About Us
Leadership Team

• Management
• Board of Directors

Matt Coffey, PhD

President and Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer

A co-founder of the Company, Dr. Coffey completed his doctorate degree in oncology at the University of Calgary with a focus on the oncolytic capabilities of the reovirus. The results of his research have been published in various respected scientific journals, including Science, Human Gene Therapy, and The EMBO Journal. Dr. Coffey has held the positions of Chief Operating Officer of the Company since December 2008, Chief Scientific Officer from December 2004 to December 2008, Vice-President of Product Development from July 1999 to December 2004 and Chief Financial Officer from September 1999 to May 2000.

Wayne Pisano

Chairman

Mr. Pisano has more than 30 years of experience as a pharmaceutical industry executive and was recognized in 2010 as Pharma Executive of the Year by the World Vaccine Congress. He is currently the president and CEO of VaxInnate a privately held biotech company. He joined Immunovaccine’s Board in October 2011 with a depth of experience across the spectrum of commercial operations, public immunization policies and pipeline development. Mr. Pisano is the former president and CEO of Sanofi Pasteur, one of the largest vaccine companies in the world. He is credited with driving Sanofi Pasteur’s leadership within the worldwide influenza market and capturing 50 percent of global sales. He also laid the foundation for the company’s global pediatric vaccines strategy. He joined Sanofi Pasteur in 1997, assuming increasing levels of responsibility. He was promoted to President and CEO in 2007, the position he successfully held until his retirement in 2011. During his tenure as CEO, Mr. Pisano bolstered the Sanofi Pasteur pipeline with the acquisitions of Acambis PLC, a bio-tech based in Boston in 2008 and Shantha Biotechnics, a highly regarded Indian vaccine company in 2010. Prior to joining Sanofi Pasteur, he spent 11 years with Novartis (formerly Sandoz). He has a bachelor’s degree in biology from St. John Fisher College, New York and an MBA from the University of Dayton, Ohio.

Angela Holtham, MBA, FCMA, FCPA, ICD.D

Director

Ms. Holtham held a number of financial positions over a 19-year career with the Canadian subsidiary of Nabisco Inc., rising to become Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In 2002, she joined Toronto, Ontario-based Hospital for Sick Children as Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, a position she held for eight years. Through her career she has participated in myriad initiatives ranging from traditional finance functions and operations oversight to intellectual property portfolio management and mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Holtham is an FCPA, FCMA, holds an MBA from the University of Toronto – Rotman School of Management and has completed the Institute of Corporate Directors Designation (ICD.D).

J. Mark Lievonen, CA

Director

Mr. Lievonen has held the position of President of Sanofi Pasteur Limited, a vaccine development, manufacturing and marketing company, since October 1998 and has held various other positions with Sanofi Pasteur Limited and its predecessors since 1983. Mr. Lievonen currently serves on a number of industry and community boards and councils including the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, the Public Policy Forum, Markham Stouffville Hospital, Ontario-Quebec Private Sector Advisory Committee, York University and the Ontario Investment and Trade Advisory Committee. He is a former Chair of the Ontario Genomics Institute and BIOTECanada, and former Co-Chair of the Centre for the Advancement of Health Innovations. He was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Mérite by the government of France in 2007.

William G. Rice, PhD

Director

Dr. Rice has held the position of Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aptose Biosciences Inc. since 2013. From 2003 to 2013, he served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cylene Pharmaceutics Inc., prior to which he was the Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He has also served as Senior Scientist and Head of the Drug Mechanism Laboratory at the National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, and as a faculty member in the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Emory School of Medicine. Dr. Rice holds a PhD in biochemistry from Emory University and was a post-doctoral trainee in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Michigan Medical Center.

Bernd R. Seizinger, MD, PhD

Director

Dr. Seizinger has held the position of Chairman/Executive Chairman of Opsona Therapeutics Ltd. since 2009. From 1998 to 2009, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of GPC Biotech. He also served as Vice President of Oncology Drug Discovery and, in parallel, Vice President of Corporate and Academic Alliances at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Prior to his appointments in the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals sectors, Dr. Selzinger held professorships and senior staff appointments at Harvard Medical School, Princeton University and Massachusetts General Hospital.