Management Team

Mr. Janzen is Cardiome’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and serves on Cardiome’s Board of Directors.  Mr. Janzen joined Cardiome in 2003 as Chief Financial Officer, and served as President and Chief Business Officer from March 2006 to August 2009.  He has been instrumental in developing and implementing Cardiome’s operational strategy and in the advancement of Cardiome’s corporate development and the strengthening of its financial position.  Mr. Janzen currently serves as a director for a number of public and private technology companies and as a director various industry trade associations.  Prior to joining Cardiome, Mr. Janzen served as Managing Director, Health Sciences and Partner at Sprott Securities, Inc., a Toronto-based investment bank.

Mr. Sikorsky is Cardiome’s Chief Financial Officer, with responsibility for overseeing our financial operations.   He joined Cardiome in June 2006, bringing over ten years of public and private company experience as well as three years of direct audit and tax experience.  Prior to joining Cardiome, he was Vice President of Finance at NxtPhase T&D Corporation, a private Vancouver-based energy technology company.  He has also held senior financial roles including Vice President and Corporate Controller with 360networks inc. and Corporate Controller with WIC Western International Communications.  Mr. Sikorsky began his career with KPMG performing audit, tax and accounting work for major clients.  He is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Saskatchewan.

Dr. McAfee is Cardiome’s Executive Scientist.  He joined Cardiome in October 2004 as Vice President of New Product Development.  He has been a scientist and manager in academia and industry for more than 40 years.  As Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Technical Officer of Aderis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (formerly Discovery Therapeutics, Inc.), Dr. McAfee led the introduction of a number of clinical candidates including a therapeutic patch for Parkinson’s Disease, now marketed, and adenosine receptor based cardiovascular therapeutics and diagnostics still in development.

Karim Lalji is Cardiome’s Senior Vice President, Commercial Affairs. Bringing over 16 years of experience in pharmaceutical business strategy, product commercialization and marketing to Cardiome, Mr. Lalji was previously Vice President of Business Strategy and New Product Commercialization at Sepracor, Inc. At Sepracor, Inc., he was responsible for the commercial success of their pipeline of drug candidates, including identifying which products to take into development and ensuring that the development program and marketing strategy resulted in successful product launches. One of the key achievements for Mr. Lalji at Sepracor, Inc. was his leadership in the development and launch of Lunesta (eszopiclone) for the treatment of insomnia. Mr. Lalji’s earlier experience includes ten years with Merck & Company, where he led several successful product launches. Mr. Lalji also has cardiovascular experience from Merck & Company as the Director of Business Strategy for the cholesterol reducers and hypertension/heart failure franchises. Mr. Lalji is currently a member of the Board of Overseers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, an academic teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School. Mr. Lalji holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and a Science Masters in Health Policy and Management from Harvard University. He was awarded the Wilinsky Prize for Academic Excellence while at Harvard.

Ms. Grant is Cardiome's Vice President of Product Development for vernakalant. She is responsible for the overall management of the vernakalant (iv) and vernakalant (oral) programs. She has overseen development of vernakalant from its initial toxicology studies as a clinical candidate in 1999, through to its current stage of development. Ms. Grant’s past roles at Cardiome have included Vice President, Commercial Affairs and Director of Business & Clinical Development. Prior to joining Cardiome, Ms. Grant acted as business consultant to De Novo Enzyme Corporation and Coopers & Lybrand. Ms. Grant also worked in research and development, production, and quality assurance with Schering Agrochemicals U.K., Wellcome Biotechnologies U.K. and Serono Diagnostics U.K. respectively. Ms. Grant holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree from Essex University, U.K. and an MBA degree from Simon Fraser University.

Dr. David Fedida is Cardiome’s Vice-President for Drug Discovery, where, for the past ten years he has been actively involved in the discovery and mechanisms of action of Vernakalant as a new treatment for the acute conversion of atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm.  Dr. Fedida was the first to identify the human heart potassium current IKur with the KCNA5 gene product, a current which has subsequently become an important atria-selective target for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, and he leads a research group at the University of British Columbia investigating human heart potassium channels and the remodeling of cardiac ion channels in diseases like Long QT syndrome. Dr. Fedida obtained his B.Sc. and Ph.D from the University of Leeds and his MD from Oxford in the UK, and after postgraduate medical training and positions at universities in Canada and the US, since 1998 he has been at the University of British Columbia in Canada, where he was most recently Associate Head of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Associate Dean Research.

Dr. Beatch is Cardiome's Vice President of Translational Medicine who’s responsibilities include the identification, profiling and clinical advancement of drug candidates. He joined Cardiome in September 1996 as Head of Pharmacology, assumed the role of Vice President of Research in June 1997 and recently served as Cardiome’s Vice President of Scientific Affairs. Dr Beatch was recognized for his leadership in the discovery and clinical development of Brinavess with the Innovation and Achievement award in 2005, from Life Sciences British Columbia. He has more than 25 years of expertise and experience working in the area of ion-channel modulating pharmaceuticals. Dr. Beatch was previously involved in the new drug submission and approval process as a Research Scientist for the Drugs Directorate of the HPB, the equivalent of the US FDA. Dr. Beatch has also held an Assistant Professorship in Cardiology & Pharmacology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and since 1997 has been an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

Janice Mallison is Cardiome’s Vice President, Regulatory Affairs.With over 20 years’ experience in regulatory affairs and quality assurance, Ms. Mallison was previously Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Operations at Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals.  Ms. Mallison has a track record of both FDA and European success in large pharma and small biotech companies, providing oversight of submission and approval of marketing applications for 5 novel drug products as well as regulatory leadership of drug development planning in cardiovascular, respiratory, neurology, pain and transplant.  Ms. Mallison’s earlier career includes eight years with Elan Pharma and thirteen years with Roche and Syntex.   After completing a degree in pharmacology Ms. Mallison joined the industry as a toxicologist and Study Director overseeing a range of non-clinical safety testing to support phase 1 through to NDA.