About ProMetic
Board of Directors
Benjamin Wygodny »
President
Angus
Partnership Inc
Pierre Laurin, B.Sc.Pharm., M.Sc.
Chairman of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer
ProMetic Life Sciences Inc.
Mr. Pierre Laurin has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Involved in the development of ProMetic's platform technology since 1989, Mr. Laurin founded ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. in 1994. As Chairman and CEO of the Company since its inception, he took the company public on the Toronto Stock Exchange and has since raised over $95 million through equity financings and multinational funding. Mr. Laurin’s corporate development achievements include the successful close of some 20 licensing agreements and joint venture agreements with multinationals including the American Red Cross, Merck, and Arriva Pharmaceuticals.
Mr. Laurin’s prior experience also includes positions with various pharmaceutical companies, including Nordic Laboratories (now Sanofi-Aventis) where he played a pivotal role in the commercial success of Cardizem, Canada.
Mr. Laurin holds a B.Sc. in Pharmacy and a Masters degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Montreal.
Kym Anthony
Deputy Chairman -
Mackie Research Capital Corporation
Chair -
DFG Investment Adviser
Kym Anthony is a very experienced and successful capital markets executive with a 25 year plus successful record in the financial services and investment banking industries. He rose though the senior executive ranks of CIBC and its investment bank unit, Wood Gundy, until he left to become the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of TD Securities and a Vice-Chair of TD Bank, where he led the creation and development of TD Securities. For the past 6 years, Mr. Anthony was the President and Chief Executive Officer of National Bank Financial, the investment banking and capital markets unit of National Bank of Canada. Mr. Anthony has held a number of senior positions in the financial services industry, including recently being Chair of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada, and he serves on several corporate and non profit boards.
Mr. Anthony received his BA from Simon Fraser University and his MBA in 1980 from the University of Western Ontario where he was the gold medallist.
Robert Lacroix
Senior Vice-President
CTI Capital Securities Inc.
Mr. Robert Lacroix is Senior Vice-President of CTI Capital Securities Inc. Mr. Lacroix has more than 30 years of experience in the financial sector and has been working at CTI Capital Securities Inc. for 11 years. He holds a Business Degree from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal.
During his career, Mr. Lacroix has held the position of Assistant Deputy Minister, Financing and Debt Management of the Quebec Finance Ministry. He also held numerous positions within the financial sector such as Vice-President, Finance and Administration of La Société Nationale de Fiducie and was a member of the Board of Directors of Placements SNF Inc., President of Caisses de Retraites, Portfolio Manager at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and portfolio management at the Fédération des Caisses populaires Desjardins de Montréal.
Louise Ménard
President
Groupe Méfor inc.
Ms. Ménard is President of Groupe Méfor inc. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Société des Alcools du Québec (SAQ), is Chair of its Governance and Ethics Committee, and member of its Human Resources Committee. She is Governor of the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation, sits on the Board of Directors of the On the Tip of the Toes Foundation, and is cofounder of the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation’s Sérénité Advisory Committee. Between 2004 and 2007, Ms. Ménard served as Board member of Assuris Inc., and was member of its Corporate Governance Committee and its Communications Committee. She served on the Board of Directors of the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation from 1990 to 2006, and was Secretary and member of its Executive Committee and Human Resources Committee between 1990 and 2000. She was Chair of the Advisory Committee of Nomad Logic Inc. between 2001 and 2002, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alena Capital Inc. between 2000 and 2002. From 1988 to 1997, she was Vice President Corporate Affairs, Legal Affairs, and Corporate Secretary of Sodarcan Inc. She has also acted as legal counsel for various public and private corporations, including Quebecor Inc. and Loto-Quebec.
Paul Mesburis
Senior Portfolio Manager &
Chief Compliance Officer
Excel Investment Counsel Inc.
Mr. Mesburis is a Senior Portfolio Manager & Chief Compliance Officer at Excel Investment Counsel Inc. He has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. His capital markets experience encompasses roles for both buy-side and sellside firms. On the buy-side, his previous roles have included Vice President and Portfolio Manager of an equity mutual fund at a Canadian public financial services company and as an Investment Manager of a mezzanine debt/private equity fund at a publicly listed Canadian bank. On the sell-side, his investment experience includes mergers and acquisitions, investment banking, and institutional equity research. His previous sell-side roles have included Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions and Associate, Institutional Equity Research at both global and domestic bank-owned investment dealers. Mr. Mesburis is a Chartered Accountant (Ontario) and a Chartered Financial Analyst. He earned his MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University and a B.A. from the University of Toronto.
