Paul Geyer, Chair
Alexei Marko, CEO and Director
Dr. Jane Hsiao
Douglas Janzen
Boaz Lifschitz
Dr. William O’Neill
Steve Rubin
Paul Geyer, Chairman
Mr. Geyer served as the Chairman and CEO of Medical Ventures Corp., a Neovasc predecessor company, since January 2002. He continues in his role as board chair for Neovasc. He is also on the board of directors of the LifeSciences British Columbia industry association, and is a director for several private and public companies.
Paul Geyer graduated with a B.A.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of British Columbia in 1988. In 1991, he founded Mitroflow International Inc., a medical device company that developed and commercialized bovine tissue heart valves. As the company's president and CEO, Mr. Geyer grew Mitroflow from a start-up of nine employees and an investment of $800,000 in 1991 to more than 125 employees in 1999, when he sold the company to Swiss firm Sulzer Medica for more than $50 million. Mitroflow, now part of Sorin Group, continues to be one of the largest medical device companies in the Vancouver area.
Since June 2004, Mr. Geyer has been a director of Urodynamix Technologies Inc. (TSX-V:URO), a medical device company focused on the development of non-invasive medical technology and diagnostic devices based on nearinfrared spectroscopy. Mr. Geyer served previously on the board of directors for the Medical Device Development Center (MDDC) and MEDEC, the association representing medical device companies across Canada. He is an active angel investor and supporter of local technology and life sciences firms. Since 2003, Mr. Geyer has been actively participating as a member of the board of governors at Science World British Columbia, where he took on the role as the board’s chairman in May 2007. Mr. Geyer has been instrumental in the establishment of Science World’s new life sciences gallery, “Body Works.”
In 1998, Mr. Geyer received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Richmond (B.C.) Chamber of Commerce. In 1999, he was named as one of Business in Vancouver newspaper’s “Top Forty Under 40,” an award given to honour outstanding young businesspeople in the city of Vancouver.
Alexei Marko, CEO and Director
Alexei Marko has worked extensively in the medical device field for over 15 years. He is a registered professional engineer and is a listed inventor on several issued or pending medical technology patents. Mr. Marko has been an executive with Neovasc’s predecessor companies since 1999, and he is a principal developer of the Metricath technology. He is a director on the board of Vancouver’s Medical Device Development Centre. In 2005, Business in Vancouver newspaper named him one of the city’s “Top Forty Under 40” business professionals. Mr. Marko completed both his B.Sc. (Hons) at Queen’s University and a M.Sc. in electrical engineering at the University of British Columbia, specializing in medical device development.
Dr. Jane Hsiao
Dr. Hsiao has served on the board of Opko Health, Inc. since February 2007, as Vice Chairman and Chief Technology Officer since May 2007 and as Chairman of the Board of Safestitch Medical, Inc. (formerly Cellular Technology Services Company, Inc.) since September 2007, having served as a director of that company from April 2005. Dr. Hsiao served as the Vice Chairman-Technical Affairs of IVAX Corporation from 1995 to January 2006, when Teva acquired IVAX. Dr. Hsiao served as IVAX’s Chief Technical Officer since 1996, and as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of IVAX Animal Health, IVAX’s veterinary products subsidiary, since 1998. From 1992 until 1995, Dr. Hsiao served as IVAX’s Chief Regulatory Officer and Assistant to the Chairman. Dr. Hsiao served as Chairman and President of DVM Pharmaceuticals from 1998 through 2006 and is also a director of Modigene, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Hsiao is a member of the Frost Group, LLC, a private investment firm based in Miami, Florida. Dr. Hsiao also holds 3.7% of the total limited partnership interests in the Peregrine II Group funds. Dr. Hsiao holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.
Douglas Janzen
Mr. Janzen has extensive experience in the cardiovascular industry. He was recently appointed President and CEO of Cardiome Pharma Corp. (TSX: COM; NASDAQ: CRME), a company that develops drugs to treat or prevent cardiovascular diseases. Mr. Janzen previously served as the company's President and Chief Business Officer, since March 2006, and prior to that as CFO. From February 2006 to August 2007, Mr. Janzen served as a director of Bradmer Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX:BMR), a company which develops and commercializes new anti-cancer drugs discovered at leading academic and commercial research centers. He was also a director of Aptamera Inc., a Louisville, Kentucky-based oncology company that was acquired in February 2005 by Antisoma plc, a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Mr. Janzen also has extensive experience in corporate banking and financing within the biotechnology sector. From September 2001 to January 2003, Mr. Janzen served as Managing Director, Health Sciences and was a partner at Sprott Securities Inc. (now Cormark), a Toronto based investment bank. Mr. Janzen received a Physiology Degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a Masters Degree in Biochemistry from the University of British Columbia.
Boaz Lifschitz
Mr. Boaz Lifschitz is a General Partner and co-founder of Peregrine Ventures, an Israeli technology development incubator. Mr. Lifschitz serves on the Board of Neovasc on behalf of Peregrine Ventures, and has been a director of two of Neovasc’s predecessor companies since their inception. He is also a director of Cellvine Ltd., a wireless telecom services company, and of Genetico Ltd., a company developing an RNA-switch technology to allow drug targeting of cancers and other viral diseased cells.
Prior to co-founding Peregrine Ventures, Mr. Lifschitz was a co-founder of Visioncare Ltd, a biomedical company which develops proprietary ophthalmic implantable devices. He also served for four years as the CFO and Director of the Chairman's Office for VisionCare Ltd. Mr. Lifschitz was also co-founder of BioControl Ltd., a company engaged in development of implantable devices for the treatment of physiological and autonomic dysfunctions.
Mr. Lifschitz has vast experience in financing technology-based companies, having been responsible for reviewing potential investments in early stage companies such as Clearforest Ltd. and Petra Tech International Ltd. among many others. He holds a B.A. from Bar-Ilan University and a M.Sc. in Management through Boston University’s international graduate program in Beer Sheva, Israel.
Dr. William O’Neill
Dr. O'Neill is Professor and Executive Dean for Clinical Affairs, Division of Cardiology at the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. Prior to this, Dr. O'Neill was director of the Division of Cardiovascular Disease at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oaks, Michigan. Earlier, he was Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. After earning his medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine, Dr. O'Neill went on to complete a cardiology fellowship at the University of Michigan Hospital. The author of more than 600 publications, Dr. O'Neill has been listed annually in The Best Doctors in America since 1993. Dr. O'Neill is a world leader in the field of interventional cardiology and in developing new techniques to diagnose and treat obstructed coronary arteries. His innovations include the mechanical rotary atherectomy technique for removing plaque from the arteries.
Steve Rubin
Mr. Rubin has served as Chairman of the Boards of Directors of Neovasc and B-Balloon since February 2008 and as a director of B-Balloon since November 2007. Since May 2007, Mr. Rubin has been the Executive Vice President, Administration, of OPKO Health, Inc., a specialty healthcare company that focuses on the commercialization and development of proprietary pharmaceuticals and instruments for the diagnosis and treatment of ophthalmologic disorders. Prior to that, August 2001 to September 2006, Mr. Rubin served as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of IVAX Corporation, which was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in January 2006. Mr. Rubin is also a member of the Frost Group, LLC, a private investment firm based in Miami, Florida, and serves on the boards of directors of Dreams, Inc., a vertically-integrated sports products company, Modigene, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, Ideation Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of acquiring businesses in digital media, Longfoot Communications Corp., a public shell company seeking to identify a merger or business combination candidate and Safestitch Medical, Inc., a medical device company. Mr. Rubin holds a B.A. in Economics from Tulane University and a J.D. from the University of Florida.
