connection between cancer and metabolic dysfunction (which is typical in overweight and obese people).” The firm’s lead compound, SDX-7320, “proposes to both treat the tumor directly and correct the underlying metabolic dysfunction — sort of a one-two punch to cancer.” SDX-7320 could one day transform treatment for the millions of people worldwide who have metabolically sensitive forms of cancer.

Tackling Complex Subject Matter

SynDevRx had been in stealth mode since its founding in 2007. But last year, leadership decided the time had come to communicate more effectively with its target audience of doctors, researchers, patients and patient advocates. A new website was priority #1.

The overriding goal of James Shanahan, SynDevRx co-founder, vice president of business development and director, was to convey the innovative science behind the company in a more accessible manner than had been done in the past. That would prove to be quite a challenge.

Over the course of several weeks, we met with many of the key players at SynDevRx, including the co-founder, clinical operations manager, director of process development, senior director of translational research and members of the scientific advisory board. You know, smart scientific folks.

As you’d expect, the website copy went through multiple revisions. It’s not easy to explain things like how a drug works or what polymer-drug conjugation is all about while balancing brevity with thoroughness. But we have lots of experience writing for biotech, pharmaceutical and medical clients, so we were prepared. And Metropolis Creative did a great job enhancing the presentation with the design and some key illustrations.

‘A Smart Decision’

The new SynDevRx site went live in June 2017, and Shanahan is pleased with the results.

“I went with The Hired Pens because I liked the quality of their work and that they seemed to inject a personal feeling in their writing,” he said. “I was very happy with the process — schedule, attention to the project, turnaround times on revisions — and with the final product.

“In the past, I’ve tried doing this sort of work on my own and on the cheap — it didn’t go well. Working with Dan and The Hired Pens was a smart decision from both a quality perspective and a productivity perspective. Knowing what I know now, I’d do it all again.”

Thanks, Jim. We appreciated the opportunity to work with such an amazing company.

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