Management
Bob Rieder, MBA
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Rieder is Cardiome’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman and has also previously served as Cardiome’s Vice-Chairman. He joined Cardiome in April 1998 as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Rieder has extensive experience in venture capital and in operational management. Prior to joining Cardiome, Mr. Rieder was Vice-President at MDS Ventures Pacific Inc., the Vancouver-based affiliate of MDS Capital Corp., and has served as a director for nine public and private technology companies. Mr. Rieder has also acted as Chief Operating Officer for DBA Telecom Inc., and CEO for Synapse Technologies Inc. Mr. Rieder received his MBA from the University of Western Ontario.
Doug Janzen
President, Chief Business Officer, & Director
Mr. Janzen is Cardiome’s President and Chief Business Officer. Mr. Janzen manages all of Cardiome’s business activities, including capital markets, commercial development, partnering, licensing and other strategic transactions. Mr. Janzen joined Cardiome in 2003 as Chief Financial Officer. He has been instrumental to the advancement of Cardiome’s corporate development and the strengthening of its financial position. Prior to joining Cardiome, Mr. Janzen served as Managing Director, Health Sciences and Partner at Sprott Securities, Inc., a Toronto-based investment bank.
Curtis Sikorsky, CA
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Sikorsky is Cardiome’s Chief Financial Officer, with responsibility for overseeing the company’s financial operations. He joined Cardiome in June 2006, bringing over ten years of public and private company experience as well as three years of direct audit and tax experience. Prior to joining Cardiome, he was Vice President of Finance at NxtPhase T&D Corporation, a private Vancouver-based energy technology company. He has also held senior financial roles including Vice President and Corporate Controller with 360networks inc. and Corporate Controller with WIC Western International Communications. Mr. Sikorsky began his career with KPMG performing audit, tax and accounting work for major clients. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Saskatchewan.
Charles Fisher, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Executive Vice President Clinical & Regulatory Affairs
Dr. Fisher is Cardiome’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Fisher has over 20 years of experience in clinical research trials and Phase I to IV drug development. He was most recently divisional Vice President of Global Pharmaceutical Development at Abbott Laboratories Limited, responsible for the global development of pharmaceuticals, biologics and drug coated medical devices. Prior to Abbott Laboratories Limited, he was an Executive Director and Clinical Research Fellow at Eli Lilly & Co. During his time with Eli Lilly & Co., he was responsible for developing business strategy for critical care, cardiovascular, inflammation and bio-products, therapeutics areas, identification of disease state targets, and business development. Prior to joining industry, Dr. Fisher had a distinguished career as Professor and Head of Critical Care Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He has personally designed, conducted and executed over 20 clinical trials as Principal Investigator. From 1977-1997, Dr. Fisher held various professor and director positions at the University of Manitoba, the University of California at Davis Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Donald A. McAfee, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. McAfee is Cardiome’s Chief Scientific Officer. He joined Cardiome in October 2004 as Vice President of New Product Development. He has been a scientist and manager in academia and industry for more than 40 years. As Founder, CEO, and CTO of Aderis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly Discovery Therapeutics, Inc.), Dr. McAfee led the introduction of a number of clinical candidates including a therapeutic patch for Parkinson’s disease now marketed, and adenosine receptor based cardiovascular therapeutics and diagnostics still in development.
Karim Lalji
Senior Vice President, Commercial Affairs
Karim Lalji is Cardiome’s Senior Vice President, Commercial Affairs. Bringing over 16 years of experience in pharmaceutical business strategy, product commercialization and marketing to Cardiome, Mr. Lalji was previously Vice President of Business Strategy and New Product Commercialization at Sepracor, Inc. At Sepracor, Inc., he was responsible for the commercial success of their pipeline of drug candidates, including identifying which products to take into development and ensuring that the development program and marketing strategy resulted in successful product launches. One of the key achievements for Mr. Lalji at Sepracor, Inc. was his leadership in the development and launch of Lunesta (eszopiclone) for the treatment of insomnia. Mr. Lalji’s earlier experience includes ten years with Merck & Company, where he led several successful product launches. Mr. Lalji also has cardiovascular experience from Merck & Company as the Director of Business Strategy for the cholesterol reducers and hypertension/heart failure franchises. Mr. Lalji is currently a member of the Board of Overseers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, an academic teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School. Mr. Lalji holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and a Science Masters in Health Policy and Management from Harvard University. He was awarded the Wilinsky Prize for Academic Excellence while at Harvard.
