Chairman and CEO
JD Partner
Cartesian Capital Group, LLC
William Jarosz is currently a Partner at Cartesian Capital Group, LLC, a global investment management firm. From 1997 until 2005, Mr. Jarosz served as Managing Director and General Counsel ofAIGCapital Partners, a subsidiary of American International Group, Inc., and as Managing Director of the AIG-Brunswick Millennium Fund. While at AIGCapital Partners, Mr. Jarosz oversaw global private equity transactions for the firm’s various private equity funds. Prior to joining AIG in 1997, Mr.Jarosz practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton, specializing in international private equity investment and Russian corporate and securities laws. Mr. Jarosz also served as a consultant to the World Bank on the regulation of Foreign Direct Investment in emerging markets. Mr. Jarosz is a graduate of the University of Montana and received an MA in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a JD from Harvard Law School.
Susan Koppy, BSc
President & Director
Ms. Koppy has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and business development in the bio-pharmaceutical industry in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. She has participated in the negotiation of numerous agreements with a multi-billion dollar aggregate commercial value and is a frequent speaker on business development issues in the industry. After 15 years working through progressive positions of responsibility in life sciences, Ms. Koppy joined Novartis Pharmaceuticals AG in Basel Switzerland in 2000 where she became the first woman on the global marketing management team. Between 2005 and2008 she built and led strategy, business development and acquisition groups for Applied Biosystems, Inc., Idenix Pharmaceuticals and Transcept Pharmaceuticals where she successfully sourced and executed a major U.S. partnership with Purdue Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Koppy now consults with a variety of bio-pharmaceutical companies on business development strategy, search, and transactions in a broad variety of therapeutic areas both in-and out-licensing. She is a member of the National Association for Corporate Directors, Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, and Licensing Executive Society.
Michael Liggett, CPA, CA, Bsc. Pharm
Chief Financial Officer and Director
Michael Liggett brings 30 years of experience in the health care sector. Michael was a practicing pharmacist for 7 years before obtaining his training and certification as a Chartered Accountant. After spending 7 years at Price Waterhouse Coopers (then Price Waterhouse), he joined Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Ltd. in the capacity of Chief Financial Officer. He provided leadership through multiple financings and other strategic initiatives before successfully transitioning the company to establish its footprint in the forestry sector as Eacom Timber. His background includes over 19 years as a public company CFO with strategic and operational expertise and proven success in finance, M&A, strategic partnerships, restructurings, and risk management.
Dr. Peter Hnik, MD, MHSc
Dr. Hnik received his medical degree from the Medical Faculty of Charles University of Prague in 1981. After practicing for years at the Eye Clinic of the Charles University Hospital where he performed surgery and consultation in glaucoma and neuro-ophthalmology, Dr. Hnik later joined the Eye Clinic of the University of British Columbia as part of the glaucoma research group. He received his Master of Health Sciences degree from the University of British Columbia in 1999. Prior to joining iCo Therapeutics, Dr. Hnik served as Associate Director of Clinical Research with QLT Inc., playing a critical role in designing and directing Visudyne clinical trials in AMD and diabetic retinopathy. He was also heavily involved in the publication, in-licensing and pharmacovigilance activities for Visudyne. He has authored numerous ocular publications and presentations at international forums. Dr. Hnik is a member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), the European Society of Retina Specialists (EURETINA), the Drug Information Association (DIA), and the New York Academy of Sciences (NYA).
Dr. Kishor Wasan, R.Ph., Ph.D., FAAPS, FCAHS, FCSPS
Director of Research
Dr. Wasan has received numerous awards for his contributions to health sciences including the Canadian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences Leadership award for outstanding contributions to Pharmaceutical Sciences in Canada and is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. Dr. Wasan has published over 240 peer-reviewed articles and 280 abstracts in the area of lipid-based drug delivery and lipoprotein-drug interactions. Most recently, Dr. Wasan served as the Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition of the University of Saskatchewan from August 2014 to June 2019. Dr. Wasan led the research team at the Wasan lab at the University of British Columbia that developed what has become iCo 019, and will initially focus his efforts on the further development of iCo 019 via partnerships and collaborations.