Proven Experience in Specialty Biopharmaceuticals
Canyon Pharmaceuticals TM is a privately held, specialty biopharmaceuticals company focused on delivering innovative therapeutic solutions that target important cellular pathways in thrombosis, tumor growth and metastasis.
Canyon holds exclusive world-wide rights to desirudin, a subcutaneous (SC) recombinant direct thrombin inhibitor (DTI), and pegmusirudin, a pegylated recombinant DTI with a longer duration of action than desirudin. DTIs exhibit significant clinical advantages over conventional treatment such as heparin and low-molecular weight heparin, by directly inhibiting thrombin, which plays a central role in blood coagulation, inflammation, and the immune response. Desirudin and pegmusirudin, strengthen Canyons position in becoming a leading innovator in DTI therapy, providing optimal inhibition of thrombin for acute-care patients, as well as for patients requiring longer-term treatment.
With a highly experienced clinical and scientific development team, and intimate knowledge of specialty therapeutics within the hospital setting, including anticoagulants, the team at Canyon truly understands the needs of customers to help deliver practical and innovative treatment solutions that ensure the best possible outcomes.
Sound Science and Business Solutions to Advance Today's Standard of Care
By consistently applying the most exacting scientific standards, collaborating with leading experts in the scientific community, and rigorously seeking innovative and practical treatment solutions, Canyon Pharmaceuticals has the insights, people, and know-how to advance todays standard of care, providing solutions that greatly improve patient outcomes.
A Well-connected Management Team:
Canyon Pharmaceuticals has assembled a multi-disciplinary team of leading executives from specialty therapeutics who truly understands what it takes to bring innovative, best-in-class products to market. This leadership team also shares a common vision for achieving results and leveraging their experience to improving patient care.
Dr. Seng Chin Mah, President & Chief Executive Officer
Seng Chin Mah, PhD, has over 20 years of experience in the Pharma industry. Prior to joining Canyon Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Mah was recently Head of Development of the Integration Office during the integration of Chiron into Novartis, and has previously held positions including the Global Head of Clinical Safety & Epidemiology, Head of Drug Regulatory Affairs Europe. He also had oversight responsibility for Clinical Quality Assurance. Dr. Mah was also a member of the board for Novartis Europharm Ltd. During his tenure with Novartis and Ciba, Dr. Mah has driven transformational programs, managed large global organizations, and achieved significant business results such as the global registration of major products including Diovan. Dr. Mah has worked extensively on both development projects and marketed products. He has held numerous research and academia positions, and is currently on the boards of several biotech companies.
Dr. Dawn Bell, Senior Vice President & General Manager, US
Dawn Bell, PharmD, has over 10 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry and over 15 years experience in acute care medicine and cardiovascular products. She was most recently a Senior Consultant with Stack Pharmaceuticals and Head of Medical Affairs for various business units at The Medicines Company (including Angiomax). Prior to joining the private sector, Dr. Bell was a Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner and tenured professor at the School of Pharmacy, West Virginia University. She completed three years of post-graduate training in Clinical Pharmacy and Cardiovascular Therapeutics.
Elisabeth Flury, Head, Corporate Finance & Administration
Elisabeth Flury brings to Canyon over 25 years of experience in Finance and Administration, as well as Human Resources with many international companies. Most recently, Ms. Flury was responsible for Human Resources at Speedel where she also supported the Finance organization during its public offering. Prior to that, Ms. Flury worked in various capacities with Fisher Scientific, Covance, and MDL, where she established efficient accounting teams throughout Europe, and where she also implemented corporate guidelines, policies, and reporting for companies with US-based headquarters. In addition to her responsibilities with Canyon, Ms. Flury is a consultant to biotech and other international companies.
Dr. Seng Chin Mah, Clinical & Commercial Operations, Europe ad interim
Dr. Rolf Keck, Qualified Person Europe & Managing Director, Germany
Rolf Keck, PhD, has operated as an independent consultant to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries for the past 15 years. He is the Qualified Person for Canyon in Germany and Switzerland. Prior to taking on responsibilities with Canyon, Dr. Keck was Head of Manufacturing and QC at Serono Diagnostics Germany. He has also served as R&D leader at Warner-Lambert and at Organon-Teknika Germany. In addition to his responsibilities at Canyon, Dr Keck is a consultant to other biotech and pharmaceutical companies.
