Management
Eric A. Adams, MIBS
Chief Executive Officer & President
Eric A. Adams was appointed Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of InMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in June 2016. During his tenure at InMed, he has reconstituted the Board of Directors and the Executive management team and has raised more than $35M in
Mr. Adams previously served as CEO at enGene Inc., where he oversaw its transformation from a nascent start-up into a venture capital-backed leader in gene therapy. Prior to enGene, Mr. Adams held senior positions in global market development with QLT Inc. (Vancouver), Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc. (La Jolla, CA), Abbott Laboratories (Chicago, IL), and Fresenius AG (Germany). As the previous Chairman of BIOTECanada’s Emerging Company Advisory Board, and for his extensive generosity in mentoring biotech entrepreneurs, Mr. Adams is well-respected within the Canadian biotech industry as a strategic advisor to a number of early-stage biotech companies.
He is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, and holds a Masters of International Business from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Southern Indiana.
Michael Woudenberg, P.Eng.
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Woudenberg joined InMed with more than 20 years of successful drug development, process engineering, GMP manufacturing and leadership experience. He brings valuable expertise in the development, technology transfer and commercialization of
Prior to joining InMed in 2018, Mr. Woudenberg held various positions within 3M, Cardiome Pharma, Arbutus Biopharma and most recently as the Managing Director of Phyton Biotech, LLC. His experience includes process and formulation development from lab/pre-clinical products through the various stages of clinical development to validated and successfully approved and inspected commercial APIs and drug products. Additionally, he has extensive experience with regards to regulatory inspections (e.g. FDA, European, Australian, Korean, Japanese, Canadian) and their related chemistry, manufacturing and control requirements from clinical to commercial production of approved products.
Mr. Woudenberg received his Bachelor of Science, Chemistry and Bachelor of Engineering Science, Chemical at Western University of London, Ontario, Canada.
Netta Jagpal, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Jagpal joins InMed with over 20 years of experience in financial leadership roles, primarily in the biotech industry. Prior to InMed, Ms. Jagpal served as Vice President, Financial Reporting & Compliance for D-Wave Systems Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) where she led a finance team through the initial public offering process.
Prior to D-Wave, Netta spent 11 years at Zymeworks Inc. (NYSE: ZYME), a leading Vancouver based clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, in various financial roles including Senior Director, Finance & Corporate Controller. Netta has also previously held roles at Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANP) and Ernst & Young. Netta is a Chartered Professional Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting and Organization Behaviour from Simon Fraser University.
Eric C. Hsu, PhD
Senior Vice President, Pre-Clinical Research & Development
Dr. Hsu joined InMed with more than 18 years of scientific leadership experience in the field of gene therapy. Prior to joining InMed, he held various positions within enGene Inc., including V.P. of Research and V.P. of Scientific Affairs and Operations.
Dr. Hsu's experience includes a wide array of activities, including benchtop research, formulation development and manufacturing process development, as well as patent prosecution, vendor contract negotiations and execution, and research partnerships. He is also responsible for expanding product pipelines, and managing R&D budgets and timelines. Dr. Hsu is considered to be an expert in gene transfer and gene expression using vector systems.
Dr. Hsu received his Doctorate from the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and his Bachelor’s degree from McGill University.
Alexandra D.J. Mancini, MSc
Consultant
Ms. Mancini has more than 30 years of global biopharmaceutical R&D experience, overseeing a wide range of drug development activities, with a particular emphasis on clinical development and regulatory affairs. She has been an executive with numerous biotech
Prior to joining Sirius Genomics, Ms. Mancini served as Sr. V.P. of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs at INEX Pharmaceuticals; and V.P. of Regulatory Affairs at QLT Inc., where she played a significant role in the development of VISUDYNE from the preclinical stage through to its approval as the first drug for age-related macular degeneration. While at QLT, Ms. Mancini also led the regulatory approval process for the anti-cancer drug PHOTOFRIN and its associated medical devices, the first drug-device combination product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ms. Mancini holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Toronto.
Shane Johnson, MD
SVP, General Manager of BayMedica
Dr. Shane Johnson’s career has focused principally on offering strategic business advisory services to companies in the biotechnology and healthcare sectors. His work has included guiding regulatory strategy, product portfolio assessment and valuations, and product development and launch strategies for companies including Biogen Idec, Amgen, and Genentech.
