Investor centre
Directors
R. Craig Baxter —
Board Chair and Director
Mr. Baxter graduated with a BComm from Concordia University and is a Certified Management Accountant. He has 30 years of business experience, 25 of which have been in the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, Mr. Baxter is President of Apotex Holdings Inc.
D. Bruce Burlington —
Director and Human Resource & Compensation Committee Chair
Dr. Burlington received his medical degree from Louisiana State University. His extensive background in infectious disease medicine and the U.S. regulatory environment includes 17 years at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in various positions involving both biologics and generic drugs, and nine years within the Wyeth Pharmaceuticals organization. He retired from his position as Executive Vice President, Business Practices and Compliance at Wyeth in 2007 and is currently working as a consultant in pharmaceutical development and regulatory affairs. Dr. Burlington is a member of the board of directors of AstraZeneca.
Jeremy Desai3 —
Director
Dr. Desai graduated as a pharmacist in the U.K. and then went on to complete his PhD in Pharmacy and an MBA. Dr. Desai has 25 years of experience working for both branded and generic pharmaceutical companies. He is currently President and COO at Apotex Inc.; he joined the company in 2003. In 2009, Dr. Desai received the professional designation ICD.D from the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors.
Philip Johnson2,3 —
Director and Governance & Nominating Committee Chair
Dr. Johnson received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His extensive medical background, largely in pediatrics and vaccine technology, includes work at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Columbus Children’s Research Institute at Children’s Hospital, Inc. He is currently Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Jack Kay1 —
Director
Mr. Kay has 45 years’ experience in pharmaceutical management and sales, including 28 years with Apotex. He has academic training in business administration from the University of Manitoba and McGill University. Mr. Kay is the CEO of Apotex Inc., and serves on the board of Helix BioPharma Corp., a company listed on the Toronto and Frankfurt stock exchanges. He is a Past Chair of the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association, the International Schizophrenia Foundation and the Humber River Regional Hospital in Toronto.
J. Robert Lavery1,2 —
Director and Audit Committee Chair
Mr. Lavery, a Chartered Accountant, is President of Shaunnara ULC, an investment management company he has owned since forming the company in 1977. Until his retirement in 2003, Mr. Lavery was also President and CEO of Winpak Ltd., a position he held since co-founding the company in 1977. He continues as a member of the board of directors of Winpak Ltd. and all its subsidiary companies. Mr. Lavery is on the Advisory Council of Friesen Corporation, and has served on the boards of a number of community healthcare organizations. He has also received the professional designation ICD.D from the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors.
R. Scott Lillibridge1,2 —
Director
Dr. Lillibridge obtained his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. He has spent much of his public career with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”). While at the CDC, he was the founding Director of the Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program and also served as Special Assistant to the Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services. He is currently Assistant Dean and Professor of Epidemiology at the School of Rural Public Health and Clinical Professor at the College of Medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center.
John Sedor —
President, CEO and Director
John Sedor holds a BS in Pharmacy and Chemistry from Duquesne University. He joined Cangene in 2011 as a Director, and President and Chief Executive Officer, bringing more than 30 years of proven leadership in the global biopharmaceutical, consumer product and generic drug industries to the role. Prior to joining Cangene, he most recently served as President, CEO and Director of CPEX Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty drug delivery pharmaceutical company, and during that time managed its spin-off from Bentley Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to that, he was President of Bentley, which expanded its nanotechnology programs and added more than 20 new product approvals in the European market under his guidance. Previously, he created Centeon LLC, to develop and commercialize plasma protein biotherapeutics. Other previous roles include various senior positions at Sandoz Inc. (USA), Verion, Rorer Pharmaceutical Co., Revlon Health Care Group and Armour Pharmaceutical Company.
