NUVO PHARMACEUTICALS - Key Persons


Anthony E. Dobranowski

Job Titles:
  • CA / Chair of the Compensation, Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee
  • Chairman of the Compensation, Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee
Private Business Investor. Mr. Dobranowski retired from Magna International Inc., a global automotive parts supplier, in 2007. During his employment with Magna, Mr. Dobranowski was most recently a Vice President of Magna, and prior to that held various executive positions (Vice Chairman, President and CFO) at Tesma International Inc., a publicly traded Magna subsidiary. He was instrumental in the initial public offering of Tesma in 1995, and was involved in all aspects of Tesma's growth, with particular emphasis on financing, investor relations and M&A activity. Previous to that, Mr. Dobranowski held various senior management positions with other Magna companies. Mr. Dobranowski holds an MBA from the University of Toronto and is also a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Daniel N. Chicoine

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Executive Chairman of the Board of Crescita Therapeutics Inc
Mr. Chicoine is currently the Executive Chairman of the Board of Crescita Therapeutics Inc. and Chairman of the Audit Committee and a Director on the Board of NeuPath Health Inc. Previously, Mr. Chicoine served as Nuvo's Chairman and Co-CEO and was actively involved in its day-to-day operations since 2004. From 2001-2004, Mr. Chicoine served as the Chief Financial Officer at Cosma International, Magna's body and chassis systems group. Mr. Chicoine served as the President of PowerCart Systems Inc., a Markham-based private company that designs and manufactures battery-equipped workstations that power devices with wireless communication capability. Previously, he served as Vice Chairman in charge of sales at Triam Automotive Inc. From 1982 to 1993, Mr. Chicoine held various positions at the Magna group of companies, including President and CEO of Atoma International Inc. While Mr. Chicoine was the CEO of Atoma, he succeeded in growing its business from $300 million per annum to $1 billion and effected a major restructuring. Mr. Chicoine is a graduate of the University of Toronto in commerce and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

David A. Copeland

Job Titles:
  • BMath, CPA, CA
Private Business Investor. Mr. Copeland was the former President and Chief Operating Officer, Triam Automotive Inc., an automobile parts supplier. Prior to Triam, Mr. Copeland was Chief Financial Officer of Magna International Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of the Cosma Group of Magna. Mr. Copeland has been an advisor, investor and director in a number of private early stage companies since 1998. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant whose background includes a focus on business valuation and mergers and acquisitions.

Dr. Bernard Chiasson

Job Titles:
  • Chief Scientific Officer
  • Vice President Operations
Dr. Chiasson has 25 years of experience in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. He has held positions of increasing responsibility in Research and Development and executive management. During his time in industry, he has worked on several small molecules, biologics and biotechnology products at various stages of product development, including the final registration phase in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. He has held positions of increasing responsibility during his career with Novartis, Draxis Health, Bayer Biologics, Amgen, Optum and Tribute Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Tribute). Most recently, he was Chief Scientific Officer at Tribute and part of the executive team that grew the company to a final merger that saw a rise of approximately ten times in market capitalization during his tenure. Prior to Tribute, he was Vice President of US Strategic Regulatory Affairs and Global Medical Services at Optum where he was responsible for a team of scientists and physicians supporting client drug development, safety and regulatory strategies and operations. Dr. Chiasson is a trained neuroscientist and pharmacologist and received a BSc (hons), MSc. (Physiology and Biophysics) and PhD (Neuroscience and Pharmacology) from Dalhousie University and conducted his Post-Doctoral studies at the University of Toronto.

Jesse Ledger - CEO, President

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • President
Mr. Ledger has been responsible for leading Miravo through its evolution from a manufacturing focused business, to a diversified, global pharmaceutical company. Mr. Ledger joined Miravo in April 2016 as Vice President, Business Development, was appointed President of Miravo in November 2016, and subsequently became President & CEO in November 2017. Mr. Ledger has over 16 years experience in building product portfolios and pharmaceutical businesses with Canadian, U.S. and international transactional experience. Prior to joining Nuvo, he served as Vice President, Business Development & International Business at Tribute Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. While at Tribute, Mr. Ledger was a member of the senior management team that completed six transactions with an aggregate value of over CDN$250 million, culminating in a merger with Pozen Inc. and the subsequent formation of Aralez Pharmaceuticals Inc. Prior to joining Tribute, Mr. Ledger was Director, Business Development at SteriMax Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the commercialization of essential hospital and retail pharmacy products within Canada, where Mr. Ledger was responsible for a series of successful product acquisition and licensing transactions. Mr. Ledger holds an honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Trent University and is an active member of the Canadian Healthcare Licensing Association (CHLA).

