Robert DuFresne, MBA
President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Mr. DuFresne is the President and CEO of Pacgen since March 2007. He was most recently President and CEO of Zelos Therapeutics Inc, and prior to that President and CEO at ConjuChem Inc. He has over 25 years of experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. His background includes functional responsibilities in the areas of business development, finance, and general management. Mr. DuFresne also held the positions of President and CEO at ConjuChem Inc., and President and COO at Anika Therapeutics. Mr. DuFresne's pharmaceutical industry experience includes senior management positions at the Canadian subsidiary of Boots Pharmaceutical, and at Baxter International.
Mr. DuFresne received his B.A. and M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Christina Yip, BBA, CMA
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Secretary
Ms. Yip has been the CFO and Secretary of the Company since April 2006. Prior to joining Pacgen, Ms. Yip acted as Vice President of Finance and Administration and Assistant Corporate Secretary to Cardiome Pharma Corp. ("Cardiome"), a life sciences company listed on the TSX and the NASDAQ National Market. Ms. Yip was integrally involved in various corporate finance activities including TSX listing, NASDAQ listing, acquisition of two US life sciences companies, and various public and private financings. Prior to joining Cardiome, Ms. Yip acted as Chief Accountant to West African Minerals Group, a group of mining companies listed on the Exchange and as an articling accountant to Cinnamon, Jang, Willoughby & Company, Chartered Accountants.
Ms. Yip received her Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) degree from Simon Fraser University and her professional accounting degree from the Certified Management Accountants of BC.
Fred Huang, BA, MBA
Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Mr. Huang is the co-founder of the Company and has been the Senior Vice President and COO of the Company since April 2006. Prior to his promotion to Senior Vice President and COO, Mr. Huang served as Chief Financial Officer and Secretary from April 2004 to April 2006. Mr. Huang has extensive North American and Asian business experience. Prior to joining Pacgen, Mr. Huang was a Senior Financial Advisor with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Investor Services Inc. ("CIBC") in Vancouver, British Columbia from September 1997 to October 2002. From October 2002 to April 2004, Mr. Huang was the Chief Financial Officer of Cytocan Biotechnology Inc. Prior to joining CIBC, he held senior management positions with President Enterprises Inc.
Mr. Huang received his Bachelor of Engineering (Metallurgical) from the National Taipei Technology University and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Southern California.
Jasmina Markov, BSc. Pharm, RAC
Director of Drug Development
Mrs. Markov has been Director of Drug Development of the Company since March 2005. Prior to joining Pacgen, she was a Manager of Regulatory Affairs at INEX Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Inex), Vancouver, British Columbia, where she gained experience in the FDA approval process. Previous to Inex, Mrs. Markov was Head of Regulatory Affairs at Merck Pty (Ltd.), Johannesburg, South Africa, where she gained her initial drug development, clinical and regulatory experience.
Mrs. Markov received her Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from the University of Ciril and Metodius, Skopje, Macedonia.
Lewis Choi, Ph.D.
Vice President, Research
Dr. Choi has been VP, Research, overseeing and management of all aspect of research and intellectual properties effective April 1, 2007. Prior to joining Pacgen, Dr. Choi acted as intellectual property and research consultant to various biopharmaceutical companies including Cardiome, Verona Pharma and Pacgen. Previous to this, Dr. Choi acted as Director of Intellectual Property to Cardiome. Dr. Choi held various management and research positions in both industry and academia settings including Inex Pharmaceuticals and University of British Columbia. He also co-founded a contract research organization, Northern Lipids Inc.
Dr. Choi received his Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Chemistry and Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of London, United Kingdom. He is a co-inventor of over thirty issued patents and pending patent applications and co-author of over forty scientific publications and presentations.