Dr. David Young, OBIO Board Chair
Managing Partner, Actium Equity Partners
David S. Young is Founder and Managing Partner of Actium Capital Advisors – an early stage life sciences private equity fund. Actium combines innovation, capital allocation and operations in a new business model for biotechnology focusing on antibody therapeutics. He founded ARIUS Research Inc., and was President and Chief Executive Officer until the company was sold to Roche in 2008.
ARIUS (TSX: ARI) raised $40 Million dollars, but spent only $30 Million dollars to reach a $200 Million deal with Roche, of which $192 Million was paid to investors. Dr. Young solely funded the startup of ARIUS in 1999, and conducted the fundamental discovery and proof-of-principle experiments to obtain the patents at the core of the company’s technology, FunctionFIRST. This unique approach to drug discovery creates functional anti-cancer monoclonal antibodies that belong to a class of revolutionary cancer treatments. Dr. Young and ARIUS have received many awards including Entrepreneur of the Year from ACCE, and Company of the Year from BIOTECanada.
Dr. Young received his Doctor of Medicine and Master of Science degrees from the University of Toronto. He also did his General Surgery and Cardiovascular Surgery training at the University Toronto. While at U of T he won over 15 academic awards or scholarships. He is an inventor, author, or co-author of over 300 patents, publications, and scientific abstracts. In addition to his role as OBIO Board Chair, he co-chairs the Collaborative Health Research Projects selection committee, a joint funding program of NSERC and CIHR.
Stephen Fanjoy, OBIO Director
CEO, Devera Logic Inc
Stephen Fanjoy is the CEO of Devera Logic and a management consultant to startups and Fortune 100 companies. Previously he was the founding President of Therapeutic Monitoring Systems. Stephen is a founding member of the board of directors of OBIO, Co-Chair of the OBEST Strategies for Interconnectivity and Industry Priorities and a member of the Ottawa Life Sciences Cluster Executive. He recently served as a member of the OBEST Advisory Board and leader of the OBEST Eastern Ontario Regional Cluster. Stephen has over 18 years of experience in enterprise software, including executive and senior management roles in strategy, product management, marketing, analyst relations, and business development for SHL VISION* Solutions (acquired by Autodesk), Oracle, and Watchfire (acquired by IBM) . He is a former director and a member of the executive committee of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Ontario and chair of the Ottawa eBusiness Cluster. Stephen is an honours graduate of the Dalhousie University School of Business and a Certified Management Consultant (CMC).
Helen Findlay, OBIO Director
EVP and COO Actium Research Inc.
Ms. Findlay is an executive with over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Most recently as EVP and CBO at ARIUS, she was responsible for business development activities valued at over $400 million and for overseeing operations in the company. Her background in both science and business has brought key strategic insight and management capabilities to both established and start-up companies. She has managed a profitable pharmaceutical marketing consulting business, been named as a finalist in the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards, and is an inventor on over 115 patents. Ms. Findlay is an advisor on the Ontario Centres of Excellence SAB, a director of OBIO, and President of the board of Tapestry New Opera.
Gail Garland
Chief Executive Officer
Ontario Bioscience Industry Organization (OBIO™)
Gail founded OBIO in 2009 following twenty years of experience in the pharma, biotech and medical devices industries. OBIO is a private sector, membership-based organization that is Ontario’s leading advocate for the life science sector. OBIO is engaged in advocacy to enable the successful development and commercialization in Ontario of life science technology through investment, strategic alliances, stakeholder engagement and industry promotion. OBIO developed OBEST™ (Ontario Bioscience Economic Strategy Team) a province-wide strategic vision to support the growth and viability of Ontario’s bioscience industry.
In addition to serving as Co-Chair of the Advisory Board Advanced Health Technologies at the Ontario Centers of Excellence, Gail also serves on: the Council for Innovation Procurement in Healthcare (Conference Board of Canada); the Membership Committee for ACCT (institution – industry technology transfer) and as the Public Representative, Committee for the Certified Management Accountants of Ontario. Gail is on the Editorial Board of Biotechnology Focus. She has authored several articles on Ontario’s bioscience industry which have appeared in provincial and industry publications.
Gail holds a Chartered Director (CDir) designation in governance (McMaster); an MBA (Dean’s List) from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and a BSc. (Carleton University).
Adam Buckley, OBIO Director
Vice President, Operations, Variation Biotechnologies Inc. (VBI)
Adam Buckley, OBIO Director
Vice President, Operations, VBI Vaccines
Adam co-founded VBI Vaccines in 2002. He has been responsible for a number of roles through VBI’s development stages, including business development, corporate development, finance and operations. His efforts included attracting seed capital to VBI, developing its first business plan, protecting intellectual property and structuring the company. He had an active role in the company’s Series A financing, raising $35.7 million (U.S.), and has led several key technology acquisitions for the company, including the acquisition of Epixis S.A. in 2011 which provided VBI with one of its core platform technologies. Most recently, Adam has held operational responsibilities for the company’s research and development site in Ottawa, Canada, leading efforts for the efficient and milestone driven development of the company’s vaccine products and platforms. Mr. Buckley is a recent recipient of the Ottawa Business Journal’s “Top 40 Under 40” award and obtained his M.B.A. and B.Sc. at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Niclas Stiernholm, Ph.D., OBIO Director
CEO,Trillium Therapeutics Inc.