Shane was a Principal at Hamilton BioVentures (a Life Science venture capital firm), an Engagement Manager at L.E.K. Consulting (an international strategy consulting firm), and held operational roles in several early stage companies.
For the past 4 years, Shane’s work has been focused on the cannabis and cannabinoid science space, and he has developed a strong working knowledge of clinical opportunities in the sector. He is currently on the Board of Directors of several cannabis-related companies, and is a co-founder of one of Nevada’s leading cultivators and producers of premium cannabis products including a patented lozenge.
Shane holds a B.A. in Studio Art and a B.S. in Neuroscience (with honors) from Brown University, an M.D. from the Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a Fulbright Scholar.
Jerry P. Griffin
VP, Sales and Marketing
Mr. Griffin has a wealth of experience across various markets and with numerous cannabinoid products, and a proven track record as a seasoned sales executive. He has held several senior positions at both privately and publicly held companies including Fortune 500 companies.
Most recently, Mr. Griffin was the Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Creo Ingredients, a biotechnology-based ingredient company that produces rare cannabinoids.
Prior to Creo, he was the President of a successful wellness company, overseeing all aspects of a business that develops and distributes cannabinoid-based products. With his extensive hands-on experience in the rapidly expanding cannabinoid industry, he brings significant real-world knowledge across the entire value chain to the Company.
Charles Marlowe, PhD
VP, Chemistry
While at COR Therapeutics, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Takeda and Exelixis Inc., Dr. Chuck Marlowe was instrumental in helping drive a number of small molecule therapeutics to entry into later-stage clinical trials and FDA approval. These products include Integrilin and Betrixaban (FDA-approved) , Cromafiban, XL147 and XL765 (Phase II, with Sanofi) and Elinogrel Phase III, with Novartis.
Most recently Chuck was the Principal of Pharmaceutical Consultants, supplying chemical expertise to startup companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, fermentation and the renewable synthetic biology space.
Chuck has authored over 30 publications in leading journals and holds over 25 issued world and US patents. He holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from UC Berkeley, and was an NIH Postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University.
Jim Kealey, PhD
VP, Synthetic Biology
Dr. Jim Kealey has an extensive background in biochemistry, molecular biology, enzymology and synthetic biology. He has focused his research efforts using these skills to engineer organisms, including yeast, to produce small molecules, pharmaceuticals, and biofuels. At Intrexon, Jim built and managed a large research team that developed pioneering methods and platforms to convert inexpensive methane into higher value
Prior to Intrexon, Jim led a number of groups at Amyris whose focus was the rapid engineering and development of S. cerevisiae to produce terpenes for industrial applications – (terpenes are common compounds in cannabis). While as Kosan Biosciences, Jim led groups that focused on the production of polyketides – a class of molecules that include anticancer, antibiotic and cannabinoids.
Jim earned a BA in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of UC Santa Cruz and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from UCSF.
Philip Barr, PhD
Sr. Consultant
As a graduate student, Dr. Phil Barr invented the antiviral compound Brivudine, which was approved for use in Europe. While Director of Molecular Biology at Chiron (now Novartis) and Adjunct Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UC San Francisco, Phil headed or worked with teams that used engineered yeast to successfully manufacture yeast-derived recombinant human insulin
(Novolin, Novo Nordisk)and gamma-interferon,(with Lucky Goldstar) the first bio-pharmaceutical approved for use in Asia. He also developed commercial diagnostic antigens for HIV and HCV, and later as Founder, CSO and CEO of Arriva Pharmaceuticals, he spearheaded the development of recombinant human alpha 1-antitrypsin for hereditary emphysema.
Phil has significant industrial scale experience with yeast, including ultra-low cost manufacturing of biofuels and specialty chemicals. He has specialized in the field of polyketide production in yeast. Significantly, the cannabinoids are members of the polyketide family of natural products. Notably he also holds over 50 issued patents, and has authored some 200 papers and book chapters in chemistry, yeast molecular biology and genetic engineering.
Phil holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, has over 30 years of experience in industrial chemistry and molecular biology, and was the primary editor of the first book on commercial yeast genetic engineering.