2010 Speakers

As Vice President, Strategic Relationships for the BC Cancer Agency, Dr. Abraham works with industry and academia to establish partnerships and development strategies to promote and implement the BC Cancer Agency’s mandate.

Dr. Abraham received his PhD in Genetics from the University of British Columbia in 1995 and joined Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals as a senior scientist in 1996; he later became Project Leader for the Transplant program, as well as Division Leader for Cell and Molecular Biology. Dr. Abraham became a Scientific Analyst at the Technology Development Office (TDO) of the BC Cancer Agency in 2000 and served as Director of the TDO from 2002 - 2007. He was appointed Vice President, Strategic Relationships for the BC Cancer Agency in December, 2007. Dr. Abraham serves on the Canadian Institute of Health Research’s Proof of Principle Review team and is a member of the Board of Directors of Westlink Innovations Network, an organization formed to facilitate communication, collaboration and technology development and commercialization in Western Canada.

Paul Barran is an Industrial Technology Advisor (ITA) with the NRC Industrial research Assistance Program (IRAP), a position he has held since 2001. IRAP provides financial, technical, and business assistance to small and medium sized companies, and Dr. Barran specializes in assistance to biotechnology clients.

Paul Barran is the former Program Head of the Biotechnology Program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (1988-2003). The BCIT Biotechnology Program is a unique program specially designed to meet the needs of the biotechnology industry. Dr. Barran was instrumental in the development of the original BCIT Diploma program and has championed the development of the new Joint UBC/BCIT Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology.

Dr. Barran is also the author of the highly successful “Introduction to the Science of Biotechnology” course. He is a former Director of the BC Biotechnology Alliance, and the Biotechnology Human Resources Council, and remains an active member of the BC biotechnology community.

Dr. Barran holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of British Columbia, and B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Biology from the University of Waterloo.

Dr. Barran was the recipient of the 1999 BC Biotech Award for “Community Involvement and Enhancement”.

Prior to joining The Pfizer Incubator, Dr. Benedyk was Vice President of Business Development at Ascenta Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing pro-apoptotic small molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer. There he led contract and licensing negotiations for Ascenta, and was part of the executive team that secured $50 million for Ascenta's Series C financing.

Before coming to Ascenta, Dr. Benedyk was Vice President of Business Development and Director of Optimer Biotechnology, an international biotechnology subsidiary of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, with operations in the U.S., Singapore and Taiwan. At Optimer he led business development activities for Optimer Biotechnology in Singapore, and was part of the executive team that raised $22 million for the Series C&D financing rounds for Optimer prior to its successful IPO in February of 2007.

Previously, Dr. Benedyk has held business development positions at rila bioconsulting, Farmal Biomedicines, Aurora Biosciences (now Vertex Pharmaceuticals), lan Pharmaceuticals, and Argonex Corporation. During his tenure in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, Dr. Benedyk has personally led transactions worth over $300 million and participated in over $500 million worth of product licensing, corporate acquisition and fundraising transactions. Dr. Benedyk received his Ph.D. in Genetics and Developmental Biology from The Rockefeller University, where he was a Lucille P. Markey Graduate Fellow. He received his B.S. in Microbiology and Botany from the University of Michigan.

Dr Björsne graduated at the University of Lund in 1989 and took his post graduate studies at Stockholm University where he did his PhD on Medicinal Chemistry targeting the HIV protease enzyme. Dr Björsne joined Astra Hassle in 1995 and worked in the area of atrial fibrilation. From his period in this field Dr. Björsne is the inventor of a series of compounds which have advanced to phase 2 clinical trials. After holding a series of managerial positions within the Cardiovascular Discovery Research Management, Dr Björsne received his current position within Strategic Planning & Business Development in 2006. In parallel to his scientific career, Dr Björsne joined the executive MBA program at Henley Management College 2005. Dr Björsne today works as Business Development Director and is also heading the Preclinical Business Development unit within the Cardiovascular and Gastrointestinal unit of AstraZeneca.

Ken is a seasoned health and pharmaceutical industry professional. His career has spanned biotechnology, retail pharmacy and pharmaceuticals, at a senior management level.

As President of Innovotech Inc. Ken played a key role in transitioning the company from a spin-off of the University of Calgary, through an IPO and into commercial viability. Prior to Innovotech, he was a senior manager with GlaxoSmithKline as part of a strategic marketing group. At McKesson Inc, Ken was Sales & Marketing Manager for Western Canada. At Canada Safeway, Ken had operational responsibility for a retail pharmacy division.

He holds a Bachelors degree in Pharmacy from the University of Alberta and an MBA from the University of Calgary.

Peter Brenders joined BIOTECanada in February 2005. Previously, he was the Health Affairs Executive at Genzyme Canada. Prior to Genzyme, Mr. Brenders was the Vice President of Market Access and Health Economics for Schering Canada Inc. where he was responsible for the company’s external and government relations. Mr. Brenders has also worked in the Ontario Ministry of Health and in the health consulting practice at KPMG.

While at Genzyme, Mr. Brenders served Chair of the BIOTECanada Health Policy Committee and sat as a member of the association’s Government Relations Committee. He is currently a Director of the DeGroote School of Business Alumni, McMaster University and has served as a Board member and Treasurer of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario Foundation, has contributed to the Canadian College of Health Services Executives and served as Chair of the Toronto Chapter Executive.

Mr. Brenders has conducted several lectures and presentations to foreign delegations from Europe and Asia, and to graduate and undergraduate classes at the University of Toronto and McMaster University. He received his MBA, in Health Services Management from McMaster University. Prior to his brief work in basic research at the Robarts Research Institute, he received his Honours BSc in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Western Ontario.

