Thomas G. Wellner , B.Sc. (Hons),
President and CEO.
Tom joined Therapure Biopharma in April 2008 following a 20-year career at Eli Lilly & Co where he held a variety of key Marketing, Sales and General Management positions. Tom has held positions around the globe and spent the last 10 years of his career working in Europe, first as head of marketing & sales based in the UK and then as President and General Manager of Lilly's operations in Germany. Tom sits on the board of several companies including Atlantic Healthcare Inc., Fresh Books Inc., and DiaMedica Inc.

 

Dirk Alkema , B.Sc., Ph.D. (Biochemistry) ,
Vice President, Operations.
Dirk is responsible for overseeing Therapure Biopharma's clinical and commercial manufacturing operations and Biomanufacturing services. Prior to joining the company in early 1994, Dirk worked at Connaught Laboratories Ltd. where he held a number of production management positions until his appointment to Director, Viral Vaccine Manufacturing Division in 1989. During his tenure at Connaught, Dirk managed the plasma fractionation facility that serviced the Canadian market.

 

David N. Bell , M.Sc., Ph.D.,
Vice President, Drug Development and Chief Scientific Officer.
David's primary responsibility at Therapure Biopharma Inc. has been the development of a pipeline of new protein and cell culture based product candidates for the treatment of anemia, cancer and infectious diseases. He also leads the team offering development services for new product entries. Prior to joining the company in 1994, David was Group Leader of Cancer Biology at BioChem Therapeutic, Inc. and before this, Laboratory Director of the BioVentures Division of FAA in Worcester, Massachussetts, USA. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Medicine of McGill University in 1988 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the McGill Cancer Centre.

 

Brian Fielding, CA,
Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer. 
Brian joined Therapure Biopharma in March 2010. Brian brings more than 20 years of senior financial and operational management in the life sciences industry to Therapure Biopharma having held CEO, COO and CFO positions in a broad portfolio of public and private therapeutic, medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturing and consulting organizations. Brian has an extensive background in strategic planning, operational restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and financings. At Therapure Brian will have responsibility for all financial functions as well as Information Technology.

Prior to joining Therapure Brian was COO and CFO at PharmEng International Inc., CEO and CFO at Z-Tech (Canada) Inc., CEO and CFO at Millenium Biologix Corp., CFO at Cita NeuroPharmaceuticals Inc., CFO at GlycoDesign Inc. and Vice President Finance at Connaught Laboratories Limited. Brian is a Chartered Accountant and has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto. 
 

Chris Talpas , B.Sc., Ph.D. (Biochemistry),
Director, Manufacturing & Process Development.
Chris joined the company in 1994 and has held various positions within the company including Research and Development, Process Development, and Production Management. He has extensive experience in the scale-up of protein-based therapeutics and has been involved in all aspects of development from bench-top to commercial manufacture. Chris has significant expertise in the qualification and validation of complex processes and equipment.

 

Gord Adamson , B.Sc., Ph.D. (Protein Chemistry),
Director, Drug Development.
Gord is responsible for pipeline product development, including discovery, chemistry development and scale-up, as well as providing development services related to the production and characterization of protein-based therapeutics. Prior to joining the company in 1993, he completed post-doctoral studies of protein folding motifs with the Protein Engineering Network of Centres of Excellence (PENCE) in Edmonton, Alberta. Gord received his Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Waterloo in 1992, where he developed novel peptide inhibitors of serine proteases and methods for amino acid activation for peptide synthesis.

 

David Hardy , BSc.( Microbiology)
Director Quality Operations
David is a seasoned Quality Management professional with over 30 years QA/QC experience, and particular expertise in sterile manufacturing.David is responsible for ensuring regulatory compliance and for overseeing all Quality Systems related to the development, validation, manufacturing, testing , release and distribution of products manufactured by Therapure Biopharma Inc.

 

Rajan Puri , BSc., MSc., MBA
Director, Business Development
Rajan joined Therapure Biopharma in November 2008 and is responsible for managing both its marketing and business development efforts. Prior to Therapure Biopharma, Rajan held senior business development positions with 2 different Canadian biopharmaceutical companies. Rajan started his career with Eli Lilly Canada where he held progressively expanding positions in both regulatory affairs and product management.

Bronco Simon 
Manager, Facilities.
Bronco is responsible for managing all general and preventative maintenance programs, along with calibration activities within Therapure Biopharma's facilities. Bronco joined the company in 2001 as a Facilities Supervisor and became Manager in 2004. His more than 16 years experience in the pharma/biotech industry includes extensive experience in the installation, commissioning, validation and operation of process and building utility systems.

 

 

The Management Team (from left to right): Thomas G. Wellner (President & CEO), Dirk Alkema (VP, Operations),  David N. Bell (VP, Drug Development & CSO), Brian Fielding (VP, Finance & CFO).