Pipeline AIM Biologicals AEZS-150 AEZS-130 (Macimorelin) Macimorelin Dx
Leadership Team
The COSCIENS Management team is comprised of senior executives with extensive acquisition, financial, clinical development, marketing and commercial experience in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries.
Anna Biehn
Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Biehn is a global general management, strategy and marketing executive with over 25 years of experience in board leadership, global operating roles and marketing assignments in the consumer products and biosciences industries. She joins COSCIENS having most recently served as the Chief Financial Officer of NuTek Natural Ingredients, a clean-label and plant-based food ingredient company. Prior to her role as CFO at NuTek Natural Ingredients, Ms. Biehn served as VP Strategy and Marketing. She began her career at Conagra, a leading global consumer packaged goods company with sales of $12B worldwide where she held several roles over two decades including most recently as President, Consumer Foods International where she was responsible for leading the company's international business. Ms. Biehn is also a well-established board member, currently serving as a Board Advisor for PretzelHaus Bakery and Baldwin Richardson Foods as well as holding prior board positions at Agro Tech Foods Limited; Hunts Universal Robina Corporation; and Productos Verde Valle. Ms. Biehn holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Political Science from Concordia College and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Denver.
Matthias Gerlach, PhD
Senior Vice President Manufacturing & Supply Chain – Head of Production
Managing Director, Aeterna Zentaris GmbH
Matthias Gerlach was appointed as Managing Director of Aeterna Zentaris GmbH in February 2024 and as Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Supply Chain in January 2021. From December 2011 through May 2014, he was our Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry. Dr. Gerlach, who is based in the Frankfurt office of AEZS Germany, began his career in the pharmaceutical industry in 1997. He joined our Company in January 2001, assuming roles of increasing responsibility in areas of medicinal chemistry and preclinical development through product commercialization during his career. He possesses numerous scientific and business skills and has a long record of successful innovation, drug development and management, and contributed significantly to the successful U.S.- and EU/UK-commercialization of macimorelin in the adult indication. Dr. Gerlach obtained a diploma in Chemistry from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt in 1994 and was awarded his doctorate diploma in synthetic organic chemistry by the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in 1997.
Gilles Gagnon
Gilles Gagnon served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of COSCIENS which resulted from the merger of Aeterna Zentaris and Ceapro Inc. where he was the president and CEO for the last 17 years. Prior to joining Ceapro, he was President and CEO of Aeterna Zentaris, a Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical company. During the past 35 years, Mr. Gagnon has worked at several management levels within the field of health, especially in the hospital environment and pharmaceutical industry. Before going to Aeterna Zentaris in 1999, Mr. Gagnon was Vice President, external affairs for Novartis Pharma Canada Inc. from 1996 to 1999. Prior to that, from 1989 to 1996, Mr. Gagnon held various positions including Executive Director, Corporate Planning and Business Development, Senior Director, Strategic Alliances, General Manager, Government Affairs and Access to Market and Director of Professional Services at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Inc. He was also on the global business development team of Sandoz Pharma. Throughout his career in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Gagnon was especially involved in corporate development and alliance management, as well as marketing functions where he participated in the launch of nine innovative pharmaceutical products in addition to his general management functions.
Special Consultant to the CEO
Giuliano La Fratta
Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. La Fratta is a senior financial professional with over 20 years of professional experience in the pharmaceutical, biopharma and financial services sector. During his career, he has served in both the public and private sectors where he has gained significant experience in leading and managing broad financial activities, including M&A transactions, corporate development, auditing, accounting and administrative functions. Prior to joining Aeterna Zentaris, Mr. La Fratta served as the Vice President of Finance at CellCarta (formerly Caprion Biosciences), a private equity-owned specialty Clinical Research and Development Organization laboratory with global operations headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Prior to CellCarta, Mr. La Fratta served in various functions at IMS Canada Health (now Iqvia) and Cato Research. He began his career at Deloitte Touche as a Senior Auditor for both Canadian and American companies across various industries, including the pharmaceutical sector. Mr. La Fratta holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Concordia University and holds a CPA, CA designation.
Michael Teifel, PhD
Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer, GmbH
Dr. Teifel currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of COSCIENS. Prior to COSCIENS, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Aeterna Zentaris. Dr. Teifel is a leading industry executive with a career spanning over 20 years in various therapeutic areas, including endocrinology and oncology. He has deep experience in translating research into clinical development. Over the course of his career, he has gained particular expertise in the design and implementation of non-clinical development programs for small molecule drugs, peptides, targeted therapies, and biologics, as well as in the continued non-clinical evaluation of drug candidates for global registration.
Dr. Teifel began his career in industry at Roche Diagnostics in delivery systems / non-viral gene therapy. In 1999, Dr. Teifel joined the biotech start-up, Munich Biotech in Martinsried, Germany as a co-founder. As head of pharmacology & toxicology, he was responsible for the evaluation and non-clinical development of a novel vascular targeting technology for the development of anti-tumor diagnostics and therapeutics. Dr. Teifel started his first term at Aeterna Zentaris in 2004, where he held several positions in the field of preclinical development and translational research. In this capacity he was, among others, responsible for preparation of the non-clinical dossier for registration of macimorelin in the U.S. and EU in the indication AGHD. In 2019, Dr. Teifel left Aeterna Zentaris to pursue his career in non-clinical research and development at Cleara Biotech in Utrecht, The Netherlands. As head of translational sciences at Cleara Biotech, he was responsible for translating research on anti-senescent drugs into pre-clinical development in age-related diseases and late-stage cancer. Dr. Teifel holds a degree in biology and his Ph.D. from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.
Michael Regnier, P.Eng.
Senior Vice President, technical operations and managing Director, Ceapro Inc.
Mr. Regnier is an experienced and respected Operations Executive and Professional Engineer with 20+ years of progressive technical and leadership experience in the medical device, pharmaceutical and aerospace materials manufacturing industries. Over the course of his career, he has established a successful track record of leading cross functional technical and non-technical teams, developing effective action plans, and working with international partners. Prior to joining Ceapro, Mr. Regnier served in a number of roles at Oerlikon Metco (Canada) Inc., a subsidiary of OC Oerlikon AG, a global provider of industrial technology based in Switzerland, with a focus on manufacturing of specialty materials, primarily nickel-based metal powders. In his most recent role at Oerlikon as the General Manager, Composite Materials for Aerospace, Electronics, Mining and Energy, he successfully led a team of 70 – 80 employees through the global pandemic and into back-to-back record years for revenue and profitability. Additionally, he served as the VP of Operations, Advanced Materials R&D for Infection Prevention and Control at Exciton Technologies, Inc., where he led the completion of product development and pilot manufacturing operations for the company’s commercialization of their proprietary antimicrobial silver technology. Other career appointments include Director, Product Development and Director, Engineering at Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp.