Tetra Bio-Pharma has strengthened its management team with the appointment of Bernard Fortier to the position of CEO.
Andre Rancourt, previous interim CEO will take the position as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Andre Audet will step down as Chairman of the Board of Directors but will continue to serve as a Board member.
Bernard Fortier is a graduate from the MBA program at l'école des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Montreal, with more than 20 years of international experience in management and business development in the biopharma, specialised medical nutrition and medical fields.
Fortier spent 5 years in the US working in the therapy and rehabilitation market, having graduated from the physiotherapy programme at Laval University.
His US experience enabled him to work on business development and management early in his career. After completing his MBA in 2001, he joined the pharmaceutical industry with a biotechnology company.
He spent 8 years in various key commercial roles at Serono Canada (now EMD Serono) in the Multiple Sclerosis field, including National Sales Manager for the Neurology business unit.
In 2010, Bernard became the Country Manager for Nutricia Canada, the specialised medical nutrition division of Groupe Danone. He was recruited in 2012 to launch a new pharmaceutical company called Orimed Pharma. Through licensing deals and internal product development, the company's portfolio grew from 3 to 10 products in under 4 years.
Rancourt said: "I am very pleased to welcome Bernard to the team as our new CEO as we are focused on building Tetra as a leading bio-pharmaceutical organisation. Bernard is an experienced leader and executive with proven skills in leadership, strategy and execution, as well as business development and negotiation. Fortier has a clear mandate from the Board, to grow revenue and build Tetra as a global leader in pharmaceutical cannabis. Going forward, we will be placing considerable efforts in expanding Tetra in the US market."