Team Philosophies
Recently Canyon team members assembled to discuss their business philosophies and vision for the company.
Click on the questions below to see the team's responses.
How would you describe your business philosophy?
Dawn Bell, Senior Vice President & General Manager, US:
"I embrace a very simple philosophy. If you believe in something strongly enough-you should never give up. Desiridun is a very clear example of this. Here's an important drug, one that should have been available to patients a decade ago, and by continuing to believe in its value and back it commercially, we will now be able to offer a best in class agent that can make a significant difference in patient care-one that will greatly benefit patients who would otherwise succumb to the preventable and often lethal effects of coagulation."
Michael Kurz, Vice President, Global Medical Affairs:
"I started my career in bench research, and have always believed that the pharma industry should be grounded in science firstproducts should be accepted on the quality of their science and data, not solely on the marketing effort. For this reason, our job in medical affairs, and the whole company, is to effectively communicate the information we have and always remember this information will have an impact on the way patients are treated. To do this, we create strong relationships with customers that are based on science and a mutual interest in improving medicine."
What experience do you bring to the table?
Jesse Ahrendt, Executive Director, Operations:
"My experience has taught me that everything in business comes back to quality. Whether you're manufacturing devices or pharmaceuticals, you must rigorously follow GMP regulations. But biologics are probably the most difficult things to make, leaving absolutely no margin for error. That's why quality is the constant focus in everything we do-from our clinical trials to our supply chain-it's all about quality."
Selina Lieu, Head, US Finance and Administration:
"I have always been counted on to support development of operational procedures that achieve maximum efficiency. So as Director of Finance and CFO, my goal is to always employ the best, yet most efficient resources to achieve results with common sense application. This practice is especially critical in young and entrepreneurial enterprises like Canyon, where resources must constantly be maximized to ensure both quality and success."
What was it that drew you to Canyon?
Andrew Whelton, Chief Medical Officer:
"Desirudin is a molecule that demonstrated extraordinary clinical promise, as it still does, but became the victim of Federal and International legal actions that impacted its clinical development and use. Fortunately, we now have a corporate entity in Canyon Pharmaceuticals that has literally resurrected the lifecyle of desirudin and is appropriately prepared to invest the resources that will allow it to become not only the best in class, but most widely used direct thrombin inhibitor for acutely ill patients. This is of particular benefit to patients who suffer from venous thromboembolic complications."
Dawn Bell:
"I have worked with thrombosis and anti-platelet agents my entire career, first as a clinical and research pharmacist doing outcomes research in anti-thrombotic and anti-platelet therapies, and then as part of a commercial team launching a leading direct thrombin inhibitor. Canyon was an ideal opportunity for me to build an operation from the ground up in a therapeutic area where I have decided advantages due to my past experience and intimate knowledge in the space."
Board of Directors
Dr. Thomas M. Rinderknecht - Chairman
Thomas Rinderknecht, JD, is currently a senior partner with the law firm Badertscher Attorneys (formerly RKS Rinderknecht & Burger) in Switzerland, specializing in pharmaceutical and biotech law. Dr. Rinderknecht has served on the board of directors for many successful biotech companies including Speedel Holding AG, Glycart Biotechnology AG, The Jago Group of Companies and SkyePharma Plc and as executive Chairman of GANYMED Pharmaceuticals AG. Dr. Rinderknecht founded one of the first Swiss venture capital companies and has also extensive pharma and biotechnology industry venture capital experience.
Dr. Ernst H. Schweizer - Vice Chairman
Ernst Schweizer, PhD, has more then 45 years experience in pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Prior to joining Canyon, he served as a Director of the Speedel Holdings Company, Ltd. and as Vice Chairman of Speedel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He was previously Head of Business Development at Genmab where he had been a Director since the companys inception. Dr. Schweizer was also President of Medarex-Europe, after being Chief Scientific & Technical Adviser for Ciba-Geigy and then Deputy Director of World-Wide Business Development and Licensing for Novartis. Dr. Schweizer is on the boards of several biotech companies.
