AEZS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director
- Chairman of Board of Directors and Chair of the NGC Committee
- Member of Nominating, Governance & Compensation Committee
Carolyn has served as a director on the Company's Board since August 2012 and as Chair of the Board since May 2016. After enjoying the private practice of law as a defense litigator in Michigan and Washington, D.C., she joined Solvay America, Inc. ("Solvay") (a chemical and pharmaceutical company) in Houston, Texas. Over the course of a twenty-year career with Solvay, she held the positions of Vice President, Human Resources, President of Management Services, Global Head of Human Resources and Senior Executive Vice President of Global Ethics and Compliance. During her tenure with Solvay, she served as a director on the Board of Directors of seven subsidiary companies and as Chair of one subsidiary board. After retiring in 2010, she established a consulting business providing expertise in corporate governance, ethics and compliance, organizational development, executive compensation, and strategic human resources. She holds a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Biological Sciences from George Washington University, Washington D.C. and a Juris Doctor degree from Seattle University, Seattle, Washington. Carolyn was also a Ph.D. candidate in Pharmacology at both Georgetown University Medical School at Washington, D.C. and Northwestern University Medical School at Chicago, Illinois. She remains an active member of both the Michigan State Bar and the District of Columbia Bar, Washington, D.C.
Job Titles:
- Director - Chair of the Audit Committee
- Member / Chairperson / Member
- President and Chief Executive Officer of Endoceutics, Inc
Dennis Turpin (CPA, CA) is President and Chief Executive Officer of Endoceutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, since January 2019 and was previously the Vice President, Special Projects since June 2018. He was the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Quebec Port Authority from February 2016 to June 2018. From 2007 to 2015, Mr. Turpin was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Aeterna Zentaris. Prior to that, he was the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Aeterna Zentaris since June 1999. Mr. Turpin joined Aeterna Zentaris in August 1996 as Director of Finance. Prior to that, he was a Director in the tax department at Coopers Lybrand, now PricewaterhouseCoopers, from 1988 to 1996 and worked as an auditor from 1985 to 1988. Mr. Turpin earned his Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Laval University in Québec. He obtained his license in accounting in 1985 and became a chartered accountant in 1987.
Establish Aeterna Zentaris as a global leader in the development and commercialization of therapeutic and diagnostic assets that have the potential to enhance the lives of patients in need.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Senior Vice President, Finance
Mr. La Fratta is a senior financial professional with over 20 years of professional experience in the pharmaceutical, biopharma and financial services sector. During his career, he has served in both the public and private sectors where he has gained significant experience in leading and managing broad financial activities, including M&A transactions, corporate development, auditing, accounting and administrative functions. Prior to joining Aeterna Zentaris, Mr. La Fratta served as the Vice President of Finance at CellCarta (formerly Caprion Biosciences), a private equity-owned specialty Clinical Research and Development Organization laboratory with global operations headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Prior to CellCarta, Mr. La Fratta served in various functions at IMS Canada Health (now Iqvia) and Cato Research. He began his career at Deloitte Touche as a Senior Auditor for both Canadian and American companies across various industries, including the pharmaceutical sector. Mr. La Fratta holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Concordia University and holds a CPA, CA designation.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Executive Director
- Member of the Leadership Team
- President
- President and Chief Executive Officer, Aeterna Zentaris, Inc., Managing Director of Aeterna Zentaris GmbH
Klaus was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company in October 2019 and also serves as an Executive Director of the Corporation. Dr. Paulini is based in Frankfurt, Germany at our subsidiary, Aeterna Zentaris GmbH, where he was appointed Managing Director in July 2019 and as Vice President of Quality and Regulatory in February 2018. Dr. Paulini began his career in the pharmaceutical industry at ASTA Medica AG in 1997. He had an active role when Zentaris was formed and spun out of ASTA Medica, and served in various roles with increasing responsibility at the company ever since, including project responsibility for Cetrotide®. As Head of Quality Assurance, Dr. Paulini successfully managed many of the Company's clinical development projects - including Macrilen™/Macimorelin - in R&D phase as group leader of medicinal chemistry. With his extensive experience and knowledge, he provided successful oversight and valuable input for our pharmaceutical and clinical development programs, ensuring successful and compliant outcomes, ultimately leading to regulatory approvals by the US FDA and the EMA. Dr. Paulini obtained his PhD (Dr. Ing.) in chemistry at the Technical University Darmstadt (Germany) in 1993 and specialized in medicinal chemistry/drug discovery during subsequent postdoctoral fellowships at Strathclyde University (Glasgow, Scotland) and J.W. Goethe University (Frankfurt, Germany) before joining ASTA Medica AG.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Managing Director of Aeterna Zentaris GmbH
- Senior Vice President Manufacturing & Supply Chain - Head of Production / Managing Director, Aeterna Zentaris GmbH
Matthias Gerlach was appointed as Managing Director of Aeterna Zentaris GmbH in February 2024 and as Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Supply Chain in January 2021. From December 2011 through May 2014, he was our Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry. Dr. Gerlach, who is based in the Frankfurt office of AEZS Germany, began his career in the pharmaceutical industry in 1997. He joined our Company in January 2001, assuming roles of increasing responsibility in areas of medicinal chemistry and preclinical development through product commercialization during his career. He possesses numerous scientific and business skills and has a long record of successful innovation, drug development and management, and contributed significantly to the successful U.S.- and EU/UK-commercialization of macimorelin in the adult indication. Dr. Gerlach obtained a diploma in Chemistry from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt in 1994 and was awarded his doctorate diploma in synthetic organic chemistry by the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in 1997.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Industry Executive
- Senior Vice President, Non - Clinical Development and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Teifel rejoined Aeterna Zentaris in May 2021, having held various positions in industry with increasing responsibilities in pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology and translational sciences. Dr. Teifel is a leading industry executive with a career spanning over 20 years in various therapeutic areas, including endocrinology and oncology. He has deep experience in translating research into clinical development. Over the course of his career, he has gained particular expertise in the design and implementation of non-clinical development programs for small molecule drugs, peptides, targeted therapies, and biologics, as well as in the continued non-clinical evaluation of drug candidates for global registration.
