Vancouver, Canada, Dec. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian life sciences company, Ondine Biomedical, has appointed a new Board of Directors with considerable medtech and pharma expertise following its listing on the London AIM market. Key appointments include the Honourable Jean Charest, former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, as Chairman, and Dr. Junaid Bajwa, the Chief Medical Scientist at Microsoft Research. Carolyn Cross, Founder and CEO of Ondine, and Nicolas G. Loebel, PhD, President and Chief Technology Officer, will remain on the Board.
Ondine is at the forefront of development of photodisinfection-based therapies to address the large and growing need for solutions to a broad spectrum infections, including drug-resistant strains. Its lead product, Steriwave™, is a photodisinfection-based medical device to decolonize the nose of harmful pathogens that can lead to healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Steriwave has been deployed in Canadian hospitals for over ten years and has contributed to significant reductions in infection rates.
The Honourable Jean Charest - Chairman
The new Chairman of the Board, the Honourable Jean Charest, is the former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and the former Premier of the Province of Quebec. With a public service career spanning almost 30 years, Mr. Charest is one of Canada’s best-known political figures; he was first elected to the House of Commons in 1984 and, at age 28, became Canada’s youngest cabinet minister. Mr. Charest is a Partner with McCarthy Thetrault and remains active in public policy and community activities.
Jean Duvall - Non-executive Director and Senior Independent Director
Jean Duvall joins Ondine as non-executive Director and Senior Independent Director. Ms. Duvall is Co-Founder and was Chair of cell and gene therapy specialist, Trizell Holding, and initiated and drove Ferring’s entry into gene and cell therapy by leading the acquisition of assets and founding of Trizell.
Dr. Junaid Bajwa - Non-executive Director
Dr. Junaid Bajwa joins as a non-executive Director. Dr. Bajwa is the Chief Medical Scientist at Microsoft Research and a practising NHS physician. He was previously the Global Lead for Strategic Alliances and Solutions for the Global Digital Centre of Excellence at Merck Sharp & Dohme, and also co-founded “VelocityHealth” as Europe’s first prevention focused digital-health accelerator, in partnership with Telefonica.
Mike Farrar - Non-executive Director
Management consultant and ex. NHS Confederation CEO Mike Farrar also joins as a non-executive Director. Mr. Farrar stepped down as the Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation in September 2013 and remains a prominent thought leader and consultant to the NHS. He has worked as an independent consultant, with clients such as Celesio, RCGP, ABPI, NHS Quest, NHS Leadership Academy, Health Foundation, Pfizer, CIPFA, as well as starting up a number of small companies aimed at promoting health innovations.
Dr. Simon Sinclair - Non-executive Director
Dr. Simon Sinclair is appointed a non-executive Director. Dr. Sinclair is a senior executive physician scientist with over 15 years’ pharma, medtech and consumer healthcare industry experience. He is currently Chief Safety Officer at Reckitt. Dr. Sinclair was previously at Johnson and Johnson Medical Devices, first as International Clinical Director, then leading Medical Affairs for its EMEA region. Prior to this, Dr. Sinclair led translational medicine efforts and the early clinical development at Merck and Co (MSD) in the USA.
Craig Tooman - Non-executive Director
Finally, Craig Tooman is also appointed as non-executive Director. Mr. Tooman has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including 15 years of experience as a public company CFO. He is currently CFO at Silence Therapeutics, and recently served as CFO and COO at Vyome Therapeutics. Prior to this Mr. Tooman was CFO and then CEO of Aratana Therapeutics where he successfully negotiated a merger with Elanco.
Mr. Tooman also previously held key positions at Pharmacia and Upjohn, and currently serves on the Supervisory Board and Audit Committee of CureVac, which accomplished a highly successful IPO on Nasdaq in August of 2020.
For further Information, contact:
Ondine Biomedical Inc.
Carolyn Cross, CEO +1 604 669 0555
Arden Partners plc
Nominated Adviser and Broker +44 (0)20 7614 5900
Ruari McGirr / Antonio Bossi
Vane Percy & Roberts
Financial PR
Simon Vane Percy +44 (0) 1737 821891
About Ondine Biomedical Inc.
Ondine Biomedical Inc. is a Canadian headquartered, medical device company led by founder and CEO, Carolyn Cross. Ondine has developed a patented, painless, photodisinfection technology platform used in treatment and prevention therapies for a broad-spectrum of pathogens – including multidrug-resistant strains. Photodisinfection is a targeted antimicrobial which uses non-thermal light to activate a photosensitive agent. In a few minutes, this light-based therapy destroys the pathogens’ cell membranes and surface proteins through an oxidative burst without any impact on human tissue. Link to video
Ondine has a pipeline of products, based on its patent protected photodisinfection platform, in various stages of development. Products include treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis, decolonisation of infections in burns and wounds, disinfection of endotracheal tubes to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia and most recently, the development of topical antiviral therapy for the upper respiratory tract to reduce viral titres and transmission of respiratory viruses (e.g., SARS-CoV-2, influenza, RSV, etc.). Ondine’s technology is approved in a number of jurisdictions and has been awarded the CE mark, as well as Qualified Infectious Disease Product and Fast Track status in the US by the FDA.
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