Jeffrey P. Brennan joined Targacept in September, 2003, as Vice President of Business and Commercial Development. Mr. Brennan has more than 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, and has held senior management positions at Bock Pharmacal Company, and, most recently, Sanofi-Synthelabo, Inc., from 1996-2003.

Throughout his career, Mr. Brennan has demonstrated success in both strategic development and key operations roles. He has developed and expanded the capability and capacity of sales and marketing teams, strategic market research and business analysis divisions, product life cycle management and business development departments.

Mr. Brennan has completed over 30 business development deals and has been involved in more than 25 product launches in his career. As a member of Sanofi’s Executive Management team, he played an instrumental role in helping the company achieve a nearly 10-fold increase in sales, profits, sales force and headquarter expansion over the past six years.

Mr. Brennan received a B.S. in Marketing from Central Connecticut University. He has been a member of the Licensing Executive Society (LES) since 1991 and is a former Board member of the Health Care Committee for the LES. He is currently a member of the American Marketing Association.

In his role as Targacept’s Vice-President of Business and Commercial Development, Mr. Brennan is a member of Targacept’s Executive Committee.

Jeff invests across the spectrum of healthcare companies. Jeff is currently a Board observer at Horizon Therapeutics, Sonexa Therapeutics, and Zogenix, and was actively involved with Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OREX). He volunteers as an adviser to women-led entrepreneurial teams in the Astia Network.

Jeff joined Scale Venture Partners as a Kauffman Fellow in 2006. Previously, he was CBO & CFO for Vela Pharmaceuticals. Earlier, Jeff ran corporate development for WIDCOMM, a software company. Jeff also served as a healthcare research analyst for Hambrecht & Quist. He began his business career as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company, advising major pharmaceutical companies on strategic issues.

Jeff graduated Phi Beta Kappa in Biology from Harvard College and earned an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed medical internship and psychiatry residency, and was awarded a neuropharmacology fellowship at UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute. A Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, he speaks six languages.

Mr. Scott Cormack is the founding President and CEO of OncoGenex Technologies Inc. He has over two decades of diverse experience in the biotechnology industry in executive management, research and development, regulatory affairs, business development, operations, sales and marketing and corporate finance. At Vetrepharm Research (now Bioniche Life Sciences), Mr. Cormack successfully led the development of the company's immunotherapeutic from the laboratory bench through preclinical development and into clinical trials in oncology. This technology was also successfully applied to vaccines as an adjuvant, and as an immunotherapy for viral diseases and oncology in veterinary indications which was approved for marketing in multiple countries. Mr. Cormack subsequently expanded his business development and operational skills, initially as Business Development and then as Chief Operating Officer of NeuroSpheres, Inc. Immediately prior to joining OncoGenex, Mr. Cormack served as the Vice President, Western Region for Milestone Medica Corporation, where he was responsible for managing the western operations of the seed-capital investment fund. Under his tenure, Milestone Medica co-founded and funded start-up companies in Western Canada.

Mr. Cormack became full-time President and CEO of OncoGenex Technologies Inc. in January, 2002. He has led OncoGenex through significant corporate milestones including serial rounds of private financing; leading the corporation through transition from pre-clinical through completion of multiple phase 2 clinical trials leading to planned supportive registration trials in 2009; and, building a robust pipeline of product candidates.

Ms. Dakers is a leading figure in the Canadian biotechnology industry and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD). CDRD was set up to address the commercialization gap between early-stage technologies arising out of university based research and investment opportunities. Ms. Dakers brings to CDRD many valuable years of experience in the commercialization of technology, licensing and intellectual property protection. Previously, Ms. Dakers was President & CEO of Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company developing drugs for chronic pain, anxiety, epilepsy and cardiovascular diseases. Prior to co-founding Neuromed, Ms. Dakers was a senior manager for life sciences technology transfer at the University Industry Liaison Office (UILO) at the University of British Columbia. In this capacity, she was involved in the creation and spin-off of more than a dozen start-up high-tech and biotech companies.

Ms. Dakers is currently a board member for the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Genome BC, Genome Canada, and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Ms. Dakers is also an Adjunct Professor in UBC’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a member of the Council of Canadian Academies’ Expert Panel on Business Innovation. Ms. Dakers was recently a recipient of BIOTECanada’s Gold Leaf award for Industry Leadership.

Dr. Jane Devereux is a Senior Director at Merck & Co., Inc with responsibility for the licensing of clinical and preclinical drug candidates in all of the neuroscience area, as well as basic research and technology deals. She has extensive experience in deal negotiation and innovative deal structure. Projects have included all types of drug candidates including NCEs, biologicals as well as vaccines. Jane joined Merck in 1996 as Director, Business Strategy and joined the Corporate Licensing Group in 1998. Prior to Merck, Jane was a consultant for seven years specializing in pharmaceutical strategy and mergers and acquisitions for PA Consulting Group in the UK and US. Previously, she worked for Glaxo Group Research and is a registered pharmacist in the UK. She obtained her first degree from University of Nottingham and her Ph.D. from University of London.

