Ilia is a serial biotech entrepreneur and executive who has successfully raised over $300M in funding and achieved multiple exits.

Prior to 35Pharma, he founded Forbius and served as CEO and President until its acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in Sep 2020.

Previously, Ilia held various roles at YM Biosciences until its acquisition by Gilead.

Ilia holds an MBA and a Masters of Biotechnology degree from the University of Toronto.

George is a physician specializing in internal medicine, pulmonary diseases, and critical care medicine with over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry dedicated to developing and introducing novel and impactful therapeutics to benefit patients and healthcare providers.

Throughout his career, George has extensively contributed to the development, execution and/or reporting of more than 45 phase I-IV clinical trials, numerous original peer-reviewed manuscripts and scientific abstracts, as well as the medical evaluation of dozens of business development and in-licensing opportunities in the areas of IPF, PAH, COPD, Asthma & anaphylaxis.

In his most recent role at a specialty pharmaceutical company, George oversaw the company's entire respiratory pipeline across phase I-IV for Asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis, refractory chronic cough, IPF and PAH, as well as the clinical evaluation of external opportunities in these disease areas.

He holds an Medical Doctorate from the American University of Beirut (Beirut, Lebanon), and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University Hospitals of Cleveland (Cleveland, Ohio), and completed his fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (Denver, Colorado).

Maureen is a recognized leader in TGF-beta biology who trained with Professor Michael Sporn in the 1980’s, shortly after his discovery of TGF-beta. Over the following 4 decades, she refined her expertise in TGF-beta ligand-receptor structure-activity relationships, authored over 50 publications in the TGF-beta field alone and built an extensive network with the leading scientists in the field.

Her 35+ year successful track record in protein engineering and R&D of biological therapies led to over 100 scientific publications overall, 14 patents granted and numerous transactions with pharmaceutical companies including most recently the sale of Forbius to Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS).

In her former role as CSO of Forbius (2015 – 2020), Maureen drove the development of AVID200, a best-in-class biologic specifically targeting TGF-beta 1 and 3. AVID200 was successfully advanced from discovery stage into 3 Phase 1 clinical trials ultimately resulting in the sale of Forbius to BMS who are now developing AVID200 in oncology.

Prior to Forbius, she served as Scientific Leader of the National Research Council of Canada’s (NRCC) Biologics Program and spearheaded the development of innovative protein therapeutics in collaboration with the private sector resulting in five clinical and numerous pre-clinical stage programs.

Maureen received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Alberta.

Dmitry has over 25 years of experience in finance, accounting, SCM, HR and complex project management combined with strong operational expertise in finance, contracting and vendor management from global public companies. Previously, he served as VP of Finance and Operations for Forbius.

Monique brings more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, contractual and medical device industries and extended knowledge of the regulatory landscape and regulations for global product development, including biologics and medical devices. She has amassed hands-on experience and expertise in Phases 1 through 3 of clinical development, clinical operations and operations improvement, global project management, regulatory affairs, process development and integration, as well as alliance management.

In Monique's most recent role at a late-stage specialty pharma company, she built and led the clinical operations team, overseeing the clinical research strategy, clinical trial operations and development and clinical data. Prior to that, she had provided her project management expertise to a Dermatology CRO in Montréal and expertise in Clinical and Regulatory Affairs knowledge to several biotechnology companies targeting cancer, as well as certain immune, neurocognitive and orphan diseases.

Monique holds a Master of Science degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a Bachelor of Pharmacy, both from the Université de Montréal.

Julia's experience is rooted in early-stage biotech business development, investor relations and strategy gained in North America and Europe. She has supported both private and public fundraises, including IPO as well as PIPEs, and has built a strong network of generalist and specialist investors.

In Julia’s business development and strategic alliance roles, she has worked with prominent pharma companies, including Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck & Co., as well as physicians and KOLs at leading hospitals worldwide.

Most recently, she was Director of Business Development and Investor Relations at Forbius where she acted as business development lead for its subsequent acquisition by BMS in 2020. Previously, Julia led Business Development and Strategic Communications at BerGenBio, having supported the company through its IPO and multi-year immuno-oncology clinical trial collaboration with Merck & Co.

Julia holds a PhD in Biomedicine from University of Bergen, Norway, a dual degree MBA with distinction from IE Business School and Brown University and an MSc in Biotechnology & Biophysical Chemistry from Heidelberg University.

Gilles specializes in biologics-based drug development from discovery and preclinical operations to non-clinical IND-enabling studies.

Most recently, he was the Director of Preclinical Development at Forbius where his responsibilities included the completion of GLP toxicology studies and Phase 1 PK/PD assessments of AVID200 which supported its acquisition by BMS in September 2020.

Previously, Gilles acted as VP of Research at Alethia Biotherapeutics. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from McGill University and was an MRC of Canada post-doctoral fellow at the Molecular Oncology Group of the MUHC.

Thomas is an expert in CMC of complex biologics from early stage to commercial readiness.

He is a co-inventor and was CMC lead for asfotase alfa, an approved Enzyme Replacement Therapy against hypophosphatasia, which was developed by Enobia and eventually acquired by Alexion and, now marketed as Strensiq.

Most recently, Thomas was Director of Manufacturing at Forbius, where he was responsible for AVID100, a Phase 2 Antibody-Drug-Conjugate and AVID200, a Phase 1 receptor ecto-domain trap which was acquired by BMS in September 2020.

Previously, he led the manufacturing operations at ProMetic (now Liminal BioSciences) contributing towards the development Ryplazim (plasminogen), now FDA approved,

Thomas holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the Université de Montréal and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in France, identifying an actin-based mechanism of cell motility.

Caroline has over 25 years of experience as a legal leader and advisor to management teams within public and private multinational enterprises. Her expertise and involvement includes international expansion, structuring, governance, compliance, financing, as well as closing multi-million-dollar value transactions around the world in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other manufacturing industries.

Caroline holds an MBA with Honors from Strayer University (USA), a Master of International Business Laws from the University of Ottawa (Canada), and a Bachelor of Laws from the Laval University (Canada). She is a member of the Québec Bar.