Claude Piche, DVM, MSc
Board Chair; Co-Creator and CEO, Locemia Solutions
As Co-Founder, President and CEO of Locemia Solutions, Dr. Piché led the company from start up through to completion of phase III clinical studies, ultimately resulting in the sale of its glucagon nasal powder technology to Eli Lilly in October 2015. He has over 25 years of experience in developing and commercializing pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and diagnostics, including more than 15 years where he focused on diabetes therapeutics and hypoglycemia-related technologies. He has worked at large companies such as Merck, as well as start-up biopharmaceutical companies where he had roles in research, regulatory affairs, marketing, and operations.
Chris Garabedian
Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund
Chris Garabedian founded Xontogeny in June of 2016 to support multiple promising technologies from early development through clinical proof of concept. In 2017, Chris joined Perceptive Advisors to develop their Venture Fund strategy and launched the Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund in 2018 to support early stage companies seeded and incubated at Xontogeny and other ventures.
Chris has a broad base of experience and a track record of success over his decades long experience in the biopharma industry. Chris served as the President and CEO of Sarepta Therapeutics from 2011 to 2015, overseeing the turnaround of a company that is now a commercial stage leader in the genetic technology space after leading the development of the company’s Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy program. Prior to Sarepta, Chris led Corporate Strategy for Celgene from 2007 to 2010. Prior to Celgene, Chris served in a number of global commercial and corporate development leadership roles at Gilead from 1997 to 2005.
Chris serves on a number of Boards of life sciences companies and speaks at industry conferences on a wide range of important issues. Chris is also on the Board of Directors of MassBio and serves as a Senior Advisor for the Boston Consulting Group.
Fred Callori
Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund
Fred joined Xontogeny in September 2017 as SVP, Corporate Development. Fred’s responsibilities include due diligence, deal structuring and negotiation, company formation, and the operational oversight and management of Xontogeny’s seed investments. He provides corporate governance, transactional and strategic advice to Xontogeny’s portfolio of companies and serves on several portfolio company Boards. In 2018, Fred joined the Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund to support fund investments, including continued investments in companies seeded and incubated at Xontogeny.
Prior to joining Xontogeny, Fred was a Partner in the Life Science and Emerging Companies practices of Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP, a Boston law firm ranked among the most active firms worldwide for private equity and venture capital deals. During his 20-year tenure at Choate, Fred developed deep expertise in the formation, structure, financing and overall corporate development of early stage and emerging life science companies, including representing leading venture capital and institutional investment firms focused on investing in the sector.
Fred holds a JD from Boston University School of Law and a BA in Economics from Binghamton University.
Michael R. Martin
Chief Operating Officer of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Michael R. Martin is the current Chief Operating Officer of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc., and has over 23 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Michael co-founded Aurinia taking it from a small privately held company in 2013 to a publicly listed company worth nearly half a billion dollars. Having held various previous senior commercial positions with extensive experience executing complex business transactions as well as raising capital, Michael was also a key member of the business development team that saw Aspreva sold to Galenica for $915M.
Michael Midmer, MSc, MBA
Chief Executive Officer, Zucara Therapeutics
Michael is the Chief Executive Officer of Zucara and has over 20 years of experience in the life science industry, fund management, corporate finance and therapeutic development. Michael has been CEO of Zucara Therapeutics since 2016 and has advanced the company from preclinical discovery into Phase 2 clinical trials securing over US$30 million in capital.
Michael was previously an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at TIAP (Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners) providing management support to its portfolio companies. Michael also managed an industry/academia focused funding program with Genome Canada and spent nearly a decade with Rosetta Capital, an international venture capital firm.
Michael has an MSc in molecular biology from the University of Toronto (Canada) and an MBA from Imperial College Business School (UK).