John Dunn is an Executive Vice President of Biogen Idec and heads the company's internal corporate venture group. Biogen Idec New Ventures was formed to make equity investments in emerging biotech companies developing products and technologies of strategic interest to Biogen Idec. The corporate allocation to this initiative is now $200 million. Mr. Dunn was previously Senior Vice President and General Counsel of IDEC Pharmaceuticals. He led IDEC’s legal department and served as a member of the company’s senior management team. Prior to joining IDEC, Mr. Dunn had been a partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and co-leader of the firm’s Biotech, Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Industry Team

Karimah Es Sabar has had a dynamic career in life sciences globally since 1982, having business associations in 60+ countries. She has held senior positions with multinational companies, most notably sanofi-pasteur, and more recently was COO of a Vancouver medical device company. Ms. Es Sabar was also the founder of a leading healthcare organization in Kenya specializing in pharmaceutical marketing, distribution and consulting services. Since 2005, Ms. Es Sabar has led LifeSciences BC to its greatest levels of success. As a primary spokesperson for the life sciences industry in British Columbia, she represents the industry in public policy discussions, and parlays her global expertise into strong international marketing, partnering and investment attraction efforts on behalf of the industry. Ms. Es Sabar holds an Honours BSc. in Biochemistry/Chemistry from the University of Salford, England, and an MSc. in Neurochemistry from the University of London.

Mr. Fairey is a partner in the Gowlings Business Law Group in Vancouver. He brings a broad range of experience in corporate/commercial transactions, as well as a general knowledge of tax, securities, trusts, and immigration law, to his other areas of practice on behalf of clients in the P3, life sciences, entertainment, publishing and alternative energy industries and as such is a member of a number of the firm's practice groups. He enjoys working with clients from around the world, including China, in particular.

Mr. Fairey is a past Director and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia and a past Governor of the Law Foundation of British Columbia.

Mr. Fairey provides pro bono legal services to certain not for profit law and supervises UBC Pro Bono Students and Canada Business Law Project. Mr. Fairey is a regular instructor on business law subjects.

Max Fehlmann has over 25 years of R&D management and business development experience gained within public research organizations and several biopharmaceutical companies. With a doctorate in Biochemistry from Université Laval, a doctorate in Pharmacology from the Université de Nice and an executive MBA from the Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Dr. Fehlmann began his career in research at the INSERM in France as the head of an immunology research unit and then went on to create a federal research institute within the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Nice. Following a sabbatical year at Harvard, Dr. Fehlmann left the INSERM to establish Aster, a biotechnology company specialized in reproductive immunology and biology. He was simultaneously appointed a professor at the Faculty of Science in Nice to oversee the senior professional diploma in pharmacology. In 1996, Zambon Group (Milan, Italy) bought Aster and appointed Dr. Fehlmann Vice-President of R&D for Zambon Group with responsibility for all research activities in Italy, Switzerland, the United States and France. In 2003, he was appointed President and CEO of Chronogen in Montreal. Since March 2008, Max Fehlmann has been mandated to create and lead the CQDM, an industrial consortium that brings together all of Québec's stakeholders in drug research.

Peter Guo is a partner in the Advisory Services practice. He specializes in integrated risk and performance management, and bridges the practice areas of performance improvement, IT effectiveness and risk and regulatory services.

He has a particular emphasis on IT risk management. Peter has a leadership role in the Vancouver office for the development and delivery of services related to Sarbanes-Oxley and Bill 198. He currently leads and delivers large regulatory-driven assignments by applying project management principles through all aspects of business process and IT controls certification. He has performed a number of reviews for multinational clients in a variety of industries.

Peter qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1997, a Certified Information Systems Auditor in 1999 and an Associate Business Continuity Planner in 2002. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree and an MBA from the University of Toronto and joined the firm in 1997. An active volunteer in his community, Peter regularly speaks to high school and university students on the challenges and opportunities of being a Chartered Accountant. He has presented on numerous business and information systems topics at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels, as well as to professional and business groups.

Eric is Executive Director, Strategic Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Based in Princeton, NJ, he is responsible for evaluation and diligence of licensing and M&A opportunities.

Eric received his Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics at Harvard Medical School. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard, he joined Bristol-Myers Squibb. Prior to joining the Strategic Transactions Group, he headed the department responsible for planning and management of development projects within the BMS Pharmaceutical Research and Development organization.

Dr. Han established Proteogen, after his retirement from Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnoloogy (KRIBB), where he is continuing his R&D work and business development for cutting-edge technology in protein microarray and its application for bio-marker assays and new lead screening.

He is now Research Scientist Emeritus of KRIBB and also Honorary President of Korea BioVenture Association (KoBioVen), for which Dr. Han has served for 2 years as the President. He was also the first president of KRIBB since he established the institute in 1985. He is a Fellow Member of Korea Academy of Science and Technology.

Dr. Han received his B.S. and M.S. degree in Biology from Seoul National University and Ph.D. in Biology from Florida State University, Florida, USA.  He has conducted basic research in enzyme and protein chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and also at the EnzymeResearch Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, before joining KIST as Head of Applied Biochemistry Laboratory in 1974.

He has taken his initiatives for the promotion of biotechnology and genetic engineering in Korea and served for many national committees and organizations of S&T policies and R&D planning in biotechnology as a member or Chairman.

Dr. Han has also contributed for many academic societies as President of Korea Society of Biochemistry, Korea BRM Society, and Korea Society of Bioinformatics. He has published more than 140 papers and 40 patents in the fields of biotechnology, genetic engineering and protein chip.

Dr. Han has broad experience in commercialisation of biotechnology products such as high fructose corn syrup, rifamycin B(anti-tuberclosis agent), and ice nucleating protein as an artificial snow maker.

For his S&T contribution for the promotion of biotechnology in Korea, Dr. Han has received many metals and awards, including the Presidential Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in 1998.

Soren Harbel represents Life Sciences British Columbia, Canada and is the newly appointed Life Sciences Ambassador to Medicon Valley, the Scandinavian Life Science hub that covers southern Sweden and Denmark. Located in Copenhagen, Soren is part of the exchange of 'Ambassadors' between leading clusters in Life Science around the world. An initiative created by Medicon Valley Alliance to grow collaboration between life sciences institutions, researchers and companies in the world's leading life science clusters.

