adMare BioInnovations Appoints Dr. Youssef Bennani as Venture Partner
June 03 2019
Vancouver, BC and Montreal, QC: adMare BioInnovations, a pan-Canadian life sciences enterprise with global reach, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Youssef Bennani as a Venture Partner. adMare BioInnovations was recently created by joining the resources of CDRD, Canada’s national life sciences venture and NEOMED Institute, a leading not-for-profit R&D organization, to support a truly sustainable life sciences industry commensurate with Canada’s research leadership.
With more than 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D leadership and management, serving most recently as Site Head and Vice President of R&D at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., Dr. Bennani will be based in Montreal, and responsible for overseeing and advancing a portfolio of drug development and commercialization projects through management of a multi-disciplinary scientific and business team.
Gordon C. McCauley, President and CEO of adMare BioInnovations said, “We are excited to begin this new journey with Dr. Bennani at adMare. His strong business and scientific background, and extensive expertise in commercial drug development will be a great asset to drive drug development from our Quebec headquarters, with an aim of building strong new Canadian life sciences companies of scale”.
“With my past governance, business and R&D experience, I am excited to bring my knowledge and expertise to adMare BioInnovations to advance Canada’s top research into commercially viable opportunities and contribute towards creating significant economic impact,” commented Dr. Youssef Bennani, Venture Partner of adMare BioInnovations. “From translating academic research into new companies of scale, to deploying a combination of physical infrastructure, scientific and business expertise, and capital to help existing companies scale-up, adMare is poised to change the landscape of the Canadian life sciences ecosystem.”
Dr. Youssef Bennani is currently Chairman of the Board of Domain Therapeutics (France & Canada), and is an independent Board member of Bellus Health. Prior to his position as Site Head and Vice President of R&D at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., Dr. Bennani spent several years as Vice President Drug Innovation at Vertex’s Headquarters (Boston – MA). He has also held various positions of increasing responsibility in pharmaceutical R&D at Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Laboratories (now Abbvie) and Athersys. His experience spans multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, neurology, infection, inflammation and renal diseases. Dr. Bennani has studied in chemistry (PhD, Université de Montréal), business (MBA, LFGSM – Chicago) and corporate governance (ICD.D, McGill-Rotman Schools of Business).
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About adMare BioInnovations
adMare BioInnovations is a pan-Canadian enterprise with global reach, changing the landscape of the Canadian life sciences ecosystem. We do this by sourcing the most therapeutically and commercially promising research from leading academic and biotech partners to create new companies of scale, providing specialized expertise and infrastructure to help existing companies scale up, and driving the growth of those companies into Canadian anchors by training the next generation of highly-qualified personnel. www.admarebio.com
For additional information, please contact:
Julia White
Senior Manager, Communications
604.827.1226 | jwhite@admarebio.com
