Howard J. Verrico, MD
President & Chief Executive Officer
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Dr. Verrico obtained his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1985 and has been a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia since July 1986. Dr Verrico is currently a practicing emergency room physician. In addition, Dr. Verrico has extensive experience as a venture capitalist in the junior capital markets.

Géraldine Deliencourt-Godefroy, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Géraldine Deliencourt-Godefroy is an award-winning synthetic chemist and the founder of France-based biotechnology company TFChem. Since the acquisition of TFChem by Sirona Biochem in March 2011, Dr. Deliencourt-Godefroy has assumed the role of Chief Scientific Officer. Her scientific research in carbohydrate chemistry has led to the discovery of new drug families and the development of drug candidates for diabetes and obesity, cosmetic ingredients and biological adjuvants. Previous to founding TFChem, Dr. Deliencourt-Godefroy was a scientific leader at INSA (National Institute of Applied Sciences) in Rouen, France, where she developed a new technology on stabilized carbohydrates. Previous roles also include a post-doctoral position at the University College London and doctoral research at the Research Institute of Fine Organic Chemistry in Rouen, France. Dr. Deliencourt-Godefroy received a PhD and Masters in Organic Chemistry as well as her business degree from the University of France. She is the author of several publications and patents and is also the recipient of the acclaimed Francinov Research and Innovation Medal, French Ministry of Research Award and the French Senate Award.

Sean Cunliffe
Chief Business Officer
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Mr. Sean Cunliffe has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical marketing and sales experience in a wide variety of therapeutic areas. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Angiotech Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Angiotech, Mr. Cunliffe served as Chief Commercial Officer of Neuromed Pharmaceuticals, now Zalicus Inc. At Neuromed, Mr. Cunliffe negotiated, from ALZA Corporation the in-licensing of a once-daily hydromorphone, now marketed as Exalgo®. He also negotiated a partnership and research collaboration with Merck, in what was noted at the time as the largest pharmaceutical deal in Canadian history. Mr. Cunliffe has held several leadership roles at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Collegeville, PA, including, Vice President of New Product Marketing where he co-chaired, along with Discovery, both the Neuroscience and Cardiovascular leadership teams, Vice President Marketing and Global Business Manager of Neuroscience and Vice President of Cardiovascular and Gastrointestinal Marketing. Prior to Wyeth, he was the Group Director U.S. Marketing, Gastrointestinal and Anti-Viral Products at Glaxo Wellcome in Research Triangle Park, NC. Mr. Cunliffe also served for Glaxo and Astra Pharmaceuticals in a variety of sales and marketing roles in Canada before moving to the US to work in both global and US domestic commercial functions. Mr. Cunliffe received an MBA in Finance from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and an Honours B.Sc. in Biology from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Christopher Hopton, CGA
Chief Financial Officer
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Mr. Christopher Hopton is Sirona Biochem’s Chief Financial Officer. He brings 15 years of expertise in financial management and operations. His extensive experience covers areas of financial planning, accounting policy and business process improvement. As a business investment and finance consultant, Mr. Hopton has worked with several public and privately-held companies. Most recently, Mr. Hopton was the Chief Financial Officer of Central Resources Corp., a junior mineral exploration company. Formerly, he held the position of Division Controller at Canadian Airlines where he was responsible for an annual operating budget of $200M. Mr. Hopton was also involved in the restructuring of 360 Networks, a network communications company, which led to a buyout by Bell Canada. Mr. Hopton earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada and received his professional designation as a Certified General Accountant.

Bertrand Plouvier, PhD, PMP
VP, Product Development
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Dr. Bertrand Plouvier is Vice President of Product Development at Sirona Biochem. Since 2007, Dr. Plouvier has been a consultant for several start-up pharmaceutical companies, including Verona Pharma plc in the UK. From 1995 to 2007, Dr. Plouvier worked at Cardiome Pharma, where he established the company’s chemistry department. As Associate Director of synthetic chemistry at Cardiome, he contributed to the discovery and clinical development of Vernakalant, a new antiarrhythmic agent for the treatment of recent onset of atrial fibrillation, currently pending approval by the FDA. Previous to this role, Dr. Plouvier worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the chemistry department at the University of Alberta. Dr. Plouvier is a medicinal chemist who has discovered several pre-clinical and clinical candidates for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and cough over the course of his career. He obtained his PhD at the University of Lille, France in 1991 and a master in drug design from the Institut de Chimie Pharmaceutique de Lille, France. Dr. Plouvier is co-author of 12 publications and 6 patents. Dr. Plouvier also obtained his certification as Project Manager Professional in March 2008.