Prior to joining Life Sciences British Columbia, Soren was the acting CEO of the BC Innovation Council, a British Columbia Government Crown Agency, responsible for growing the knowledge economy in British Columbia, the north end of the strong Pacific Region, which runs from San Diego through San Francisco north to Seattle and Vancouver.

Prior to joining the public service in 2001, Soren Harbel spent more than 20 years in the private sector, focused on business development, project finance and strategic and business planning with primary focus on the environmental sector. He initially joined the Ontario Public Service, where he led the Province’s investment attraction efforts in Asia and Europe. In 2004, he became Assistant Deputy Minister with the Ministry of Economic Development in British Columbia, responsible for international marketing, investment and trade.

Mr. Harbel was born in Denmark, educated in Europe and Canada. He worked in Europe and Asia before moving to Canada in 1986.

Mr. Hastings brings more than 20 years of experience as a biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry executive. He has served as President and CEO of OncoMed Pharmaceuticals since January 2006. Prior to joining OncoMed, Mr. Hastings was President and Chief Executive Officer of QLT, Inc. Previous to that, Mr. Hastings served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Axys Pharmacuticals, which was acquired by Celera Corporation in 2001. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Hastings served as the President of Chiron BioPharmaceuticals, a division of Chiron Corporation. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of LXR Biotechnology. Mr. Hastings also held a series of management positions of increasing responsibility at Genzyme Corporation, including serving as President of Genzyme Therapeutics Europe as well as President of Worldwide Therapeutics. Mr. Hastings also served as Vice President, Marketing and Sales and General Manager, Europe for Synergen, Inc., and previously held a series of marketing and sales management positions with Hoffmann-La Roche. Mr. Hastings currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Proteolix, and also serves on the board of directors of Cerimon Pharmaceuticals. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island.

James Hatton is a commercial solicitor with more than 20 years experience in assisting companies to exploit the value of their intellectual property assets, focusing on licensing and related transactions.

James is the partner responsible for the Technology Group at Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP, the law firm frequently identified by Lexpert magazine as the top corporate law firm and the top litigation firm in Vancouver, British Columbia.

James is listed as a leading practitioner in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, consistently recommended in the fields of biotechnology or technology.

James takes particular interest in collaborations between life sciences research companies and pharmaceutical companies. Recent transactions of note include the Merck Cardiome alliance, and the Lilly United Therapeutics alliance, which was the Licensing Executives Society's Health Care Sector's "Deal of Distinction" for 2009.

James is a member of the Business Advisory Committee of PrioNet Canada, a Network of Centres of Excellence for research into prions and prion diseases.

James is a member of the Board of Governors of Royal Roads University, a university based in Victoria, British Columbia offering undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs in applied and professional fields, and a director of the Central City Foundation, one of Vancouver's oldest charitable organizations, established in 1907 by a group of citizens concerned about the number of homeless and hungry people living in the Gastown area of Vancouver.

James is an occasional lecturer and author on intellectual property issues, most recently moderating the Canada Leadership panel at BioPartnering North America on February 9, 2009, and presenting Making a great deal: ingredients for success (pdf), presented at BioPartnering North America in February, 2008, Trends in Life Sciences Alliance Agreements (pps), presented to the Licensing Executives Society International (USA and Canada) 2007 Annual Meeting, and Trends in life sciences licensing for 2007 (pps), presented to the Licensing Executives Society, Vancouver chapter, in March, 2007.

James is a member of the International Bar Association Committee R (Technology), Licensing Executives Society, International Technology Law Association, Association of University Technology Managers, Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, International Trademark Association, the Patent and Trademark Association of British Columbia and related organizations.

James is a former member of the Governing Council of the National Research Council of Canada, the government of Canada's premier research, development and innovation organization, which leverages Canada's public and private science and technology infrastructure for the benefit of Canadians.

James was the President of The Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society for six years, and remains an honorary life director of that organization. He is also a former member of the Judicial Advisory Committee for British Columbia, responsible for assessing candidates from British Columbia for appointment as superior court judges.

Ian Heine is a partner in the Tax Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP working in the Vancouver office. As part of the Corporate Tax team, he works with clients in our Technology, Information, Communication and Entertainment industry group and serves as the Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences industry leader for British Columbia. He is also part of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ CleanTech network.

Ian assists entrepreneurial public and private companies with their tax consulting and compliance needs. He has assisted a variety of clients with:

• Corporate reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions, liquidations, public offerings, debt financing and restructuring, venture financing and other financing arrangements
• Equity-based compensation planning, including devising employee stock option plans and planning for founding and employee shareholders
• Implementing tax-efficient corporate structures to facilitate global expansion
• Transactions involving intellectual property such as transfers, dispositions, migrations and acquisitions
• Managing compliance requirements including foreign reporting and scientific research and experimental development claims

Recently, Ian led an engagement where PwC was a tax advisor for a publicly listed ‘cleantech’ client undergoing a ‘reverse take over’ transaction. This involved working closely with post-transaction senior management and legal teams to resolve various tax issues, including shareholder, transactional, structural and integration matters.

Ian joined PwC in 1995. He has a BComm from Vancouver’s Sauder School of Business and obtained his CA designation in 1999. He has authored, lectured and presented articles, papers and reports on various taxation and industry related topics, including for the Canadian Tax Foundation and the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC.

