Francois Chouinard Email & Phone Number

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Lead the development of innovative health & wellness, beverage and recreational cannabis products for the Canadian and international markets. Major inventor in over 20 patent applications for new delivery technologies, manufacturing processes and devices.

Montreal, Canada Area

Montreal, Canada Area

Oversees all product development activities on a pipeline of over 100 products from the selection of third party service suppliers to submission and product launch. Also responsible for the Regulatory Affairs team and the commercial transfers activities. Has developed a very good understanding of the India CDMO business environment meeting over 15 service providers and hiring key leaders in product development, clinical development, analytical development and regulatory affairs.

Montreal, Canada And Long Island, Ny

Work with clients and potential clients for evaluating and integrating pharmaceutical development or commercial transfer opportunities for solid oral dosage. Provide expert advice in drug development at the formulation, manufacturing and strategy level to optimize the time to market and reduce the development cost. Support the client in ensuring seamless and transparent communication from initial contact, project inception to project completion and/or transfer to Commercial.

Montreal, Canada Area

Built a class leading Pharmaceutical Development (PD) organization reaching a headcount of 19 managers and technical staff dedicated to the development and transfer of products for over 18 clients serving the US and CA markets.Actively involved in the development of new business opportunities with new and existing clients through company presentations and review of project quotes. Managed all PD activities, including capital and operations budget preparation and monitoring, resource utilization, work prioritization, project management, client support, overall project budget and cost control. Always strived for the highest level of cost efficiency through lean management, optimal resource allocation and best processes and equipment. • Strongly contributed to the growth of the PD business reaching a total of 18 clients in less than three years.• Achieved a perfect track record of 100% milestone completion and over 100% project pool profitability, meeting or exceeding PD revenue targets in 2014-15.• Spearheaded in less than 9 months the migration to the SAP Project System module with Supply Chain along with new tracking tools for resource utilization and project profitability.• Created a new project management organization and launched new initiatives and processes in material management, cleaning validation and the safe handling of toxic drugs.• Supported the manufacturing operations by the purchase and commissioning of brand new state of the art equipment.

Reported directly to the Head of European Scientific Operations. Managed a group of 65 people for the transfer of all R&D activities to other European and Israeli R&D sites.

Managed, coached and motivated a group of 18 people dedicated to the development of new generic pharmaceutical products for the Canadian and EU markets. As the most experienced formulation scientist provided direct scientific input on complex dosage form projects such as controlled release and low solubility active ingredient formulations. Provided technical expertise at the global level through regular external and videoconference meetings.• Successfully developed over 30 solid dose products for the Canadian and EU markets.• Implemented a new structure in the team to improve talent retention and the sense of ownership on the projects.• Achieved the most cost efficient and the best project milestone fidelity amongst all Ratiopharm R&D groups for three years in a row.• Led the development of the most strategic project in Ratiopharm Canada’s history by implementing a very aggressive reformulation plan to bring the product to market at patent expiry, thus enabling the biggest Ratiopharm Canada launch ever.

Managed a staff of 21 in formulation development, technology transfer and API sourcing. Acted as point person for formulation, legal strategy and supporting activities and participated in the key decision making processes related to Teva’s new product pipeline. Interacted routinely with other development sites in the US and in Israel for the co-development of products for the US and European markets.• Met or exceeded the strategic objectives for R&D in number of submissions per year and project budget fidelity.• Successfully developed over 40 products for the Canadian, EU and US markets such as tablets, capsules, complex delivery and suspensions for human and animal health.• Implemented a new clinical development strategy for complex formulation products reducing costs and development timelines.

Labopharm was a public pharmaceutical company focused on optimising the performance of existing small molecule drugs, using its proprietary controlled-release technologies.Created and led the Pharmaceutical Research group to incorporate the proprietary controlled-release technology in the development of new innovative products. Managed a staff of 20. Responsible for the feasibility evaluation, formulation development and management of more than 20 projects.

Ph.D., Pharmaceutical Sciences

B. Sc., Pharmacy