At present, the company is managed by the co-founders, who have extensive experience with biopharmaceutical start-ups, as described below.
Robert D. Auritt – President & CEO, Board Director
Robert Auritt has biotech senior management experience and also has been a partner in private equity, venture capital and family office firms investing in, building and exiting diverse businesses. He founded Brant Point Partners to do small buyouts; was a partner in private equity firm MVP Capital Partners; and was Co-CEO and earlier CFO of MGI Pharma, a pioneering biotech company eventually sold to Eisai for USD $3.9 billion. He directed business development at Ethicann for 1½ years starting in early 2019, focusing on building the company’s supply chains.
Ulrich Elben, Ph.D. –
EVP of Drug Development
Dr. Elben has 20+ years’ experience in international pharmaceutical development in both emerging and major companies. He was previously with Axxima Pharmaceuticals, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Avant Pharmaceuticals obtaining market approvals in the U.S., Asia and Europe. Dr. Elben’s expertise and wide-ranging knowledge base includes running pre-clinical and clinical operations, with successful prosecution of INDs and NDAs.
Bruce F. Mackler, Ph.D., J.D., EVP of Regulatory & Clinical Affairs; Board Director; Co-Founder
Dr. Mackler is a renowned drug regulatory strategist with many years’ experience, first as a regulatory attorney in private practice serving mainly large pharma on FDA, EMA and Health Canada matters and more recently as an advisor/investor in emerging pharma businesses. He has successfully prepared Investigational New Drug (IND) and New Drug (NDA) applications, involving meetings with global regulatory authorities. His Ph.D. is in immunology with over 100 publications. He was a venture partner at TVM Capital & sits on several biopharma boards.
Brandon J Price, Ph.D., EVP of Business Development & Board Director; Co-Founder
Dr. Price has 35 years of experience in biopharma, has been a co-founder and/or CEO of a number of biopharma start-ups. A Ph.D. in biophysics, he teaches entrepreneurism at several universities, and sits on several biopharma and other high-tech boards. His pharma experience is broad, involving responsibilities for drug manufacturing, testing, quality assurance, marketing, sales and business development for small and large companies.
Dwayne Lashyn, CA – Board Director; Co-Founder
Mr. Lashyn has 30 years in public and private debt and equity markets. Managing Director & VP of Quantico Capital Corp (Calgary, Alberta), and served on the Board of CanniMed Therapeutics. He has held advisory positions for companies in the biotech, real estate, and oil and gas industries.
Neil Maruoka, MSc, MBA – Board Director
Mr. Maruoka is a director and partner in ToroVerde Inc., a private equity and venture capital firm (Toronto, Canada). He previously was Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst at Canaccord Genuity, covering healthcare and building Canaccord into the leading cannabis sector global equity research franchise. He was named #1 Analyst in Canada for Biotech and Pharma (Brendan Wood Int’l – 2017). Mr. Maruoka holds a MSc. Degree in physiology & molecular biology.
Ethicann utilizes consultants for regulatory and clinical tasks, including assistance in preparing for meetings with Health Canada and like regulatory agencies elsewhere; a patent group to review intellectual property (IP) and freedom-to-operate (FTO) issues; and a clinical research organization familiar with accelerated regulatory processes to prepare INDs and conduct clinical trials in U.S. and Canada.
Ethicann Pharmaceuticals Consultants
David Friedman has 30+ years’ experience providing corporate advisory and business development services to global pharmaceuticals and early-stage biopharma companies. He provides an outside-in perspective, partnering with management to deliver financial analyses and customized research. David attended Haverford College (B.A.), has an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and studied at the London School of Economics.
Lawrence Kaufman (Ph.D., Physics) is an Observer on the Ethicann Board. He was President, CEO, and Director of Vastora, Inc.; President and CEO of Lightwave Power Inc.; a director of the public company MEMSIC, Inc.; a director of Top Banana, Inc.; and a Founder, first CEO and director of Sionex Corporation. Prior to this, he led or was a principal in seven other companies. His degrees include a B.S. degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Tufts University (Ph.D., Physics), an Executive Development Certification and an Executive Masters Director Certification from the American College of Corporate Directors
Dr. Ulrich H. Granzer (Ph.D., Pharmaceutical Chemistry) was VP Global Regulatory Affairs, Bayer AG, head of Regulatory Affairs & VP Global Regulatory, BASF Pharma, and also at Glaxo Wellcome. Dr. Granzer founded Granzer Regulatory Consulting Services GmbH, specializing in drug discovery and Regulatory Affairs, and has knowledge of EU centralized and decentralized procedures. He provides advice to Ethicann on securing EPI-002 approval in Germany, including an initial discussion with BfArM.
Dr. Lucio A. A. van Rooijen (MSc, Ph.D., Molecular Neurobiology) has been a CEO with various German companies, including Humatrix, AG, Migragen AG, Xzilklion GmbH (Aventis Group), and Neuway Pharma GmbH. His entrepreneurial experience includes licensing and partnering deals in the pharma area, and he understands the value chain in pharmaceuticals. He has been providing Ethicann with advice in partnering and licensing of its EPI-002 product in Germany and other European countries, and has begun to identify and contact potential German pharma companies on behalf of Ethicann.