John L. Higgins is President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. Prior to joining Ligand, Mr. Higgins served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration and Corporate Development, of Connetics Corporation, a specialty pharmaceutical company acquired by Stiefel Laboratories in December 2006. Before joining Connetics, he was a member of the executive management team at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals. Currently, he is a Director on the Boards of Techne Corporation, CoMentis and BioCryst and serves as Chairperson on the BioCryst Audit Committee. Prior to BioCryst, Mr. Higgins was a member of the healthcare banking team of Dillon, Read & Co. Inc., an investment banking firm. Mr. Higgins serves as a director of numerous public and private companies. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Colgate University with an AB in economics.

Dr. Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein joined MaRS Innovation President and CEO in June, 2009.

Dr. Hofstein received his PhD and Master of Science degrees in Life Sciences and Chemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. His Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Physics was attained from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Awards received while completing post-doctoral training and research at the Harvard Medical School in Boston in the Departments of Biological Chemistry and Neurobiology include the Hereditary Disease Foundation Fellowship in 1982-83, and the Chaim Weizmann Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1980-82.

From 1999 to June 2009 Dr. Hofstein held the position of President and CEO of Hadasit Ltd., the technology transfer company of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem. He has served as Chair of Hadasit BioHolding Ltd., publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), since 2005.

Manu Jaggi holds a doctorate in Cancer Biology and is a postgraduate in pharmaceutical sciences (Gold Medallist). He has More than 20 years of research experience in new drug discovery and early & advanced preclinical drug development.

Dr Jaggi holds the position of Head of the Preclinical Research at Dabur Research Foundation (DRF) since July 1994 and is currently Director of DRF. He did his Ph.D in 1994 from the National Institute of Immunology in N. Delhi.
Dr. Jaggi set up a state-of-art Anticancer Laboratory in 1994 at DRF. He has developed and standardized a panel of in vitro and in vivo screening assays for cancer and specializes in Hit Identification to pre-IND candidate selection. He has proposed and validated a hypothesis that neuropeptides work as growth factors in adenocarcinomas, which is now a widely accepted finding.

Dr. Jaggi holds more than 100 patents and has published and presented more than 40 research papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has active collaboration with academic, autonomous and other research organizations and trained more than 100 biotechnology post-graduates students. Dr. Jaggi holds memberships in several scientific committees and has attended and presented at several international and Indian conferences and meetings.

Dr. Robert Lee Kilpatrick is Co-Founder and Partner of TVG. Since 1992, Dr. Kilpatrick along with TVG has been connecting innovators and leaders in the life science industry across the US, Canada, China, Europe, Australia, Latin America, India, and Asia. The 18-year track record of success is founded by a deep industry knowledge, integrity in business, and powerful network of valuable relationships - fulfilling the vision to be Your Global Life Science Network™.

Dr. Kilpatrick was educated at the University of California, Berkeley and Cambridge University, where he received a Doctorate in the History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine. He is on the Board of Directors of the BayBio Institute, a non-profit think tank in San Francisco focused on issues related to the bio-economy. Professional memberships include: BayBio Life Science Assoc., BIOTECanada, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). His hobbies include fly fishing, music, reading, and sustainable organic gardening.

Bill Kridel is a Managing Director and Founder of The Ferghana Partners Group [in 1992]. Bill is responsible for new business development and for all types of transactions (Acquisition, Divestments, Corporate Partnering [Inward and Outward] and Equity Finance) across all of the Life Sciences industry segments covered by the firm. He also is heavily involved in the evaluation of science, technology and clinical development aspects of clients, counterparties and competitor companies. Bill has particular experience in transaction strategy and in the field of complex, multi-jurisdictional cross-border transactions.

Prior to Ferghana, Bill was a Managing Director of Barclays de Zoete Wedd Limited (BZW) in London after stints in Paris as CEO of the European investment banking affiliate of the Long Term Credit Bank of Japan and the Kridel Group, [US, Middle East and Europe]. Bill also worked in Paris/London as Vice President-International Corporate Finance both at Baring Brothers and at the Paris headquarters of Paribas.

Sven Lee has almost twenty years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. For the past three years, Mr. Lee has been Director of Business Development with Crucell, responsible for licensing PER.C6 cell line technology in North America.

Prior to Crucell, Mr. Lee spent ten years at Biogen Idec in a number of positions, including senior sales management, marketing of biologics and international strategic planning within the new product commercialization group. Previously, Mr. Lee also worked at Sanofi Winthrop (Sanofi Aventis).

She took her PhD in Physiology at the University of Lund Sweden, where after she was offered a post doc position at Erasmus University Medical Centre, the Netherlands. After two years she returned to Sweden. The 8 following years were spent as head of a preclinical unit at Gambro in Lund. She started early to collaborate with the Department of Experimental Surgery at the University Hospital in Lund. During this period she received her associate professorship for life (1991). She has over 50 publications in peer reviewed scientific journals. In 1992 she became a clinical manager and later Medical Director at a small biotech company, Perstorp Pharma, Lund, Sweden. In 1995 she was offered a position as Director of Global Project Management at then Pharmacia & Upjohn, Helsingborg, Sweden. End of 2000 she was employed at AstraZeneca R&D, globally accountable for external discovery collaborations within mainly GI. After 3 years she changed to Director of Discovery Alliance for RIRA. Here she leads a team focusing on licensing within respiratory and inflammation in Discovery. There has been a title change to Head and Director of Strategic planning and Buissness development R&I, but the role is the same.

