Mr. David J. Main
President & CEO
Mr. Main has over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry and brings a demonstrated ability to grow and finance pharmaceutical development companies. Mr. Main was formerly the President and CEO of INEX Pharmaceuticals Corp. from July 1999 until June 2005. From September 1996 until his appointment as CEO, he was the Company’s Vice President, Corporate Development. While President and CEO, Mr. Main led the transformation of INEX from a research driven to a product focused biopharmaceutical company, advancing product development to the NDA stage and securing several significant pharmaceutical partnerships and over $100 million in equity financings. Prior to joining INEX, Mr. Main was a Vice President at QLT Inc. of Vancouver. Mr. Main was formerly a licensed pharmacist at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, B.C. He holds a B.Sc. (Pharmacy) and an MBA from the University of British Columbia (UBC). In 2002, Mr. Main formerly served as the Chair of LifeSciences BC (formerly BC Biotech) and currently serves on a number of private and not-for-profit Boards.
Dr. Thomas MacRury, Ph.D.
EVP & Chief Operating Officer
Dr. MacRury has over 30 years experience in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry and brings a demonstrated ability to lead and manage large R&D teams and industrial partners. Dr. MacRury was formerly the Senior Vice President, Operations at INEX Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for early clinical strategy (Phase I/II), CMC aspects of all INEX products in preclinical and clinical development, business development, technology development, intellectual property, and marketing activities. Dr. MacRury developed full GMP processes, including passing FDA audits, for the manufacturing and release of products and played a key role in the joint development programs with partners. Prior to joining INEX, Dr. MacRury was Senior Vice President and CTO at Pitman Moore where he was responsible for worldwide R&D activities including research, product development, registration and support, process development, quality assurance (GLP, GMP), and government affairs. Dr. MacRury directed technical staff of over 350 scientists with major R&D facilities in the United States, England, Australia, and New Zealand. He was also responsible for R&D investment, intellectual property, technology acquisition, and technical strategic planning. Dr. MacRury held previous technical and management positions at Union Carbide and International Minerals Corp and obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Csaba Szabó, M.D., Ph.D.
VP Research & Chief Scientific Officer
A scientific thought leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, Dr. Szabó has over 15 years of research and development experience in small molecule drug development against unique targets and varied indications including inflammation. Dr. Szabó joins Aquinox most recently from Ikaria, where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer and led the strategic design and implementation of accelerated development activities for the company’s preclinical- and clinical-stage compounds. Prior to his time at Ikaria, Dr. Szabó was a co-founder of Inotek Pharmaceuticals where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. He has successfully directed the development of innovative research concepts, drug candidates, is a co-author of over 500 peer-reviewed publications, and is a co-inventor on over 20 issued or pending patents. Dr. Szabó has held academic positions at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the University of Cincinnati and also holds a Visiting Professorship at the University of Texas. He received his M.D. and a Ph.D. in Physiology from Semmelweis University Medical School, Budapest, and received a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of London, England. Dr. Szabó has received several scientific awards including the Novartis Award of the British Pharmacological Society and is listed by Thomson Reuters as one of the top 10 most cited pharmacologists in the world.
Dr. David Chernoff, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Chernoff combines the perspective of a practicing clinician with subspecialty training in rheumatology and infectious diseases with decades of biopharma industry experience. Dr. Chernoff trained in internal medicine at UCSF and was Assistant Chief of Medicine. From 1990-2000, he was Medical Director of Chiron Diagnostics, playing a pivotal role in the development of assays for HIV, HCV, HBV, and CMV. He then moved to Elan as VP of Corporate Technology, where he led the evaluation of a broad range of in-licensing opportunities. He recently spent two years as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and one year as an operating partner at the venture firm TPG, where he was actively involved in due diligence and in incubating new companies. Dr. Chernoff has been the acting Chief Medical Officer of several startup biotech companies including XDX, CardioDx, Replidyne, Tethys Biosciences, Neuromolecular Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Chernoff received a B.S. in Biology from Yale, an M.D. from New York University, and his medical training in internal medicine, rheumatology, and infectious disease at UCSF. He has lectured broadly and published dozens of peer-reviewed articles.
Mr. Kamran Alam
VP Finance & Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Alam has over 12 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry and brings a demonstrated ability to finance and identify strategic opportunities for biotechnology companies. Mr. Alam was most recently the Senior Director, Business Development of Sirius Genomics where he worked directly with the CEO playing a lead role in planning and executing the company’s business and financial strategy. Previously he has held senior business roles at the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), Angiotech Pharmaceuticals and AnorMED. Mr. Alam started his career as a Chartered Accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) as a member of their Life Sciences Practice and gained valuable experience in the financing, auditing and tax structuring of a number of biotechnology and technology companies. Mr. Alam’s diverse industry experience has provided him with an opportunity to participate in numerous and varied finance transactions, partnering deals and mergers and acquisitions in the U.S.A., Canada, Europe, and Asia. In addition to his CA designation, Mr. Alam possesses an MBA in International Business and Strategy from the University of Victoria as well as a B.Sc. in Cell Biology and Genetics from the University of British Columbia.
Mr. Lloyd Mackenzie
Senior Director, Technical Operations
Mr. Mackenzie joined Aquinox in May 2008 as Manager, Technical Operations and was promoted to Director in December of 2008. Responsible for the company’s Research and Development activities, Mr. Mackenzie has over 12 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry with expertise in medicinal chemistry, biochemistry and CMC. He is the author of 15 scientific publications and is an inventor on four patents. Prior to joining Aquinox, Mr. Mackenzie was a Research Scientist for Pharmaceutical Development at QLT Inc.. Prior to that, Mr. Mackenzie was a Research Scientist at Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Dr. Patrick Tam, Ph.D.
Director, Product Development
Dr. Tam joined in Aquinox in November 2009 as Director of Product Development, bringing with him over 15 years of experience in various stages of drug development. Prior to joining Aquinox, Dr. Tam was the Director of Nonclinical Safety Assessment at Forbes Medi-Tech where he was involved in the development of molecules for metabolic and inflammatory lung diseases, and oncological indications. Before that, he spent a decade at INEX where he focused on the preclinical pharmacology and toxicology of various agents in discovery and clinical development. Dr. Tam has a Ph.D. from the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at University of British Columbia.