adMare

Paul Buron

Chair of the Board, Former Executive Vice President, Government Mandate and Programs Management, Investissement Québec

Paul Buron has more than 30 years experience in financial management, risk management and business strategies, including as the Executive Vice-President, Government Mandates and Programs Management at Investissement Québec from 2017 to 2019, where he coordinated the full range of mandates, financial programs and tax measures administered by the organization on behalf of the Government of Québec through the Economic Development Fund (EDF).

From 2006 to 2017, Paul served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). Until 2016, he was also in charge of risk management for BDC. In 2011-2012, he held the post of Interim Executive Vice President, Financing and Consulting in addition to his other responsibilities.

Before joining the BDC team, Paul was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of TVA Group from 2000 to 2006. In that capacity, he was in charge of television operations and regional stations, IT services, investor relations and human resources.

He is Chairman of the Board of Oxfam-Québec, and is a member of the boards of Flying Whales inc, Kraft Nordic and Pliteq inc.

He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from HEC Montréal, and was a member of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec (CPA) for more than 30 years.

John DeLucchi

President & CEO, Madison Venture Corporation 

John is President & CEO of Madison Venture Corporation (Madison).  Madison is a diversified private company with interests in companies in several industries.  Madison employs approximately 2000 people in different markets in Canada and the US and serves customers and clients primarily in Canada, the US, and internationally.

Prior to joining Madison, John was a partner with PwC in BC from 1999 to 2020.  John has 35 years of experience with PwC where he served both private and public clients in several industries with operations in Canada, the US, Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa.
John was a member of PwC Canada’s National Board of Directors from 2018 to 2020 until he joined Madison.
John served as PwC’s Managing Partner for the BC Region from 2009 to 2017 and was a member of PwC’s National Extended Leadership Team for over 12 years. 

In addition to Managing Partner John held various leadership roles during his career at PwC including National Life Sciences Leader, National Technology Leader and National Consumer and Industrial Products Leader. John also started and led PwC’s National China Business Network which focused on working with clients to establish operations and/or invest in Canada and China.

While at PwC John primarily worked with growing companies advising them with respect to developing their business strategy, corporate governance matters and risk management.  He also advised his clients regarding complex financial reporting matters, internal controls, regulatory issues, raising capital both privately and publicly in Canada and the U.S as well as mergers & acquisitions.

John is currently on the Board of Directors of Canuck Place Children’s Hospice and was previously on the Board of Directors of Covenant House Vancouver.  John also served on the Board, Executive Committee and was Chair of the Audit Committee of the United Way of the Lower Mainland as well serving on the Board and Executive Committee of the BC Business Council.

Theresa Firestone

Director, Orion Biotechnology

Theresa Firestone is a global healthcare executive with over 35 years experience in retail, pharmaceuticals, health & wellness and government. Theresa is an accomplished business leader and has held senior leadership positions in Canada, Europe and Asia and led teams in 15 different countries.  Prior to retirement in 2021 Theresa was Senior Vice President, Health and Wellness at Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM), Canada’s largest retail pharmacy chain. Theresa was responsible for leading the company’s health and wellness initiatives including developing new growth strategies, the development and launch of the Health Clinics by Shoppers, dietitian services, pharmacy services including vaccines and the recently launched PC Health App.  Theresa was also responsible for leading several Shoppers businesses including MediSystem Pharmacies, Specialty Health Network, Sanis Health (a generic company owned and operated by SDM), 43 corporately owned Wellwise retail outlets, Medical Cannabis and the Beauty Clinic by Shoppers.  She has extensive P&L, strategy development and operations experience. 

Prior to joining Shoppers Drug Mart, Theresa was Regional President of Emerging Markets Asia with Pfizer Inc (Shanghai and HK) and had responsibility for a P&L of $1.4B and 13 countries in Asia.    

Theresa is currently a board member with Cybin Inc. (NEO:CYBN, NYSE: Cybin), , Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NASDAQ: ACB, TSX: ACB) and Orion Biotechnology.  She was a Corporate Director for Merus Labs International (TSE: MSL) from 2014-17 and has held board positions with several not-for-profit and industry organizations.     

Patricia Gauthier

Global Commercialization Head for Rare Diseases and Latent Viruses, Moderna

Patricia Gauthier joined Moderna in 2020 as President, General Manager to set up and lead Moderna’s Canadian organization. In about two years, she led the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to protect Canadians at the height of the pandemic while creating and negotiating a long-term partnership with the Canadian Government around pandemic preparedness, R&D collaboration and local biomanufacturing.  