Hans Peter Hasler - Board Director
Hans Peter Hasler is Chairman of the Board of Directors of HBM BioVentures Ltd. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding Ltd and of Acino Pharma AG. Having worked with the Basle-based Sanofi Pharma AG and Abbott Ltd in Zug, Hans Peter Haslers career then took him to the Wyeth Group, where he held various commercial and senior management positions in Switzerland, Europe and the USA. Between 2001 and 2009, he worked for various companies in the Biogen Group, latterly as Chief Operating Officer of the US firm Biogen Idec Inc., based in Cambridge, USA, where he had overall responsibility for the worldwide business, business development, medical affairs and Biogen International. Since 2010, he has been working as an independent consultant to biotech and pharmaceuticals companies.
Dr. Fritz H. Kunz - Board Director
Fritz Kunz, PhD, has held numerous senior management and board positions in the pharmaceutical and medical technology industry. As a chemist by training, Dr. Kunz spent two decades at Sandoz (now Novartis) where he served as head of two preclinical research units. He was head of finance at Stratec Medical before serving as CEO and member of the Board of Institute Straumann, a Swiss manufacturer of dental implants. Dr. Kunz was also Chairman of the Board of Speedel, a public biopharmaceutical company specializing in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, which was recently acquired by Novartis. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for Canyon Pharmacueticals, Dr. Kunz is a member of the Board of several Swiss biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies, including Kuros Biosurgery (Chairman), PregLem and SenTec, SA.
Dr. Seng Chin Mah - Delegate of the Board & CEO
Seng Chin Mah, PhD, has over 20 years of experience in the Pharma industry. Prior to joining Canyon Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Mah was recently Head of Development of the Integration Office during the integration of Chiron into Novartis, and has previously held positions including the Global Head of Clinical Safety & Epidemiology, Head of Drug Regulatory Affairs Europe. He also had oversight responsibility for Clinical Quality Assurance. Dr. Mah was also a member of the board for Novartis Europharm Ltd. During his tenure with Novartis and Ciba, Dr. Mah has driven transformational programs, managed large global organizations, and achieved significant business results such as the global registration of major products including Diovan. Dr. Mah has worked extensively on both development projects and marketed products. He has held numerous research and academia positions, and is currently on the boards of several biotech companies.
Locations Around the World:
Switzerland
Canyon Pharmaceuticals AG
Hirschgasslein 11
CH-4051 Basel
Switzerland
Office:+41 (0) 61 201 13 80
Fax:+41 (0) 61 201 13 81
e-mail:
info@canyonpharma.com
For Medical Inquiries in Europe:
e-mail:
medical.info.europe@canyonpharma.com
Switzerland: +41 (0) 61 201 13 80
Germany and rest of Europe: +49 (0) 766 39 13 71 98
To report an adverse event in Europe:
PVTeam@chiltern.com
Fax EU Pharmacovigilance: +49 69 255 774 90
Please contact our exclusive distribution partner
Germany:
Tel.: +49 (0) 711 23 18 08 12 31
Fax: +49 (0) 711 23 18 08 12 30
Email:
order.canyon@ocon.de
Movianto Deutschland GmbH
Ringstr. 4
97270 Kist, Germany
Austria:
Tel.: +43 (0) 1 205 10 09
Fax: +43 (0) 1 253 03 33 21 03
Email:
order.canyon@ocon.de
Movianto Deutschland GmbH
Ringstr. 4
97270 Kist, Germany
Careers
Looking to connect with highly skilled and motivated individuals
Canyon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty biopharmaceuticals company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapeutic technologies, and as such, our employees are one of our greatest assets.
Our employees are part of our mission to always deliver highest quality results while working in an entrepreneurial, fast-paced, take-charge environment. So if you would like to join our passion for bringing innovative products to the market, please contact Canyon Pharmaceuticals at
info@canyonpharma.com to discuss any career opportunities.