Mike McCully serves as a Senior Manager at Deloitte Recap LLC. Mike joined the Deloitte practice with the 2008 acquisition of Recombinant Capital (Recap), a biotech and pharmaceutical advisory firm founded in 1988 and based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Recap earned its reputation in the biotech industry by building the largest and most detailed business intelligence databases. During his seven year tenure with the firm, Mike has provided high level industry analyses on partnering and financing that have been conveyed in such outlets as the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, the Economist, and on CNBC. Mike has provided confidential advisory assistance to several top tier pharmaceutical firms, over a hundred biotech companies, and various consulting and investment concerns. Deloitte Recap has been retained to assist in hundreds of completed biotech transactions with a total value in excess of $12 billion.

Mr. Richard Meadows joined CTI Life Sciences Fund from his previous position as Venture Partner with VantagePoint Venture Partners, a US$2.8 billion private Equity fund based in San Bruno California; and as Partner in the Biotechnology Group of CDP Capital Technology Ventures ($1.2 billion). Mr. Meadows has extensive experience in operations, general management in biopharmaceuticals, and finance. He has made and managed investments in the cancer, cardiovascular, auto-inflammatory and immunology areas.

Erich Mohr, Ph.D., R.Psych, is the Chairman and CEO of MedGenesis Therapeutix Inc. which he founded in 2005. Dr. Mohr, a Professor of Medicine and Psychology at the University of Ottawa until 1997 has over 20 years of experience in experimental therapeutics of CNS disorders. He is credited with over 150 publications, books, book chapters and abstracts and has edited the Handbook of Clinical Trials: The neurobehavioral approach. Dr. Mohr has chaired and/or served on several regulatory advisory panels for the approval of new products for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease and is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CroMedica Global Inc. (merged with PRA International in 2002) and the co-founder of several biotechnology companies. His most recent position was with PRA International, where he served as Chief Scientific Officer. PRA is one of the top 5 contract research organizations in the world and is listed on NASDAQ. Over the course of his career, Dr. Mohr has overseen and/or participated in dozens of clinical development programs resulting in a number of approved drugs.

Dr. Joyce Pei is Director, Global Business Development of Pharma Partnering for the Roche Pharmaceuticals Division, based in Nutley, New Jersey. Dr. Pei is responsible for project team leadership for all aspects of the business development process (finding to deal execution), including sourcing and evaluating new projects, due diligence, negotiation of deal terms and contract execution. Dr. Pei led the deal team which won the Licensing Deal of the Year Award at the 2009 annual Scrip awards for Roche’s collaboration with ThromboGenics and BioInvent International for the development and commercialization of the anticancer antibody TB-403/RG7334.

Prior to her current role at Roche, Dr. Pei was Senior Director, Worldwide Human Health Marketing at Merck & Co., Inc. In this role, she effectively managed the global Crixivan® business ($600 MM brand), led the Global Marketing Team and the regional marketing teams (U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific), and directed the Global Brand Team responsible for branding, strategic positioning, pricing, and execution of global communication strategies. She was International Business Leader and Director, New Product Planning prior to Merck at Roche.

Previously, Dr. Pei’s held positions with increasing responsibility at Bristol-Myers Squibb in clinical research, regulatory affairs, medical affairs, project management and strategic marketing.

Dr. Pei is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association of Cancer Research, and the American Society of Hematology.

Dr. Pei received her Doctorate of Pharmacy and Pharmacology degree from University of Maryland, and completed her clinical rotations/residency at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center, and the University of Maryland Cancer Center. She also holds a Masters of Business Administration degree in marketing and strategic planning.

Simon Pimstone is a founder, Director, and President & Chief Executive Officer at Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dr. Pimstone received his MD from the University of Cape Town. He is an internal medicine specialist (FRCPC) with an interest in cardiovascular disease. Prior to his specialization, he trained as a clinical research fellow with the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia and obtained his PhD through the University of Amsterdam in cardiovascular genetics.

Dr. Pimstone has served as a consultant physician at the St. Paul’s Hospital Lipid Clinic in Vancouver, as a Director of the Providence Healthcare Research Trust, a Director of the AllerGEN National Centre of Excellence, an Advisory Member of the SFU Biotech MBA program, and he is a Director of BIOTECanada. Dr. Pimstone is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. In 2005, he received the Business in Vancouver Top 40 under 40 Award and the Globe & Mail’s Canadian Top 40 Under 40 Award in 2004. Dr. Pimstone is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications and is also a regular guest speaker at international scientific meetings and healthcare conferences.

Dan Polonenko is a principal patent agent in Gowlings' Vancouver office. His practice involves patent drafting and prosecution in the fields of life sciences focusing on biotechnology, health, medical devices, agriculture, forestry, as well as environmental technologies, process engineering, and mechanical inventions. Additionally, Dan provides business-focused strategic and tactical IP services.

A registered Patent Agent in both Canada and the United States, Dan has over 20 years experience in the Canadian Biotech Industry moving progessively through senior management positions into the corporate executive level. For seven years, Dan was Vice President and Director of Operations for two biotechnology companies. During his scientific & business careers, Dan co-authored 20 peer-reviewed scientific publications, several book chapters and in addition, was a co-inventor of six issued patent families.

At the corporate level, Dan participated in strategic business planning, business plan preparation and implementation, budgeting and cost management. He also had corporate responsibility for over 13 years for the development and management of Intellectual Property (IP) portfolios.

Prior to joining Gowlings, Dan worked for seven years as IP counsel and patent agent for one of Canada’s leading law firms and a Canadian IP boutique.

Paolo Ponti earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Rome. Starting his career in his early twenty’s while pursuing his academics, he capitalized 10 years of intensive experience in the airline industry, leading day to day operations and the strategic direction of customer service at the Aeroporti di Roma and Alitalia Airlines. The skills gained both from marketing activities and from human resources management, allowed Mr. Ponti to become a highly regarded hands-on manager in the airline industry.

