Ontario Institute for Cancer Research Appoints Two Former Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industry Executives as Chief Commercial Officer and as Deputy Director
TORONTO -- (Marketwire) -- 01/13/10 -- The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) announced today the appointments of Franklin D. Stonebanks as Vice President, Commercialization and Chief Commercial Officer, and Nicole Onetto, M.D. as Deputy Director.
"Since its inception a few years ago, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research has developed an impressive portfolio of early stage research programs. The appointment of commercial and medical talent with deep industry experience will help us accelerate our efforts to prevent, detect and treat cancer," said Dr. Tom Hudson, President and Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.
Mr. Stonebanks will lead the Institute's commercialization program including identifying and developing opportunities to collaborate with private equity and corporate strategic investors in oncology; spearhead the intellectual property program to maximize OICR's extensive intellectual property pipeline, and identify and accelerate transformative early stage research and development projects using novel business models.
"Frank's broad and deep commercial expertise will be a major asset as OICR seeks to forge new partnerships with corporations as well as private capital investors," noted Dr. Hudson.
Most recently, Mr. Stonebanks was the Founder and Managing Partner of Blackcomb Advisors LLC, a global advisory firm in the life sciences and healthcare IT sectors. Previously, he was President and CEO of Cynvec, an oncology-focused biotechnology firm. Prior to Cynvec, he was a Senior Advisor to IBM, and led their healthcare and life science M&A efforts and co-managed their venture fund. Prior to IBM he was Vice-President and General Manager at Johnson & Johnson's venture unit, where he was also Co-Founder of Johnson & Johnson Internal Ventures and Co-Founder and CEO of the Macroflux Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson spin-off. Mr. Stonebanks was also the Founder and Executive Director of the Oncology Biologics Business Unit at Centocor.
Mr. Stonebanks holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Victoria, a Pharmaceutical Marketing Diploma from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College and a Master of Business Administration in Pharmaceutical Marketing from St. Joseph's University.
Dr. Onetto will work with OICR's scientific leaders to determine the Institute's strategic direction and set priorities for the research program. Dr. Onetto will also provide oversight of the Institute's support functions.
"With an extensive background in oncology drug development and the pharmaceutical industry, Nicole will be key in leading OICR's translational research programs and supporting commercialization initiatives," said Dr.
Hudson.
Most recently, Dr. Onetto was the Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of ZymoGenetics, Inc. Previously she was the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. She has held several senior positions in international pharmaceutical firms and has been responsible for the coordination of clinical trials worldwide that developed many new cancer therapies.
Dr. Onetto led the clinical development of Tarceva® (erlotinib) for non-small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer in collaboration with National Cancer Institute of Canada. She also was the international project leader for Taxol® (paclitaxel). She holds a Doctorate in Medicine from the Université de Paris as well as a Master of Science in Pharmacology from the Université de Montréal and is qualified in paediatrics and hemato-oncology.
OICR is a new, innovative cancer research institute dedicated to research in prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The Institute is a not-for-profit corporation funded by the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Research and Innovation. For more information, visit www.oicr.on.ca : .
Contact:
Chris Smith
SmithSolve Communications Consulting
On behalf of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
973-442-1555
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