In 2023, Patricia transitioned to a global role where she leads the Global Franchise for two of Moderna's most promising areas: the rare disease business and the latent vaccines portfolio. She oversees the development of global commercialization strategies for these products, from ensuring access to disease awareness and preparing for market entry. 

Previously, Patricia Gauthier spent 12 years with GSK, where her roles included Head of Vaccines Business and Head of Government Affairs and Market Access. She has lived in the United States, Singapore and France, and in London while working as a lawyer at McCarthy Tetrault. In addition to her legal studies, Patricia Gauthier holds an MBA from HEC Montreal, and certifications in Strategic Negotiation from Harvard Business School and Leadership in Context from IMD. She is involved in rethinking innovation and inspiring leadership, including with the Creative Destruction Lab, and is a board member of adMare BioInnovations, which fosters commercial opportunities for biotechnology innovations in Canada. 

Gordon C. McCauley

President & CEO, adMare BioInnovations

Gordon C. McCauley was appointed President and CEO of adMare BioInnovations in 2016 after four years on the Board. Gordon has demonstrated leadership in various roles, notably executive and investment management in public and private biotech companies and venture capital firms. Additionally, Gordon was a senior advisor to several prominent Canadian political leaders and has integrated this experience into his work within the life sciences sector.

Gordon is currently the Chair of CGEn, Canada's national genomics enterprise. He is an independent Director of Forus Therapeutics and Montreal InVivo. Gordon Co-Chairs the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Life Science Council and is actively engaged with the Canadian Public Policy Forum Life Sciences Leadership Table.

Previously, Gordon has been Chair of BIOTECanada, LifeSciences British Columbia, Acetech, and The Toronto Rehab Foundation. In 2008, he was the first Canadian to join the Board of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) in Washington, D.C., serving in leadership roles until 2013.

Gordon holds a B.A. in Political Science from McMaster University, an MBA (with honours) from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, and earned the ICD.D certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto. He is currently a doctoral candidate at Grenoble École de Management in Grenoble, France.

Tim van Biesen 

Head of the Global Healthcare Practice, Bain & Company

Tim van Biesen is the head of Bain’s Global Healthcare Practice; he is based in the New York office. Tim was previously a senior scientist in neuroscience research at Abbott Laboratories. He has more than 20 years of consulting experience in the healthcare industry, and more than 10 years experience in scientific research. 

Tim’s areas of expertise span the full range of healthcare sub-sectors, including manufacturers, payers, providers and services – with differential expertise in medical devices and pharmaceuticals (branded and generic). He has helped clients develop corporate growth strategy, R&D strategy, brand sales & marketing strategy, licensing and acquisitions, post merger integration and, manufacturing and supply chain strategy.  In addition to his work with corporate clients, Tim plays an active role in the firm’s advisory work for private equity investors in the healthcare sector.

Dr. van Biesen has published more than 30 academic research papers in peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and The Journal of Biological Chemistry – which have been cited >7000 times. He is an inventor on two patents covering four human genes (in neurological signaling) and has presented his research at international symposia.

He received his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and has a Ph.D. and B.Sc. in Molecular Microbiology from the University of Alberta. Tim conducted his post-doctoral fellowship at Duke University/Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the laboratory of Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz, the 2012 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.

Marc Rivière

General Partner and Chief Marketing Officer, TVM Capital Life Science

Marc joined TVM Life Science Management - a leading international venture capital firm focused on investments in life sciences innovation - in 2013 as General Partner and Chief Medical Officer. He focuses on evaluation of deal opportunities and investment management for therapeutics and medical devices. 

Prior to TVM, Marc was Vice-President, Axcan Pharma Inc., in charge of Clinical Development, Medical Affairs and Pharmacovigilance and a member of the Axcan Licensing Committee.  He also served as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development at Caprion Pharmaceuticals, Chief Medical Officer for Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., Managing Director of Xenon Genetics Inc., Vice President of Clinical Affairs, Aeterna Labs and Executive Vice President and Regional Director, Quintiles Inc.He practices Medecine for a decade in France and the Middle East prior to joining the Industry.

Marc is a director of several private companies and serves on the not-for-profit boards of Catalis and AdMare.

Marc received his Tropical Disease Medicine Certification from Université Bordeaux II, and his Medicine Doctorate from Université Paul Sabatier inToulouse.