Gregory N. Beatch, Ph.D.
Vice President, Scientific Affairs
Dr. Beatch is Cardiome's Vice President of Scientific Affairs. He joined Cardiome in September 1996 as Head of Pharmacology, acted as Vice-President of Research from June 1997 and currently acts as Vice-President, Scientific Affairs. He has more than 10 years of expertise and experience working in the area of ion-channel modulating pharmaceuticals. Dr. Beatch formerly held the position of Research Scientist for the Drugs Directorate of the HPB, the equivalent of the US FDA. In this capacity, Dr. Beatch was actively involved in the new drug submission and approval process. Dr. Beatch has also held Assistant Professorship in Cardiology & Pharmacology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.
Guy F. Cipriani, MBA
Vice President, Business Development
Mr. Cipriani is Cardiome's Vice President of Business Development. He joined Cardiome in October 2005 with broad pharmaceutical and biotech business development experience across multiple therapeutic areas. Most recently, Mr. Cipriani served as Director of Business Development for TransForm Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotech company based in Lexington, MA that was acquired by Johnson and Johnson in April 2005. Prior to TransForm, Mr. Cipriani worked for 5 years in Corporate Business Development at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, IN and previously as a management consultant with Accenture in Chicago, IL. Mr. Cipriani holds a B.S.E.E., High Honors from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Sheila M. Grant, MBA
Vice President, Product Development - vernakalant
Ms. Grant is Cardiome's Vice President of Product Development for vernakalant. She is responsible for the overall management of the vernakalant (iv) and vernakalant (oral) programs. She has overseen development of vernakalant from its initial toxicology studies as a clinical candidate in 1999, through to its current stage of development. Ms. Grant’s past roles at Cardiome have included Vice President, Commercial Affairs and Director of Business & Clinical Development. Prior to joining Cardiome, Ms. Grant acted as business consultant to De Novo Enzyme Corporation and Coopers & Lybrand. Ms. Grant also worked in research and development, production, and quality assurance with Schering Agrochemicals U.K., Wellcome Biotechnologies U.K. and Serono Diagnostics U.K. respectively. Ms. Grant holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree from Essex University, U.K. and an MBA degree from Simon Fraser University.
Taryn Boivin, Ph.D.
Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences & Manufacturing
Dr. Boivin is Cardiome's Vice President of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Manufacturing. Dr. Boivin has over 18 years of Pharmaceutical Development experience in both multi-national and start-up pharmaceutical operations. Early in her career, Dr. Boivin was a member of the Glaxo Canada Pharmaceutical Development organization, or GSK, and was instrumental in growing the operation into a world-class research and development facility. While at GSK, Dr. Boivin’s work involved progression of development programmes in a wide range of areas including treatments for oncology related emesis, HIV, malaria, ulcers, and asthma. Following 11 years with GSK, Dr. Boivin assumed the responsibility of Business Manager, Life Sciences at Agilent Technologies Inc. (formerly Hewlett Packard) where she led a sales, service, and marketing operation in Central and Western Canada. More recently, she was Principal of Level 10 BioSciences Ltd., a privately held consulting company on the West Coast, and just prior to joining Cardiome, was Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development at Oncogenex Technologies Inc. in Vancouver. Her experience spans Analytical Development, Pharmaceutical Development, CMC Regulatory Affairs, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing and Business Development. Dr. Boivin holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Alberta and a BSc. from Simon Fraser University.