 

Mr. Ponti joined the Italian Trade Commission (ITC) in Rome in 1987 in the food processing and packaging machinery sector. He developed a hugely successful industrial machines strategy of promotion aimed at attracting investment to the sector, as well as expanding export of the “Made in Italy” machines.

 

In 1996, Mr. Ponti was appointed Deputy Trade Commissioner in Paris, where he acted as a key player in defining the first mechanical sectors promotion desk. In this role, he accomplished to ensure a growth in foreign investments to Italy and to enhance the international network within private industry, government agencies and Regions.

 

In 2000, Mr. Ponti experienced a senior position at the Auditing department in ITC Rome, where he performed due diligence and financial analysis related to ITC operations. Since August 2005, Mr. Ponti was appointed the Italian Trade Commissioner of the Toronto office.

Ryan Radke, a graduate of the University of Alberta, began his career at BioAlberta in 2003 as Vice-President, Operation and Programs before being appointed President in December 2005. Prior to joining BioAlberta, Mr. Radke held international trade, technology and bio-pharmaceutical positions within the Government of Alberta in the departments of Economic Development and Innovation and Science. Mr. Radke became a part of BioAlberta’s Board of Directors in November 2006.

Mr. Rae is President and CEO of iCo Therapeutics, Inc., an ocular development company he co-founded in 2005. Andrew has spent a decade in the biotechnology industry, formerly as CFO with Ability Biomedical Corporation (Irvine CA, Vancouver BC), acquired by Medarex, Inc. in 2004. Mr. Rae has also served as Vice President, Finance & Corporate Affairs at Active Pass Pharmaceuticals (Vancouver BC). Mr. Rae has raised approximately $25M in venture financing, engaged in a successful cross-border M&A transaction, and played a significant role in shaping multiple business development deals (Cambridge Antibody, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Medarex). Prior to his operational experiences, Mr. Rae served as Biotechnology Equities Analyst, Goepel Shields & Partners (now Raymond James Canada), covering Canadian biotechnology stocks including Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, QLT Inc. and ID Biomedical.

Mr. Rae currently sits on the BCIT/University of British Columbia BSc in Biotechnology, Honours program Program Advisory Committee, the Dean’s External Advisory Board for the Faculty of Business Administration at Simon Fraser University, the Board of Directors of Migenix, a biotechnology company in Vancouver, and the Board of Directors of Covenant House Vancouver, a charity operating shelters and counsel to homeless youth in Vancouver, BC. He previously served on the Board of Directors (including Audit, Nomination and Governance Committees) for Liponex Inc., a Canadian, TSE-listed biopharmaceutical research company. Mr. Rae’s degrees include a B.Sc. from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from Simon Fraser University.

Dr. Redmond is a graduate of the University of Alberta with a Ph.D. specializing in infectious disease and immunology. Since 1993 he has served in executive management roles and as President and CEO of several biotechnology companies. He has led the development of vaccines, active pharmaceutical ingredients, OTC pharmaceutical, and medical devices, and launched products into global healthcare markets.

Dr. Redmond also serves on Canadian federal and Alberta provincial government committees and advisory groups in the area of human and animal health, biotechnology, foreign affairs, and international trade. In 2004 he was named BioAlberta Entrepreneur of the Year.

Mr. Rieder is Cardiome’s Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. He served as Cardiome's Chief Executive Officer from joining Cardiome in April 1998 until August 2009. He was appointed Chairman of the Board in March 2007 and assumed the role of Executive Chairman in August 2009. Mr. Rieder has extensive experience in venture capital and in operational management. Prior to joining Cardiome, Mr. Rieder was Vice-President at MDS Ventures Pacific Inc., the Vancouver-based affiliate of MDS Capital Corp., and has served as a director for nine public and private technology companies. Mr. Rieder has also acted as Chief Operating Officer for DBA Telecom Inc., and CEO for Synapse Technologies Inc. Mr. Rieder received his MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

Dean Rockwell, BC Innovation Council's Chief Executive Officer, has a proven track record as a dynamic and innovative leader of technology intensive organizations. He possesses a unique blend of technical and strategic business acumen gained from over 20 years of international leadership experience in the areas of general management, product development, marketing, sales and operations. He also has extensive experience with mergers and acquisitions from his years at Scientific Atlanta and Cisco. Dean possesses an invaluable understanding of different business environments and has conducted business internationally in both developed and emerging markets worldwide.

Primary Research Interests
	Structural Biology of Immune Recognition, Molecular Mimicry and Allergy
Highlights of the Most Significant Research Contributions
	Understanding the physiological processes of selfnonself discrimination in terms of physicochemical principles of molecular interactions has been a major focus of our research. Our work on the pluripotency of primary immune response led to discovering new ways of antibody degeneracy and has impacted the evolving paradigm shift in immune recognition and generation of antibody repertoire [Immunity (2006) 24:359]. We have analyzed how immune system reacts when encountered with the antigens that keep changing shape and showed that the restricted paratope conformational repertoire on binding of an antigen to multiple independent antibodies may be relevant for minimizing possibility of selfreactive antibodies. Molecular insights into the functional mimicry in the context of immune response were addressed using structural, immunological and thermodynamic approaches. We have demonstrated how paratope plasticity facilitates molecular mimicry of otherwise unrelated antigens. While our analyses of carbohydrate-peptide mimicry provided important conceptual leads towards design and development of new generation of vaccines, the analyses involving carbohydrate-porphyrin mimicry provided possible mechanistic understanding of the molecular pathology of porphyria. Structural issues pertaining to innate immunity and food allergies are also being addressed.
Fellowship / Membership of Professional bodies
o Fellow, Indian National Science Academy (1995) o Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences (2001) o Fellow, Indian National Science Academy (2004) o Member, Molecular Immunology Forum (1996) o Member, Guha Research Conference (1993)

