Gilles Gagnon

Gilles Gagnon serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ceapro. Prior to joining Ceapro, he was President and CEO of Aeterna Zentaris, a Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical company. During the past 35 years, Mr. Gagnon has worked at several management levels within the field of health, especially in the hospital environment and pharmaceutical industry. Before going to Aeterna Zentaris in 1999, Mr. Gagnon was Vice President, external affairs for Novartis Pharma Canada Inc. from 1996 to 1999. Prior to that, from 1989 to 1996, Mr. Gagnon held various positions including Executive Director, Corporate Planning and Business Development, Senior Director, Strategic Alliances, General Manager, Government Affairs and Access to Market and Director of Professional Services at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Inc. Throughout his career in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Gagnon was especially involved in corporate development, alliance management, as well as marketing functions where he participated in the launch of nine innovative pharmaceutical products in addition to his general management functions.

Mr. Gagnon has participated in several international committees and strategic advisory boards. He completed three mandates on the board of directors of Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D, now Innovative Medicine Canada) where he represented for nine years members from the biopharmaceutical sector and pioneered the Rx&D's Canadian bio partnering initiative. He also served on various boards in the life sciences industry including private organizations like Bio Quebec (Chairman) and Montreal In Vivo as well as publicly-traded biotech Nasdaq listed companies. Mr. Gagnon holds a master’s degree in pharmacology (M.Sc.) and a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Sherbrooke University, a certificate in General Management from the London Business School, UK and holds an ICD.D certification for completing the Directors Education Program at the Rothman School of Management of University of Toronto. He is a member of the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors.