Colin Foster | President and CEO
Colin Foster has been President and CEO and a director of BioBlast since January, 2015. Mr. Foster has extensive experience in leading therapeutic, diagnostic, and medical device companies in the United States and internationally, working across the R&D-to-commercial continuum. He was founder and CEO of iSci Management LLC, a life sciences advisory firm, co-founder and CEO of Optherion, Inc., a venture backed biologics and diagnostics company targeting ultra-orphan diseases of the immune system and age-related macular degeneration, and prior to that, he was the President and CEO of Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation USA and Region Head of the North American Pharmaceuticals business of Bayer AG. Mr. Foster began his post-graduate career with Sandoz Canada Inc. before embarking on an international career with Bayer in Canada, the USA, and Europe.
Mr. Foster currently serves as Chairman of Ivenix, Inc., and is a board member of Optherion, iSci Management LLC, and Vista Vocational & Life Skills Center. Mr. Foster has a B.Sc. in Zoology and Microbiology from the University of Toronto, and an M.B.A. from Western University in Canada. He is also an active Member of The Jackson Laboratory National Council and Jackson Society.
Dalia Megiddo, MD, MBA | Chief Development Officer
Dr. Dalia Megiddo is BioBlast Pharma’s founder and Chief Development Officer. Dr. Megiddo co-founded Alcobra Ltd., a NASDAQ traded company primarily focused on the development and commercialization of a proprietary drug, MG01CI, to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in February 2008 and became a Director at that time. She is an entrepreneur and a medical doctor in family medicine. Since 2000, she has been a manager of InnoMed Ventures, an Israeli venture capital fund focused on life sciences. From 2006 to 2010, she was also a manager of 7 Health Ventures, a Israeli venture capital fund. She is also the founder of a number of life science companies. Dr. Megiddo received her M.D. degree from Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School and holds a specialist degree in Family Medicine, and also holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg-Recanati School of Business.
Udi Gilboa, MBA | Chief financial officer
Udi Gilboa has been a director and Chief Financial Officer of our Company since its inception. In addition, Mr. Gilboa co-founded Alcobra Ltd. in February 2008 and became a director in Alcobra Ltd. at that time. He has served as Alcobra Ltd.’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer since its inception to May 2014. Mr. Gilboa is the founder and managing partner of Top Notch Capital, a prominent Israeli life sciences investment bank. He is also the founder of a number of medical device and pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Gilboa holds a Bachelor’s degree and M.B.A. from Tel Aviv University. Mr. Gilboa serves a director of Insuline Medical Ltd., a public company whose shares are listed for trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. In addition, he is a director of Samson Neurosciences Ltd.
Ronen Twito, CPA | VP Finance
Ronen Twito joined Bioblast as VP Finance on May 2014. Mr. Twito brings over 14 years of finance and management experience in both publicly traded and private companies. Prior to joining BioBlast. Mr. Twito served as Deputy CEO and Chief Financial Officer at XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd., an international pharmaceuticals company focusing on late stage clinical technologies (Nasdaq: XTLB, TASE: XTLB) from 2009 to 2014. Mr Twito served also as CEO of InterCure Ltd, a medical device company specializing in the development and marketing of the world’s first FDA-cleared, non-drug, non-invasive hypertension treatment device (subsidiary of XTL) (TASE: INCR), from 2012 to 2013. Prior to joining XTL, he served as Corporate Finance Director at Leadcom Integrated Solutions Ltd., an international telecommunications company, specializing in management and implementation of network deployment services (then listed on the AIM and TASE, 2004 -2009) . Mr. Twito is an Israeli Certified Public Accountant and is a member of the Institute of CPAs in Israel. Mr. Twito holds a BSc in Business & Management – Accounting, and a B.Ed in Teaching of accounting.
Irit Gliko- Kabir, PhD | Senior director of clinical studies
Dr. Gliko Kabir is BioBlast’s senior director of clinical studies . Prior to joining BioBlast Dr. Gliko-Kabir served as the senior director of clinical development at Chiasma where she manage the clinical development, planning, execution, analysis and reporting of the company’s clinical projects. She worked previously at Teva where she held the position of Lead Global Operation Manager for Multiple Sclerosis , and at Quintiles Israel where she served as clinical team leader. Dr Gliko- Kabir holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Science from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Hagar Greif, PhD | Director of preclinical development
Dr. Greif is BioBlast’s director of preclinical development. Prior to joining BioBlast, Dr. Greif served as the Chief Scientific Officer of ATI- a life science technology incubator, where she was responsible for the screening and preclinical development of all portfolio companies. Prior to ATI, Dr. Greif served as the head of R&D at Harlan, a full GLP-accredited CRO. Dr. Greif holds a B.Sc. from the Tel Aviv University in biology, M.Sc. and PhD from the Weizmann Institute.
Prof. Zohar Argov | Chief medical officer
Prof. Argov is world renown for his studies and discoveries in myology and neurological diseases. He is Professor (Emeritus) of Neurology & Josephine Frank Kanrich Chair of Neuromuscular Diseases at Hadassah- Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Neurology/Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Prof Argov is a past President, European Neurological Society (2011-2)and Chairman of European Neurological Society Subcommittee of Muscle & Neuromuscular Disorders (2007-2010). He currently serves in the executive committee of the World Muscle Society.
Boris Vaisman, PhD | Director of CMC
Dr. Vaisman is Bioblast’s director of CMC ( Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls). Prior to joining Bioblast Dr. Vaisman served as the VP CMC at HealOr Ltd., Rehovot, Israel where he managed worldwide CMC company activities for different products and was responsible for formulation development, manufacturing processes design, qualification and transfer, analytical methods development, qualification and transfer, as well as supervised GMP clinical material production and supply, stability studies and CMC regulatory filings. Prior to HealOr Dr. Vaisman served as a chief Pharmacist at Rafa Laboratories Ltd., a commercial Israeli drug manufacturer, where he was responsible for all aspects of commercial manufacturing and control. Dr. Vaisman holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.