John C. London

Job Titles:
  • Vice Chairman
  • Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Board
Mr. London has over 30 years of experience managing and advising a wide variety of public and private businesses. From 2005 to 2018 Mr. London held senior executive positions with Nuvo Pharmaceuticals and its predecessor Nuvo Research, including Vice Chairman (2005-2009), President and Co-CEO (2009-2016), President and CEO (2016-2017) and Executive Chairman (2018). In January of 2019, he assumed his current role as non-executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. London is currently the Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board and Executive in Residence at the John F. Wood Centre for Business and Student Enterprise at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph and is an Advisory Board Member of the Masters of Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization program at McMaster University. Mr. London is also a member for the board of directors of Crescita Therapeutics Inc. From 2002 to 2005, Mr. London was President and Chief Executive Officer of Powercart Systems Inc., a Canadian-based private company that designs and manufactures battery-equipped workstations that power devices with wireless communication capability. In 1997, Mr. London co-founded Nighthawk Investments, a private venture capital investment firm. In 1994, Mr. London co-founded Triam Automotive Inc., an international automotive parts manufacturer, where he served as Executive Vice-President. Triam completed its initial public offering in 1994 and was sold to Magna International Inc. in 1998. From 1988 to 1993, he was Executive Vice-President, Secretary and General Counsel at Atoma International, Magna's interior systems group. Prior to joining Magna, Mr. London was a partner with the Toronto law firm of Strathy, Archibald and Seagram (now Gowlings) where from 1981 to 1988 he practiced corporate law with a focus on banking and insolvency. Mr. London is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario law school and holds a Masters of Law Degree from University College London.

Luigi Berardelli - VP of Sales

Job Titles:
  • Vice President, Sales & Marketing
  • Vice President, Sales & Marketing / Aralez Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.
Mr. Berardelli has more than 30 years of experience in sales, marketing, strategic brand planning and commercial excellence. He has held numerous senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry working extensively in sales, marketing, continuing education and wholesale and trade relations. Mr. Berardelli has worked for a number of large and start-up pharmaceutical companies, in addition to Miravo, including, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Biovail Pharmaceuticals Canada, Genzyme and Tribute Pharmaceuticals. He has led and been involved in several product launches in Cardiology, Pain, Allergy, Dermatology, Neurology, and Oncology. He has managed large product portfolios in the prescription, device and OTC/BTC space.

Mary Ritchie

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • BCom, CPA, CA
  • President and Chief Executive Officer of Richford Holdings Ltd
Ms. Ritchie is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Richford Holdings Ltd., an accounting and investment advisory services firm based in Edmonton, Alberta. Ms. Ritchie has over 30 years of experience in both the public, private and not-for-profit sectors and is a Fellow of CPA Alberta. She is a member of the board of directors and audit committees of Alaris Royalty Corp. (TSX) and EnWave Corporation (TSXV). She has been a past director on a number of boards, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Industrial Alliance Insurance, Financial Services Inc. (TSX), iA Financial Corporation Inc. (TSX) and IPL Plastics Inc. (TSX) and a past member of the RBC Global Asset Management's independent oversight committee. Ms. Ritchie holds a BCom from the University of Alberta and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Mary-Jane Burkett - CFO

Job Titles:
  • CFO
  • CA, HBA / Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
  • Chartered Professional Accountant
Ms. Burkett joined Miravo in 2012 and was promoted to CFO in September 2016. As CFO, Ms. Burkett's transactional experience includes mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring and reorganization and financing arrangements. Ms. Burkett's executive leadership responsibilities include Miravo's financial operations, human resources and information technology functions. Prior to her CFO role, Ms. Burkett held a number of finance roles with increasing responsibilities with Miravo, most recently as Corporate Controller, where she was instrumental in the carve-out of Crescita Therapeutics Inc., created on March 1, 2016 by way of a plan of arrangement that reorganized Nuvo Research Inc. into Miravo and Crescita. Prior to joining Miravo, Ms. Burkett worked for PwC performing audit, internal audit and consulting work for its clients. Ms. Burkett is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario.

Robert Harris - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
Rob Harris has over 35 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in both Canada and the United States in sales, marketing, business development and general management. Mr. Harris most recently served as President and CEO of Tribute Pharmaceuticals. Prior to co-founding Tribute Pharmaceuticals, Rob was the President & CEO of Legacy Pharmaceuticals Inc. Mr. Harris also has previous experience at Biovail Corporation where as VP of Business Development he was involved, led and successfully concluded numerous business development transactions, including the licensing of new chemical entities, the acquisition of mature products, the completion of co-promotion deals, distribution agreements, product development and reformulation transactions. Mr. Harris joined Biovail in 1997 as the GM of Biovail Pharmaceuticals Canada at a time when the company experienced rapid growth in the Canadian division. Before Biovail, Mr. Harris worked in various senior commercial management positions during his twenty-year tenure at Wyeth (Ayerst) including its consumer products and animal health groups and has been involved in numerous product launches during his career. Mr. Harris is also a past member of the Board of Directors of Tribute Pharmaceuticals, Aralez Pharmaceuticals Inc. and CannaRoyalty Corp. d/b/a Origin House.

Tina K. Loucaides - Chief Legal Officer, VP

Job Titles:
  • General Counsel
  • Secretary
  • Vice President
Ms. Loucaides has extensive legal and business experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. In her role at Miravo, she is responsible for a wide range of legal and regulatory areas, including intellectual property, licensing, acquisitions, litigation, regulatory law and compliance. Prior to joining Nuvo in 2008, Ms. Loucaides was an associate lawyer with Bereskin & Parr in Toronto. As a member of the firm's biotechnology and pharmaceutical practice group, she advised clients on patents, licensing and litigation matters. Ms. Loucaides is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and holds a Bachelor degree and a Master of Science degree from the University of Toronto. She was awarded a Canada Scholarship for Science and Technology and a scholarship from the Medical Research Counsel. She is a registered Patent Agent in Canada and the United States, and has a Chartered Director (C.Dir.) designation.