Dr. Stiernholm is currently CEO of Trillium Therapeutics Inc. (TTI), a privately held Canadian biopharmaceutical company. His primary responsibilities include overseeing the company’s strategic direction, executing business development plans and ensuring that the company’s scientific programs continue to advance in good time. Under his direction and leadership, TTI has raised $20 million in venture financing, in-licensed several preclinical programs from academic institutions, acquired a private Australian company. He also negotiated and executed significant license agreements with three major US biotechnology companies, generating substantial sublicensing revenues.
Dr. Stiernholm joined TTI from YM BioSciences where he acted as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. While there, he led the company’s in-licensing efforts and built a broad pipeline of clinical oncology products. He also played a key role in the success of YM’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 2002. Dr. Stiernholm started his career as a member of Allelix Biopharmaceuticals’ business development office.
Dr. Stiernholm received his undergraduate degree from Elon University in North Carolina, and his Ph.D. degree in Immunology from the University of Toronto, where he also conducted postdoctoral studies. He currently serves on several corporate and scientific advisory boards, including the Ontario Genomics Institute, AIM Therapeutics, YM BioSciences, and Tarix Pharmaceuticals.
Lisa Crossley, Ph.D., P.Eng., OBIO Director
CEO, VitalHub Corporation
Dr. Crossley is the CEO of VitalHub. Previously, she was CEO of Quantum Dental Technologies Inc., a Toronto-based biotech company that has developed a novel caries diagnostics device for the early detection of tooth decay. Prior to joining the QDT team, Dr. Crossley was the Founder & Principal of BioVentures.ca, a venture management firm that provided support to early-stage companies, specializing in assisting start-ups in the Biotechnology space. BioVentures.ca also worked extensively with venture capital firms in the US and Canada, providing technical and business due diligence for potential investments. Dr. Crossley’s previous work experience included 5 years as CEO of Natrix Separations, a venture-backed biotech company based in Burlington, Ontario. In this role she raised $27 Million in venture capital financing, negotiated channel partner agreements with major multinational companies in the Life Sciences space and built a global customer base in the Biopharmaceutical, Veterinary Vaccine and Life Sciences Lab markets. Prior to Natrix Dr. Crossley directed global therapeutics manufacturing for Dyax Corp., a Boston-area biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Crossley holds a B.S.c. in Anatomy & Cell Biology from McGill University and a B.Sc.E. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University. Dr. Crossley is a licensed Professional Engineer in the province of Ontario.
Stefan Larson, Ph.D., OBIO Director
CEO, Tornado Medical Systems
Stefan Larson is President and CEO of Tornado Medical Systems, an early stage medical imaging device company, based in Thunder Bay. Prior to joining Tornado, Stefan worked at a global management consultancy serving leading players in the biotech, medical device, and advanced energy industries. He has degrees from McGill and University of Toronto, and completed his doctorate in Biophysics at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Prabh (Bob) Singh, OBIO Treasurer
Associate Partner, Price Waterhouse Coopers
Bob is an associate partner in PwC’s tax practice focusing on corporate income tax matters for both large and medium size businesses in Canada in the Greater Toronto Area. Bob has significant corporate tax experience in the areas of corporate income tax audits, tax treaties, cross-border planning, and corporate reorganizations.
In addition, Bob also helps his clients file claims for both federal and provincial incentives for Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) expenditures. He has been providing tax consulting services and delivering value for PwC’s clients for over 17 years. Bob has worked closely with many Canadian private companies as well as many large multinational companies, advising them on a variety of SR&ED matters including claims preparation, contract issues, CCPC structures, partnership structures, corporate tax harmonization and many other related SR&ED issues.
Bob joined PwC in 1994 after completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto and joined the tax practice in March, 1997. He obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in 1997.
Jeremy Grushcow, Ph.D., J.D., OBIO Secretary
Partner, Norton Rose
Jeremy is a partner in the Corporate group at Norton Rose OR LLP. His practice focuses on life science, cleantech and other technology-intensive transactions. He has represented pharmaceutical and biotech companies, private equity and VC firms and investment banks in connection with mergers and acquisitions, public and private offerings, licensing deals and other commercial agreements. Prior to joining Norton Rose, Mr. Grushcow practised at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in their Intellectual Property Transactions group and at Shearman & Sterling LLP in their Capital Markets group. In addition to his role as the Corporate Secretary to the Board of the Ontario Biosciences Industry Organization (OBIO), Jeremy is a member of the Genetics Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the founder of The Cross-Border Biotech Blog and has authored numerous publications in both legal and scientific journals including Counsel to Counsel, the Journal of Legal Studies and Genetics. Jeremy received a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and a J.D. from the University of Chicago, where he was awarded the John M. Olin Prize, given to the outstanding student in Law and Economics.
