Three new, independent directors join Cangene's board

02-Apr-2008

Cangene Corporation announced that three new, independent directors have joined its board of directors. Drs. Bruce Burlington, Philip Johnson and Scott Lillibridge will join Cangene's board effective immediately. This addition brings Cangene's board to 11 members, six of whom are independent. For the first time, the majority of Cangene's directors will be independent of the Apotex Group, Cangene's majority shareholder.

Bruce Burlington, MD, age 59, received his medical degree from Louisiana State University in 1976 after completing a B.A. in Economics and Psychology at Louisiana Technical University in 1970. Additionally, he earned board certifications following training at the University of Colorado in both internal medicine and infectious disease. He joined the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1981 where he spent 17 years in various roles, including: Director, Division of Biological Investigational New Drugs in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; Acting Director in the Office of Generic Drugs, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research; and Director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health. In 1999, he was recruited by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals as Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs. He spent nine years within the Wyeth organization and recently retired from his position as Executive Vice President, Business Practices and Compliance.

Philip R. Johnson, Jr., MD, age 53, received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by pediatric residency and infectious disease training at Vanderbilt University. After fellowship training, he worked at the National Institutes of Health and Columbus Children's Hospital for 20 years before assuming his current positions as Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Over the last decade, Dr. Johnson has focused on gene transfer technology for use in vaccine antigen delivery, culminating in the development of a candidate HIV-1 vaccine that is now in human clinical trials. Dr. Johnson has received numerous national honors including election to the American Pediatric Society, being named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and being named as a member the American Academy of Microbiology.

Scott R. Lillibridge, MD, age 55, received his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland after completing a BA in Environmental Health at East Tennessee State University. Dr. Lillibridge has extensive training in epidemiology and public health. His United States Public Health Service career is mostly identified with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where he assumed many emergency responsibilities including Chief Medical Officer, U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and founding Director of the Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program. He also served as Special Assistant to the Secretary DHHS for National Security and Emergency Management where he advised on issues related to bioterrorism and other public health preparedness. After his federal career, he went on to found the Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness at the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston. In 2007, he and his entire team were recruited to the Texas A&M Health Science Center where he has expanded his work related to global health and security.

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