One of the earliest investigators in the field of chemokine biology, Dr. Schall founded ChemoCentryx in 1997 to focus on the discovery and development of chemokine-based therapeutics. Prior to founding ChemoCentryx, Dr. Schall spent several years at a division of Schering Plough, the DNAX Research Institute, where he made fundamental contributions to the understanding of chemokines and their receptors in human disease. Before that Dr. Schall served for some years as a scientist with Genentech, Inc. During his scientific career, Dr. Schall published over 100 book chapters and articles in noted peer-reviewed journals. In his business capacity, Dr. Schall has led ChemoCentryx through several rounds of major equity investment and business development funding (>$250 million in total from all sources), in addition to raising significant amounts of non-dilutive funding (in excess of $24 million) through such sources as DARPA and the NIH / NIAID. He has overseen the company's development of a wide pipeline of drug candidates in clinical trials and preclinical development. Dr. Schall received his Ph.D. in Cancer Biology at Stanford University.

Moncef Slaoui is Chairman, Research & Development. He is a member of the Corporate Executive Team and the Board of GlaxoSmithKline, PLC.

In his previous position as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Business Development and External Alliances, he served on the R&D Executive Team and spearheaded recent changes in R&D to enhance drug discovery and accelerate product development. Previously, in GSK Biologicals, he engineered the development of a robust vaccines pipeline, including Rotarix, to prevent infantile gastroenteritis, and Cervarix, to prevent cervical cancer.

Following a career in academia, he has demonstrated during his 17 years at GSK that he can create a strategic vision and then vigorously pursue it to develop new products that profoundly enhance healthcare.

Moncef earned a PhD in molecular biology and immunology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, and completed postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston. He was a professor or immunology at the University of Mons, Belgium. He has authored more than 100 scientific papers and presentations. A citizen of Morocco and Belgium, he is fluent in English, French, and Arabic.

Dr. Moira Stilwell was elected MLA for Vancouver-Langara on May 12, 2009.

Minister Stilwell is a radiologist and nuclear medicine physician who has been working at BC Women’s Hospital for nearly a decade. Prior to being elected, Moira was head of nuclear medicine at St. Paul’s Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital, and Abbottsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Clinic. She was also the co-chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 2020 Task Force. She previously worked at BC Women’s Hospital where she was co-medical director of the Breast Health Program and staff radiologist. She was a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Radiology in the Faculty of Medicine at University of British Columbia.

She is the past chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, BC/Yukon Chapter, has served on the board of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance, as well as on the BC Women’s Hospital Foundation Board.

With an Executive master’s degree in business administration, majoring in business development, advanced strategic planning, marketing and information management Jens Sundbye has specialized in Biopartnering, Business and Cluster development through global collaborations, partnerships and alliances. Building global networks and using networking as a key strategic tool.

A well developed global network, e.g. in China, is turning into cooperation projects with CNCBD, The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. Projects encompass tech transfer, red and yellow biotech, Bioeconomy and Biopartnering China. Management consulting services globally includes Tech Transfer meetings.

Jens Sundbye is board member of European Federation of Biotechnology with regional offices also in China. Jens oversees global projects and collaborations.

Jens Sundbye has been Managing Director of more companies: a European large scale sequencing company based on Chinese service solutions and present MD for companies specializing in biomedicine services and consulting in business development.

Dr. Tehrani is one of Zymeworks' co-founders and currently serves as President and CEO of the company. He has been an integral part of many of the Company's corporate achievements including raising seed and angel financing and overseeing the Company's technical operations and patent filings. Dr. Tehrani holds both Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, and has a Doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia. While completing his PhD degree he co-founded the Student Biotechnology Network, for which he received the UBC Faculty of Science Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership in 2002. Dr. Tehrani also serves on the MITACS Industrial Advisory Board, and BIOTECanada's Industrial and Environmental Committee. He is also the Chair of the Life Sciences British Columbia Bioproducts and Bioenergy advisory committee.

Jeremy Webster is the National Leader of Biotechnology for Deloitte in Canada. He has been with Deloitte for 19 years during which time he has worked with over 100 life sciences clients from around the world. He has assisted clients with licensing, partnering, mergers & acquisitions, valuations and strategy. He was the lead advisor to BioMS on their deal with Eli Lilly which included an $87 million up-front, $410 million in milestones, costs and a significant royalty. His education includes degrees in finance, valuation, music and studies in molecular cell biology and immunology. He is on the Board of BioAlberta, was the Chairman of the Licensing Executives Society local chapter and has published numerous articles and given many presentations at conferences such as BIO, Biopartnering, Biofinance and the Licensing Executives Society.

Scott is the chief financial officer of Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for the Company’s financial and business development activities. Mr. Wolchko began his career as an investment banker with Morgan Stanley & Co., where he served for six years in the firm’s New York City and Menlo Park, California offices. As a member of the firm's Investment Banking Health Care Group, he assisted emerging growth companies in the health care technology sector complete capital-raising and strategic transactions. Prior to joining Fate Therapeutics, Scott served as the chief financial officer of Bocada, Inc., where he oversaw all financial, legal, human resource and information technology operations, and was previously the Senior Director of Corporate Development at drugstore.com, where he was responsible for evaluating and executing financial and business development opportunities. Mr. Wolchko holds an M.S. in biochemical engineering from the University of Virginia, and a B.S. in biomedical engineering from the University of Vermont.