Our Team

Doug Janzen
Chairman & CEO
Doug Janzen has been involved in the Life Sciences industry for the past 19 years. He is currently the Founder and President of Northview Ventures, an organization which invests in and provides strategic advisory services to a number of technology companies. Mr Janzen was part of the founding group of Aequus Pharmaceuticals. Previously, Mr Janzen was President and CEO of Cardiome Pharma, a NASDAQ listed drug development company that raised over $300 million from investors, and completed over $1 billion in licensing deals during his tenure. In 2010, Cardiome’s lead product, Brinavess, was approved and launched in Europe by Merck. Prior to that, he was an investment banker with Cormark Securities, acting as Managing Director of Life Sciences. Mr Janzen is Past Chair of LifeSciences BC, has served as a Director with Biotech Canada and currently sits as a Director on a number of public and private boards. He is a past winner of Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40 Award.

Anne Stevens MHA
Director
Ms Stevens has over ten years of progressive experience in the Pharmaceutical, Biotech, and Medical Device industry. Anne is the Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Northview Ventures, an entity which invests in and provides strategic advisory services to a number of life sciences companies. Ms Stevens was part of the founding group of Aequus Pharmaceuticals and previously held the title of VP of Corporate Development. Prior to her involvement with Aequus, Ms Stevens served as the Corporate and External Affairs Analyst for Cardiome Pharma, where she was responsible for strategic planning and value analysis of internal R&D. Ms Stevens’ earlier experience includes 5 years with Bayer HealthCare, where she was responsible for the commercial success and business development of a portfolio of products within several key therapeutic areas.

Stu Fowler STRATEGIC COMMERCIAL ADVISOR & DIRECTOR
Mr. Fowler has an impressive background of operational and leadership experience in ophthalmology, with two of the largest ophthalmology companies in Canada and globally. Having been with Allergan Canada for over 23 years, Stu held numerous roles with increased responsibility in sales, marketing and management. His last role at Allergan was Vice President, Regional President and General Manager, Canada. Stu most recently held the lead role as President and General Manager at Alcon Canada, the country’s leading ophthalmic med-device organization.
Throughout his career Stu has pushed the envelope for pharmaceutical and med-device sales and marketing initiatives. He was one of the early pioneers utilizing direct-to-consumer advertising in pharma, with campaigns that have received international recognition and garnered numerous awards; as such, Stu and his team were inducted into the Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame in 2007. He has also developed innovated approaches to sales force effectiveness and customer interface, building physician competency to thrive in a fee-for-service, competitive aesthetic medicine environment. Stu and his teams have also worked tirelessly to improve patient access to medications through ground-breaking, fully integrated market access and reimbursement programs across numerous therapeutic categories.

Ann Fehr CPA • CGA
CFO
Ms. Fehr is the Principal at Fehr & Associates, and has held a number of senior level positions including having served as CFO of Carrus Capital Corporation (formerly BioWest Therapeutic Inc.), Global Minerals Ltd., and other companies listed on the TSX. During the course of her management and consulting career, Ms. Fehr has led a number of companies through significant change and corporate milestones such as public listing applications, mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategic planning and execution. Ms. Fehr is also an active volunteer in the community. Since 2013, she has been Treasurer and a Director for the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Coast BC.

Grant Larsen
Chief Commercial Officer
Grant Larsen joined the Aequus team in August of 2020 in the role of Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Larsen brings almost 20 years of senior management positions in North American Eyecare. His in-depth knowledge of Canadian Optometry, direct to consumer marketing, online technology, and medical devices, brings important experience to accelerate growth for Aequus’ expanding portfolio of products. Mr. Larsen has a strong background in strategic leadership, most recently as the past CEO of Eye Recommend, one of Canada’s largest cooperatives of optometrists. In addition, Mr. Larsen has also held senior positions at Allergan, Nikon Optical Canada, and Digital ECP.
Throughout his career, Grant has developed and launched hundreds of products, ranging from pharmaceuticals and medical devices to PC games and software/applications. His diverse business background and entrepreneurial spirit have led to the board and advisory roles with companies in many industries and challenging markets. Grant will bring the Aequus team important skills as an experienced change agent and driver of financial results.

Chris Clark PgD • CA
Director
Mr. Clark has over 20 years finance and accounting experience in public practice and in public and private companies, most recently focused in the medical device sector. Previous experience includes financial leadership roles with large automotive and telecom firms in which he developed deep expertise in the development and management of sophisticated financial systems. A highly sought after consultant for biotechnology startups, Mr. Clark accepted the role of Chief Financial Officer at Neovasc Inc. and was instrumental in the initial and ongoing development of Neovasc as a publicly traded company. He received his designation as a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and articled with KPMG before moving to Canada from England in 1998. He has an honors degree in Economics from Swansea University and a post graduate diploma from Keble College, Oxford.

Jason Flowerday MBA
Director
Mr. Flowerday has two decades of experience in healthcare management and communications. Mr. Flowerday joined Knight Therapeutics Inc. in 2014 in the roll of Vice President Commercial Operations following the successful sale of his company, Orphan Canada, to Knight. In his role as founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Orphan Canada (formerly GARD Therapeutics), Mr. Flowerday funded and led the company through in-licensing and commercializing of its lead products which dealt with genetic and rare diseases. Prior to founding Orphan Canada, Mr. Flowerday established RxMedia Healthcare Communications, leading the company through a period of sustained growth and expansion. Mr. Flowerday holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Business Administration from Queen’s University.

Rodoula Plakogiannis PharmD • BCPS • CLS • FNLA
Director
Dr. Plakogiannis is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy since 2002; and Adjunct Associate Professor at NYU Langone Medical Center since 2011. She received both her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and traditional Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. Dr. Plakogiannis completed an ASHP-accredited specialized pharmacy residency in primary care at the Bay Pines Veterans Medical Center in Tampa, Fl. She is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist, a Diplomat and Fellow of the Accreditation Council for Clinical Lipidology, and a Board Certified Clinical Lipid Specialist. She serves as one of the Board of Directors for the Northeastern Lipid Association and on the Accreditation Council for Clinical Lipidology 's Board of Governors. She also serves as the Adverse Drug Reactions Section Editor for the Journal of Pharmacy Practice. Dr. Plakogiannis has presented on a national level in addition to local seminars,and has been invited to serve as a consultant at the Aegerion and Amarin Lipid Pharmaceuticals Advisory Board meetings, among others.