John Vivash2,3 —
Director
Mr. Vivash is President and CEO of Tesseract Financial Inc., positions he has held since founding the financial services consultancy in 1989. Prior to that, he held various senior positions during his lengthy career in the investment community. He has also participated on committees for the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver stock exchanges, and the Ontario Securities Commission. He has lectured extensively at the university level and at business and public conferences. He has also accumulated 25 years of board experience. He is on the board of directors of The Institute for Intellectual Capital Research and on the board of governors of OCAD University as well as being Chair of the OCAD University Foundation.
- Member of Audit Committee
- Member of Governance & Nominating Committee
- Member of Human Resources & Compensation Committee
Officers
Michael Adelman —
Vice President, Commercial Operations
Mr. Adelman earned his MBA at New York University, Stern School of Business and holds a BSBA in Finance from Northeastern University. He joined Cangene in August 2012, bringing nearly 20 years of experience in life sciences with expertise in pharmaceutical sales and marketing, strategic planning, and general management. Prior to joining Cangene, Mr. Adelman was Vice President, Marketing and Sales at Adolor Corporation, where he was responsible for the marketing, market research, sales, pricing, and distribution functions of the company and for leading its commercialization strategy. Prior to that, he held positions of increasing responsibility at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, LP in Marketing and Sales, including Regional Sales Director, Brand Director, and Sr. Director, Marketing Strategy.
Les Deezar —
Vice President, Human Resources
Mr. Deezar obtained his BA degree from the University of Manitoba and Certificate in Adult Education from St. Francis Xavier University. In 2005 he attained his Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP) designation. Les joined Cangene in September 2008. Throughout his career Les has held senior positions in leadership and organizational development, business strategy and information technology, and corporate payment systems. Les has worked at several companies including James Richardson International, MTS Allstream Inc., Qunara Inc., US Bank of Canada and The Royal Bank. Les currently serves as Chair of the Life Sciences Association of Manitoba Coordinating Committee and is an active committee member for the Red River College, School of Health Sciences and Community Services and Life Sciences and Biotechnology Advisory Committee.
Gary Floyd —
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Floyd holds a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology and Chemistry from Olivet Nazarene University. He is a seasoned executive with an extensive background and 40 years of experience in the global pharmaceutical industry with a successful track record of operations and supply chain management, and market development. Prior to joining Cangene in 2012, Mr. Floyd was a consultant to the industry for three years as President of Pharmavene, LLC. Prior to that, Mr. Floyd also held senior executive positions at YM BioSciences Inc., Eximias Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Aventis Behring, LLC. He also held senior positions in manufacturing, sales and marketing at Aventis Behring’s predecessor companies, Centeon, LLC and Armour Pharmaceutical Company. Mr. Floyd is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.
Jeff Lamothe —
Chief Financial Officer
Jeff Lamothe is a Chartered Accountant and a graduate of the University of Manitoba where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree. Jeff joined Cangene in August 2012 and brings over 20 years of business and financial experience to the company serving as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Cangene, Jeff held the position of Chief Financial Officer for Smith Carter Architects and Engineers Incorporated. He previously served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Kitchen Craft Cabinetry after occupying the position of VP Finance and Chief Financial Officer with that organization. Past experience also includes serving as Chief Financial Officer for Motor Coach Industries as well as other roles at James Richardson & Sons, Limited and Ernst & Young LLP.
Francis St. Hilaire —
Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary
Mr. St. Hilaire obtained a BSc degree from the University of Manitoba and then went on to obtain a Juris Doctor degree (magna cum laude) and an MBA from the University of Ottawa. Prior to joining Cangene in 2008, he was Assistant Vice President and Senior Counsel at The Great-West Life Assurance Company where he practised corporate and securities law. A member of the Manitoba Bar since 1992, he started his career practising general corporate and commercial law with the Winnipeg law firm of Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP. Mr. St. Hilaire is a certified director by the Institute of Corporate Directors and holds the ICD.D designation. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba, a not-for-profit organization that operates a province-wide packaging and printed paper recycling program.