Nancy Orr
Consultant
Ms. Orr is currently a consultant. During part of 2008, she acted as Interim Chief Financial Officer for Redline Communications Inc. She also sits on the boards and various committees of Dundee Wealth Inc. and Redline Communications Inc. From 1991 to 2007, she was President of Dynamis Group Inc., a company that developed, built and operated plants in the electrical power industry and in the paper and wood recycling sectors in Europe and the U.S.A. In the past, she has sat on several public and private company boards, including Donohue Inc., the Bank of Canada, HECMontréal, Services Financiers CDPQ, Socanav Inc., Montréal Cardiology Institute and the Investment Committee of the Canada Arts Council.
Louise Paradis
Senior Vice-President, Legal Affairs and
Corporate Secretary
Banque de Développement du Canada
Ms. Louise Paradis is Senior Vice-President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary of Banque de Développement du Canada (BDC). She joined BDC in 2004, and provides support to all its business units and its Board of Directors. She is also responsible for the development and implementation of strategies on records management. Ms. Paradis previously held managerial positions with Société Générale, the Canadian office of a major international bank, where she was responsible for legal affairs, human resources, the corporate secretariat and administration. She held the position of Director of Operations at Société Générale for two years. Ms. Paradis began her career at BDC as legal counsel. She holds an LLL from McGill University and is a member of the Barreau du Québec.
Roger Perrault, B.A.,M.D., Ph.D., FRCPC.
Corporate Director
Prior to his retirement, Dr. Perrault had established his own consulting firm, “Roger A. Perrault Consultants Inc.”, and consulted for ProMetic from 1996 to May 2006. His private consulting firm was closed in the months that followed. Dr. Perrault has also served on the Board of four biotechnology companies as well as ProMetic. In 1993, Dr. Perrault was appointed President of the Industrial Biotechnology Association of Canada, a position he held until October 1996. In 1989, after being appointed and serving as Deputy Secretary General Operations from 1986 to 1989, Dr. Perrault was appointed Deputy Secretary-General Blood Services, a position he held until 1991, when he became President and CEO of IAF BioVac (a vaccine manufacturer), a subsidiary of BioChem Pharma. He was appointed National Director of the Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service in 1974, a position he held until 1986. From 1972 to 1974, Dr. Perrault was Medical Director of the Ottawa Centre of the Canadian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service. Dr. Perrault obtained a B.A. and a B. Philos. at St. Paul University (Ottawa) in 1956 and his M.D. in 1963 at the University of Ottawa. He completed his training in Internal Medicine in 1969 at the National Defence Medical Centre and the Ottawa General Hospital. Dr. Perrault conducted research in Frozen Blood technology during his stay at the National Defence Medical Centre, leading to the first transfusion of frozen, reconstituted blood in Canada in 1965. He was a Research Fellow of the Medical Research Council from 1969 to 1972, and carried out research in Immunology at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, leading to a Ph.D. in 1972. Dr. Perrault received his Fellowship in Internal Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1980. Dr. Perrault is a member of the Canadian Medical Association, the Royal College of Physicians of Canada, the Ontario Medical Association, The Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons (Emeritus member).
Bruce Wendel
Vice Chairman,
Chief Executive Officer
Abraxis BioScience
Mr. Wendel was named Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Abraxis in early 2010. He formerly held the positions of Executive Vice-President of Corporate Development of Abraxis BioScience. Mr. Wendel joined American Pharmaceutical Partners (“APP”) in 2004 as Vice-President of Corporate Development. He began his 14 years with Bristol-Myers Squibb as in-house counsel before shifting to business and corporate development. While at Bristol-Myers Squibb, as Vice President, Corporate Development, International Medicines, he led teams that completed several major acquisitions, divestitures and alliances around the world. These transactions included a $225 M divestiture of Bristol's U.S. diagnostic division as well as the acquisition of three pharmaceutical firms in Argentina, South Korea, and Peru, and a co-promotion alliance with Smithkline Beecham for Avandia. Before joining APP, he served as Vice-President, Business Development and Licensing for IVAX Corporation, a generic drug manufacturer, where late last year he completed the Company's acquisition of 3M's European respiratory business. Previously, Mr. Wendel served in the legal departments of Playtex and Combe.
Mr. Wendel earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law School where he was an editor of Law & Policy in International Business, and a B.S. from Cornell University.
Benjamin Wygodny
President
Angus Partnership Inc.
Mr. Wygodny is the President of Angus Partnership Inc., an investment firm and of 3188795 Canada Inc., a real estate development firm.
Other Directorships: Sits on the Board of the Canadian Technion Society and is a member of the International Board of Governors of the TECHNION - The Israeli Institute of Technology.