Management
Dr. Merchant has over 20 years of progressive experience as a scientist, consultant, entrepreneur and senior biotech executive. His entrepreneurial activities commenced in 1992 with the establishment of a consulting firm, Avicenna Medica, Inc. In 1994, he co-founded a spin-off contract manufacturing company (INTELLIgene Expressions) and built it into one of the fastest growing companies in Alberta. In 1999 the City of Edmonton awarded Dr Merchant the Ambassadors Award for his contributions to the high tech industry. By strategic in-licensing of targeted toxins he transformed Avicenna from a small consulting firm to a $90 million company. He sold Avicenna in 2001 to KS Biomedix plc (LSE) where he was their Chief Technology Officer (until 2002) and a Board member until its subsequent sale to Xenova (LSE and Nasdaq). Dr. Merchant’s educational background includes a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario.
Dr. Samuel Denmeade is co-inventor of PRX302, Protox’s lead candidate for the treatment of prostate cancer and BPH. He is Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and also a member of the Chemical Therapeutics Program within the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. He has an active clinical practice in genitourinary oncology and has been the principal investigator in several clinical trials in addition to being a co-investigator in a large number of trials conducted by the Genitourinary Oncology Clinical Group at Johns Hopkins. Dr Denmeade has published over 50 papers based on his laboratory research most of them focused in the development of targeted therapies for prostate cancer. Dr. Denmeade has been the recipient of several research awards including those from the NIH, the Department of Defense, the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Biochemistry from Columbia University and earned his MD at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He received his residency training at the University of Chicago before his fellowship training in medical oncology at Johns Hopkins. Dr Denmeade is a member of the Editorial Board of the journal, The Prostate.
Mr. Parkinson has cross-industry experience in the management of high growth, dynamic global companies. Previously, he was Vice President, Finance at Aspreva Pharmaceuticals, a rapidly growing public company formed in 2003 and recently sold to a diversified European healthcare group for over $1 billion. He was a key factor in Aspreva’s TSX and NASDAQ $100 million IPO in 2005, the largest in Canadian healthcare history. Mr. Parkinson co-chaired the Joint Finance Committee with partner Hoffman-La Roche, which held the responsibility for managing the financial elements of their $1.7 billion annual revenue sharing and collaboration agreement. Previously, he focused on financial, high-tech and public company practices during his 10 years with KPMG. He is a member of the Audit and Finance Committee of VIATeC, (the Vancouver Island Advanced Technology Society) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia.
Mr. Parkinson is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan where he received a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts in Economics.
Ms. Merchant has held a variety of positions at Connaught Laboratories, Vetrepharm, Pharmacia Biotech, IBEX Technologies and ARC Biotech. Over the past 12 years she has been actively involved in the development of four targeted toxins for the treatment of cancer, including TransMID, a targeted toxin for the treatment of brain cancers. Following the acquisition of Intelligene by KS Biomedix in 2001, she became VP of International Regulatory Affairs, where she was responsible for securing fast track designation (FDA) and orphan drug status (EMEA and FDA) for TransMID. She is an internationally respected professional in the areas of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs. Her education includes a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Pharmacology from Aston University and an M.E.Sc. Biochemical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario.
Mr. D’Orazio is a pharmaceutical executive who brings 19 years of industry experience to Protox. His past responsibilities include management of commercial partnerships, strategic marketing, pipeline valuation and strategic planning. Most recently he was employed as Vice President of Strategic Marketing at Sonus Pharmaceuticals where he managed the commercial relationship with the oncology unit of Bayer Schering AG. He also was in charge of the commercial planning for Sonus’ entire pipeline of clinical-stage and pre-clinical oncology products. Prior to his employment with Sonus, Mr. D’Orazio spent five years with QLT managing their global marketing relationship with Novartis, and as the commercial lead on their oncology and ocular in-licensing teams. Mr. D’Orazio came to QLT after spending six years at Pharmacia’s (now Pfizer) global headquarters where he was instrumental in planning the launch of a new business unit that had responsibility for a portfolio of products for pituitary tumors and related neuroendocrine diseases. Mr. D’Orazio’s first experience in oncology dates back 19 years to when he was employed by Immunex (now Amgen). He holds a bachelors degree in Chemistry from Loyola University of Chicago and an M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Fidai brings 10 years of progressive management experience in the biotechnology industry to Protox Therapeutics. He has broad experience in commercializing therapeutic products and technologies. His responsibilities have ranged from product development to strategic planning to structuring and negotiating a variety of corporate partnerships, including product and technology licenses with Pfizer, Centocor and Cambridge Antibody Technology. Most recently, he was Director of Business Development at Chromos Molecular Systems. Previous to Chromos, he was a member of the management team at Xenon Pharmaceuticals and prior to that, worked as a discovery scientist at MIGENIX. Dr. Fidai received his PhD in Biochemistry from Simon Fraser University.
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