Laura Saward —
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Saward has a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Guelph and went on to earn a PhD from the Faculty of Medicine at University of Manitoba in the field of Cardiovascular Physiology. She completed a Post-doctoral fellowship at the Robarts Research Institute in Vascular Biology at the University of Western Ontario. During her research career, Dr. Saward has worked in various pharma R&D roles, including Syntex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and Viventia Biotech Inc.. Prior to joining Cangene, Dr. Saward gained pivotal experience in the start-up company Cardiovascular Solutions Inc. and held the position of Director of Operations and Senior Scientist. Dr. Saward joined Cangene in 2004 as Director R&D in BioAnalytical Research and Pipeline Research, a role she continued until January of 2012 when she became the overall Director of Research & Development and later Vice President of Research & Development. She holds a cross-appointment as an adjunct professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Manitoba. She has more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical research, in a broad range of therapeutic areas including infectious disease, vaccines, cardiovascular disease and cancer therapeutics, and supported several development programs for new therapeutics licensed through FDA and Health Canada.
John Sedor —
President, CEO and Director
John Sedor holds a BS in Pharmacy and Chemistry from Duquesne University. He joined Cangene as President and Chief Executive Officer on September 12, 2011, bringing more than 30 years of proven leadership in the global biopharmaceutical, consumer product and generic drug industries to the role. Prior to joining Cangene, he most recently served as President, CEO and Director of CPEX Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty drug delivery pharmaceutical company, and during that time managed its spin-off from Bentley Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to that, he was President of Bentley, which expanded its nanotechnology programs and added more than 20 new product approvals in the European market under his guidance. Previously, he created Centeon LLC, to develop and commercialize plasma protein biotherapeutics. Other previous roles include various senior positions at Sandoz Inc. (USA), Verion, Rorer Pharmaceutical Co., Revlon Health Care Group and Armour Pharmaceutical Company.
Chris Sinclair —
Vice President, Business Development & Corporate Strategic Planning
Dr. Sinclair has a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics from the University of Manitoba, an M.B.A. specializing in Pharmaceutical Management from the University of Colorado, and completed executive development programs at Harvard Business School. In his current role, he is responsible for strategic planning and business development. Prior to this, he was responsible for Winnipeg Operations, which covered corporate project management, manufacturing, engineering, technical services and materials management. Dr. Sinclair started at Cangene in the R&D department and most recently held the position of Senior Director of Clinical Development and was responsible for pre-clinical research, clinical trial operations, pharmacovigilance and medical affairs. He has been with Cangene since 2001, and prior to that he was involved in academic research at the University of Manitoba, University of Washington and National Research Council of Canada. His experience covers development from non-clinical studies through to market launch activities of biopharmaceutical products and significant regulatory experience with Health Canada, US FDA and European Medicines Agency. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Life Sciences Association of Manitoba and the Alliance for Biosecurity.
Vicki Wolff-Long — Vice President & General Manager, Baltimore
Dr. Wolff-Long holds a Ph.D. in Structural Biochemistry from Brandeis University and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She completed post-doctoral studies at John Hopkins University. Dr. Wolff-Long began her career at Cangene Baltimore (formerly Chesapeake Biological Laboratories Inc.) in 1995 as an Intern and Senior Scientist for Validations. She then moved into the role of Quality Control Lab Manager/Senior Scientist for Validations. In 1996, Dr. Wolff-Long was promoted to Formulation, Technical Writing & Stability Manager and Senior Research Investigator Pharmaceutical Technology Manager/Senior Scientist. In 1999, she became Director of Project Management & Technical Writing and soon after was promoted to Vice President of Project Management & Laboratory Services. In 2005, Dr. Wolff-Long became General Manager of the Cangene Baltimore facility and now holds the position of Vice President & General Manager. During her career, she has worked with more than 200 customers and clinical products and has been involved in the commercialization of over 25 products for the global market including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Europe, Brazil, Germany and the Middle East. Dr. Wolff-Long is on the Board of the Biotechnical Institute of Maryland and is a member of the National Association of Professional Women and the Maryland World Class Manufacturing Consortium.