People
Executive Team
Robert YoungFounder & President
• 30+ years leading discovery at Merck resulting in $80B+ in revenue from development of Singulair®. Vioxx®, Arcoxia®, Previcox®, Tredaptive® and odanacatib • Recipient of Heros of Chemistry award and the Order of Canada award • Two time recipient of Prix Galien (UK and Canada)
Jon PolakCEO
• Head of Business Development at Novateur Ventures • Founder and former CEO of Datapoint Diagnostics • Co-founder of C7bio • Deep international experience in clinical development, financing, regulatory strategy, pharmaceutical partnerships, recruiting angel investors, asset sale and patenting • Speaks 5 languages having lived and worked in China, Israel, Brazil, US & Canada.
Michael UnderhillCo-founder & Chief Science Officer
• Leading foundational research on mechanisms underlying bone formation • Co-founder of Corigen and Nexigen • Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at UBC
Anand MehtaChief Medical Officer
• Dr. Mehta is a board certified endocrinologist from UC San Francisco currently practicing at Stanford Medical Partners. He has served as Principal Investigator on numerous clinical trials across a range of metabolic conditions. He currently serves as Senior Advisor to the Lazard Global Healthcare Group. Previously he was with the investment banking team at Lazard advising biopharma companies on financial and strategic options. He has an MD from UC San Francisco where he was a Fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in molecular neuroscience and has a BA from UC Berkeley in molecular biology.
Peter SavasExecutive Chairman
• Serial CEO with 8 positive exists for shareholders • Current CEO of Likeminds • Formerly CEO of Alseres Pharma • Chairman and CEO of Aderis Pharmaceuticals, developer of the Neupro® transdermal patch marketed worldwide to treat Parkinson’s disease • Chairman and CEO of Unisyn, a cGMP contract manufacturer of biologics for clinical trials • leadership positions with Bristol Meyers, Waters, Millipore, Genex and Zymark.
Advisors
David Thompson PhD
• EVP at Alexion and global lead of asfotase alfa (Stensiq) program for the treatment of hypophosphatasia • Executive director at Pfizer leading osteoporosis research and frailty; discovered, developed and commercialized lasofoxifene (Fablyn) • Started career at Merck under the leadership of Gideon Rodan where he developed and commercialized Fosamax.
Navdeep Tangri MD
• Attending physician and Associate Professor in Nephrology at the University of Manitoba • advised Tricida on developing metabolic acidosis as a surrogate end point resulting in NDA for accelerated approval in renal disease • developed and validated the Kidney Failure Risk Equation to predict the need for dialysis in patients with CKD • conducting large prospective study on frailty, physical and cognitive function in advanced CKD, as well as leading a multinational randomized trial on the safety and efficacy of a new therapy in this population • published over 200 manuscripts and presented at multiple national and international scientific meetings, and is a recipient of the CIHR New Investigator Award and a CIHR Foundation grant.
Roland Baron DDS PhD
Dr. Roland Baron, is a professor at the Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and chair of oral medicine at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Formerly, Dr Baron was professor of orthopedics and cell biology at Yale University School of Medicine and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the International Bone and Mineral Society. Between 1994 and 2002 was vice-president and head of the bone diseases group at Hoechst Marion Roussel and then Aventis. Prof. Baron has published over 300 scientific papers in the field of bone biology and bone diseases.
Michael Glogauer DDS
• 20+ years of experience in clinical periodontal treatment and dental implants • Leading research understanding the mechanisms underlying bone destruction • Leading development of novel approaches to rebuild lost alveolar bone prior to dental implant placement • Professor of Dentistry at University of Toronto
Marc Grynpas PhD
• Director of Bone and Mineral Group and Professor of Laboratory Medicine at University of Toronto • Senior Scientist at Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute • 30 years of research into the determinants of bone quality and fragility • Investigating new calcium phosphate based biomaterials for skeletal tissue engineering
Zeeshan Sheikh DDS PhD
• Dr. Sheikh is both a dental clinician and a biomaterials scientist. His expertise lies in developing novel biomaterials for bone grafting and alveolar ridge augmentation. He is currently a resident in periodontics & implant surgery at Dalhousie University. He has clinical experience in dental surgery as well as 40+ publications in peer-reviewed journals. His previous training was at Queen Mary University of London, McGill University and University of Toronto.
Founders
Ian McBeathFounding CEO
• More than 30 years experience in the biopharmaceutical industry serving in senior executive and CEO positions in “blue-chip” biopharmaceutical companies in both Europe and North America. Range of responsibilities has encompassed: drug discovery, research, clinical development and regulatory submissions, through to sales and marketing.
Pieter Cullis PhD
• Developer of Partisiran, the first RNAi gene therapy medicine in phase 3 trial • Recipient of Prix Galien Canada (2011) and Bill and Marilyn Webber Lifetime Achievement Award • Leading 4 decades of fundamental research on drug delivery systems • More than 300 scientific articles and over 30 patents • Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UBC • Co Founder, president and director of Canadian Liposome Company Inc. (CIC)
Fabio Rossi PhD
• Recipient of the Foundation Grant • Founder of the BC regenerative Medicine Network • Leading foundational research on the role of stem cells in skeletal muscle regeneration and bone repair • Professor of Medical Genetics and director of Biomedical Research Center at UBC