Dr. Teifel began his career in industry at Roche Diagnostics in the area of delivery systems / non-viral gene therapy. In 1999, Dr. Teifel joined the biotech start-up, Munich Biotech in Martinsried, Germany as a co-founder. As head of pharmacology & toxicology, he was responsible for the evaluation and non-clinical development of a novel vascular targeting technology for the development of anti-tumor diagnostics and therapeutics.Dr. Teifel started his first term at Aeterna Zentaris in 2004, where he held several positions in the field of preclinical development and translational research. In his capacity he was, among others, responsible for preparation of the non-clinical dossier for registration of macimorelin in the U.S. and EU in the indication AGHD. In 2019, Dr. Teifel left Aeterna Zentaris to pursue his career in non-clinical research and development at Cleara Biotech in Utrecht, The Netherlands. As head of translational sciences at Cleara Biotech, he was responsible for translating research on anti-senescent drugs into pre-clinical development in age-related diseases and late-stage cancer. Dr. Teifel holds a degree in biology and his Ph.D. from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member / Chairperson / Member
- Member of Nominating, Governance & Compensation Committee
- President and Chief Executive Officer of Ceapro Inc
Mr. Gilles Gagnon (M.Sc., MBA, ICD.D) joined the Company's Board of Directors on January 1, 2020. Mr. Gagnon currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ceapro Inc. Preceding his current role, Mr. Gagnon was President and CEO of Aeterna Zentaris Inc. During the past 35 years, Mr. Gagnon has worked at several management levels within the field of health, notably in the hospital and pharmaceutical industries. Mr. Gagnon has participated in several international committees and strategic advisory boards. He served nine years on the board of directors of Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D - now Innovative Medicine Canada) where he represented members from the biopharmaceutical sector and pioneered the Rx&D's Canadian Bio-partnering initiative. He is currently a member of the CEO Council of Innovative Medicine Canada. He is a certified corporate Director having completed the Directors Education Program at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and he has served on several boards of both private and publicly listed companies in the biopharmaceutical sector.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Company 's Vice President of Clinical Development
- Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, Aeterna Zentaris, Inc. and
- Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, Aeterna Zentaris, Inc. and Head of Clinical Development, Aeterna Zentaris GmbH
Nicola was appointed as the Company's Vice President of Clinical Development and as Chief Medical Officer in February 2018, additionally, she serves as one of our executive officers. Dr. Ammer, who is based in the Frankfurt, Germany office of our German subsidiary, began her career in the pharmaceutical medicine environment in the CRO business in 2002 and gained profound knowledge of all aspects of clinical research & development in various positions with increasing responsibility, including a Director of Clinical Operations. She joined Aeterna Zentaris GmbH in March 2015 as Clinical Program Director and took over the role of Head of Clinical Development in January 2016. She possesses numerous skills in pharmaceutical medicines and contributed significantly to the successful completion of the macimorelin clinical development program in the adult indication. Dr. Ammer obtained the license to practice medicine in 1995 after completion of her academic studies at the University of Essen. She was awarded a doctorate diploma in medicine by the University of Münster in 2004 and a Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Medicine by the University of Duisburg-Essen in 2009.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of Nominating, Governance & Compensation Committee
Mr. Edwards served as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Celanese Corporation from January 2017 to January 2019. Previously, Mr. Edwards was the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Baxalta Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical spin-off from Baxter, from June 2015 until its merger with Shire plc in July 2016. Before that, he was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the global specialty pharmaceuticals company, Mallinckrodt plc, from July 2013 to June 2015 and served as their Vice President and General Counsel from May 2010 leading to its spin-off from Covidien plc in June of 2013. Additionally, Mr. Edwards formerly served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Solvay Pharmaceuticals in Brussels, Belgium from June 2007 until April 2010 and as their Senior Vice President and General Counsel in the US from October 2005 to June 2007. Prior to that, he held in-house positions of increasing responsibility within Mettler-Toledo, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company. Mr. Edwards began his career in 1990 as an associate in the Kansas City, Missouri office of Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. Mr. Edwards received his J.D., cum laude, from Brigham Young University.