Board of Directors
Lloyd M. Segal
Executive Chairman
Mr. Segal served as President and CEO of Caprion Pharmaceuticals from 1998 until its merger with Ecopia BioSciences to form Thallion in 2007. He was previously a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. and President and CEO of Advanced Bioconcept Ltd, which was sold to NEN Life Sciences (now Perkin-Elmer) in 1998. Mr. Segal was a member of the Board of Directors of SciQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQST) and of Hallmark Technologies Inc. (TSX: HTI). He is currently a member of the Board of Directors at GBC North American Growth Fund, Inc., one of Canada’s leading small-cap mutual funds; Resonant Medical Inc. (a privately-held medical imaging company) and BIOTECanada, the Canadian national association representing biotech constituents. He is also a member of the Board of Overseers of the School of Science, Brandeis University. He earned a B.A. in Politics from Brandeis University (Waltham, MA), and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School (Cambridge, MA).
Allan Mandelzys, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Mandelzys served as Vice President, Business Development for Labopharm Inc. from October 2000 to December 2006. He has extensive experience in the areas of pharmaceutical licensing, contract negotiations, strategic alliance management, intellectual property management and scientific operations. Prior to joining Labopharm, Dr. Mandelzys held several positions at Allelix Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (now NPS Pharmaceuticals) beginning with scientific roles of increasing responsibility and culminating as Director, Business Development. Dr. Mandelzys holds both a Ph.D. in physiology and an M.B.A. from McGill University and a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto. He received his post-doctoral training at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology.
Michael Kurman , MD
Independent Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Consultant
Michael Kurman, MD is an independent consultant to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and health care industries specializing in oncology and oncology drug development, with 24 years of experience. He received his M.D. degree from Cornell University Medical College and started his career in the practice of oncology, during which he was an investigator on several oncology clinical trials. Since joining the industry, he has served as Director of Clinical Research, Oncology and Allergy for Janssen Research Foundation, and as Vice President, Clinical Research for U.S. Biosciences Inc, and was involved in the successful development or launch of four oncology products. Before starting his consultancy, Dr. Kurman was Vice President of Clinical and Scientific Operations for Quintiles' Oncology Division. In addition, he serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of several companies and is on the Board of Directors of Avalon Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Kurman is board certified in Internal Medicine and Oncology, and did his oncology training at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Health Promotion in the Master of Clinical Trials Program at New York University and an Adjunct Professor for Pharmaceutical Technology Management at the Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management of Stevens Institute of Technology.
Claude C. Bismuth, MBA, FCA
Independent Consultant
Claude C. Bismuth recently retired as Senior Partner of the Montreal office of Ernst & Young. In more than 35 years of public practice, he served as partner in the field of insurance services and worked as a consultant, providing strategic guidance in life sciences, aerospace and defence in addition to information technology and telecommunications. For 13 years, he managed the technology sector and served as the National Director of various technology-oriented services. Mr. Bismuth also provided professional accounting and auditing services to several public companies in Canada, the United States and Europe. Since his retirement in 2008, he has been working as a management consultant and has been very active in litigation, commercial disputes and professional liability claims. Mr Bismuth graduated from McGill University (B.Comm) and the University of Michigan (MBA) and holds a Fellow Chartered Accountant designation from the Ordre des CA du Québec.
Franklin Berger
Independent Biotechnology Research Analyst
Mr. Berger is a biotechnology industry analyst with over 25 years of experience in capital markets and financial analysis. He served most recently as Managing Director, Equity Research and Senior Biotechnology Analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities from May 1998 to March 2003. In this position, he initiated team coverage of 26 biotechnology companies and was responsible for technical, scientific and clinical due diligence as well as company selection. Previously, Mr. Berger served in similar capacities at Salomon Smith Barney from August 1997 to May 1998 and Josephthal & Co. from November 1991 to August 1997. Prior to his work as a biotechnology analyst, he managed Pantagruel Partners, a firm that developed early-stage pharmaceutical compounds for sale to drug companies and venture capital firms. He holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and an M.A. in International Economics and a B.A. in International Relations both from Johns Hopkins University. In addition to Thallion, Mr. Berger serves as a director of VaxGen, Inc., Isotechnika Inc. and Seattle Genetics, all publicly-traded biotechnology companies, and HealthShares, Inc., an investment company.
Roberto Bellini
Executive Vice-President, Picchio Pharma Inc.
Mr. Bellini is currently responsible for the investment and operational activities of Picchio Pharma Inc., a joint venture healthcare investment firm owned by FMRC Family Trust and Power Technology Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada. He previously worked as an assistant to the CEO at Adaltis Inc. Roberto holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from McGill University.