Management Team

The management team at Angiochem is a group of highly experienced individuals who bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the company.

Dr. Jean-Paul Castaigne, M.D., MBA, President and CEO

Dr. Castaigne is a senior executive with extensive international experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Prior to joining Angiochem as CEO, he was COO and CSO of Conjuchem, and previously he was Vice President, Head of Global R&D at the Fournier Group in France. In addition, Dr. Castaigne spent eleven years with Novartis in a variety of management positions, including Corporate Vice President for Canada, President and Managing Director in the Philippines and Director of Medical and R&D in France. Dr. Castaigne has also worked with CILAG (J&J) and Sanofi in France. He received his MD from Paris University in 1975 and held the position of Associate Professor of oncology and pneumology in 1978. Dr. Castaigne received an MBA from HEC Paris in 1987. Dr. Castaigne is member of the board of the following biotech companies: Tranzyme Pharma and Asmacure.

Pamela Esposito, Ph.D., S.V.P. Strategic Planning & Business Development 

Dr. Pamela Esposito joined Angiochem from Biovex, a clinical stage oncology company, where she was vice president of business development. At Biovex, she was responsible for the successful acquisition of the company by Amgen in 2011. Prior to joining Biovex, she was director of business development and commercialization at Vion Pharmaceuticals with responsibility for all business development activities. Previously, she was one of the first employees at a number of successful early stage companies, including Galenea and Bioduro, where she held a variety of strategic planning, business development and commercial positions with increasing responsibilities. Dr. Esposito received a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics from Tufts University School of Medicine where her research focused on the physiologic regulation of the blood-brain-barrier and the implications on drug distribution.

Jean E. Lachowicz, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Lachowicz is a leader in the areas of pharmaceutical discovery and early development. Beginning her industry career at Schering Plough in the department of CNS and Cardiovascular Research, she was involved in the discovery of numerous small molecule development candidates in areas of Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, depression, obesity diabetes, and dyslipidemia. She also oversaw development teams from discovery through Phase IIa. At Merck Research Laboratories, Dr. Lachowicz was Head of the in vitro Pharmacology Department at the Rahway, NJ site. Dr. Lachowicz received her Sc.B. degree from Brown University in Chemistry, her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Duke University, and her MBA from the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University. She completed a Pharmacology Research Fellowship at NIH, followed by a research faculty appointment at Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Lachowicz has co-authored over 60 publications in scientific journals.

Betty Lawrence, B.Sc., Vice President, Development

Betty Lawrence has over 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry, with extensive experience in early development projects. She has managed and implemented development programs for numerous molecules and therapeutic areas including oncology, endocrinology, analgesia, diagnostic imaging, and coagulation. She has also played an active role in various business development and partnering activities. Prior to joining Angiochem, Ms.Lawrence held progressive positions at ConjuChem Biotechnologies Inc. during an 8-year tenure to Director of Development. She has also held various scientific positions at Resolution Pharmaceuticals and Health Canada. Ms. Lawrence received her B.Sc. with honors in Biology and Pharmacology degree from McMaster University.

Michel Demeule Ph.D., Director of Research

Dr. Michel Demeule completed his Ph.D in physiology at the Université de Montréal, Canada, in 1992. Over the years, he worked as a researcher in the Laboratory of Molecular Medicine at the Université du Québec à Montréal. During this period, he acquired a solid expertise on the transport of drugs across the blood-brain barrier. Research performed by Dr. Demeule and his team led to the discovery and design of peptides that cross the blood-brain barrier. Dr. Demeule joined Angiochem in 2006 and has since put his knowledge to the service of the Company’s research program. The utilization of this new peptide platform technology allowed Angiochem to create new therapeutic molecules for the treatment of brain diseases. Dr. Demeule’s work has been published in more than 60 scientific publications including peer reviewed papers, review articles, book chapters and patents.

Catherine Gagnon, MSc, Director of Corporate Development

Catherine Gagnon has worked over ten years in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry, with experience in early development projects. She is currently responsible for the corporate development activities for Angiochem where she is managing the various business development and partnering activities as well as overseeing the IP activities. She has also managed the manufacturing development of various molecular classes (small molecules, peptides, proteins, radiolabel) and therapeutic areas including oncology, endocrinology, and analgesia. Prior to joining Angiochem, Ms.Gagnon held progressive positions at ConjuChem Biotechnologies Inc. during a 7-year. Ms Gagnon received her M.Sc. with honours in Chemist in 2000 from the Universite de Montreal.

Dejan Ristic, CA, CPA, Acting Head of Finance

As acting Head of Finance, Dejan Ristic brings his corporate financial expertise of the new economy with public and venture capital funded companies. Since 2004, Mr. Ristic has been working as an expert consultant with a number of technology companies both publicly-traded and start-ups. Between 2003 and 2004, Mr. Ristic was the CFO at Radical Horizon, a telecom start-up and prior to that, he was Director of Finance at Nexia Biotechnologies and as such, he assisted in Nexia’s IPO in 2000. From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Ristic was a manager in the high-technology practice of Ernst & Young LLP. He participated in public offerings generating over $150M, primarily for biotechnology and new economy companies. Mr. Ristic is a Canadian Chartered Accountant and a Certified Public Accountant in the US. He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting & Entrepreneurship from McGill University and a Diploma in Accountancy from Concordia University.