Dr. Francesco Bellini is Chairman of BELLUS Health. Presently, Dr. Bellini is also Chairman of Picchio International and Executive Chairman of Klox Technologies; and until March 2009, he was Chairman of ViroChem Pharma – all life science companies.

From 1968 to 1984, Dr. Bellini had a fruitful career as a researcher at the Canadian subsidiary of a multinational pharmaceutical company. In 1984, he left to establish the biochemicals division of the Institut Armand-Frappier at the Université du Québec, from which, in 1986 he co-founded BioChem Pharma. He served as Chairman and CEO of Biochem Pharma, an innovative biopharmaceutical company focused in infectious diseases and cancer, until it was sold in 2001.

Born in 1947 in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, Francesco Bellini, CM, came to Canada in 1967. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Concordia University in 1972, and a Doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of New Brunswick in 1977. Over the course of his career, Dr. Bellini authored or co-authored more than 30 patents and published numerous articles and papers based on his research.

In recognition of his contributions in the fields of entrepreneurship, research and development, Dr. Bellini has received the title of Cavaliere del Lavoro in 2005, the most prestigious honor granted by the Italian government to a non-resident. For his contribution to Canada and Quebec, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000 and an Officer of the National Order of Quebec in 2004.

Dr. Bellini is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation and the Italian Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Youssef L. Bennani joined the Board of BELLUS Health in May 2017.

Dr. Bennani is a pharmaceutical executive and is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Domain Therapeutics in France and Canada. From 2013 to 2017, Dr. Bennani was Site Head and Vice-President of R&D at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., a research and development company. From 2011 to 2013, Dr. Bennani was Vice-President R&D at Vertex Canada. He held various positions of increasing responsibility in pharmaceutical R&D for nearly 25 years, in the USA and Canada (namely working for Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Laboratories (now Abbvie), Athersys and Vertex Pharmaceuticals). Over this span, he worked in the fields of oncology, neurology, immunology and infection. In 2011 he received an honorary degree from the Université de Montréal for his contribution to Society.

His education consists of a Doctorate degree (PhD, ‘91) in chemistry from Université de Montréal and post-doctoral studies at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, as well as an Executive-MBA (2000) from LFGSM, in Chicago, Illinois. He is an accredited Director from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) from McGill-Rotman Schools of Business.

Franklin M. Berger joined the Board of BELLUS Health in May 2010 bringing over 25 years of experience in capital markets and financial analysis.

Mr. Berger worked at Sectoral Asset Management as a senior portfolio manager on the buy-side and founder of the small-cap focused NEMO Fund from 2007 through June 2008. Mr. Berger was Managing Director, Equity Research and Senior Biotechnology Analyst for J. P. Morgan Securities from 1998 to 2003. During his years at J.P. Morgan he was involved with the issuance of over $12 billion in biotechnology company equity or equity-linked securities, including the Genentech initial public offering, the largest biotechnology financing to date. From 1997 to 1998, he served as a Director, Equity Research and Senior Biotechnology Analyst for Salomon Smith Barney. From 1991 to 1997, he served as a sell-side analyst for Josephthal & Co. The Wall Street Journal selected Mr. Berger as the No. 1 ranked biotechnology analyst in its All-Star Analyst Survey in 1997 and No. 2 ranked in the WSJ’s 2000 Survey.

In 2002, Institutional Investor Magazine ranked him on J. P. Morgan’s 3rd-placed All-Star Research Team.

Mr. Berger also serves on the Board of Directors of Five Prime Therapeutics, Immune Design Corp., ESSA Pharma and Proteostasis Therapeutics.

Mr. Berger received a B.A. in International Relations, an M.A. in International Economics from Johns Hopkins University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. He is a Founding Fellow of the Biotechnology Study Center at New York University School of Medicine.

Dr. Clarissa Desjardins joined the Board of BELLUS Health in September 2017.

Dr. Clarissa Desjardins founded Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2011 and has served as the company’s chief executive officer since then. Prior to Clementia, she was CEO at the Centre d’excellence en médecine personnalisée (CEPMED), a Montreal-based federally and privately funded non-profit enterprise created to promote personalized medicine.

Dr. Desjardins is an award-winning entrepreneur with more than 18 years of biotechnology experience. She has founded three successful biotech companies, leading all aspects of company creation including conception and financing. She founded Advanced Bioconcept, a research reagent and diagnostics company sold to NEN Life Sciences (Perkin Elmer) in 1998. Dr. Desjardins also co-founded Caprion Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on proteomic biomarker discovery and drug development, where she was executive vice-president of Corporate Development.

Dr. Desjardins is the recipient of the 2018 Bloom Burton Award for her contribution to Canada’s innovative healthcare industry, the BRIO award for outstanding contributions to the biotechnology industry from the Quebec Biotechnology Association and was named one of the top young Canadians likely to influence the future by the Globe and Mail. She has been a board member of numerous companies including the scientific advisory council of the Canadian Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Desjardins earned a doctorate in Neurology and Neurosurgery from McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine and was a Medical Research Council postdoctoral fellow at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre.

Pierre Larochelle has served as a Director of BELLUS Health since June 2009. Mr. Larochelle joined Power Corporation of Canada in March 2009 as Vice-President, Investments.

Prior to joining Power Corporation of Canada, Mr. Larochelle was President and Chief Executive Officer at Adaltis, a position he held between November 2003 and February 2009. Previously, he also held the positions of Vice-President, Business Development at Picchio Pharma Inc. and Vice-President, Mergers and Acquisitions for Credit Suisse First Boston in London, England. Mr. Larochelle started his career as a lawyer, at the Montreal offices of Ogilvy Renault.

Mr. Larochelle serves on the Board of Directors of Sagard Capital, Sagard SAS, Victoria Square Ventures and Lumenpulse Inc.

He holds a law degree from Université de Montréal, a masters degree in international business law from McGill University and an MBA degree from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

Joseph Rus has served as a Director of BELLUS Health since June 2009.

Joseph Rus joined Shire Pharmaceuticals in 1999, following 25 years of experience with two major pharmaceutical companies in both Canadian and Global assignments. Working out of the Shire United Kingdom offices he was charged with establishing Shire’s European foothold. This was accomplished in 2000, with the acquisition of profitable companies in Germany, Italy, France and Spain. After the acquisition of Roberts Pharmaceuticals, he returned to Canada to manage the Canadian Operation. Subsequent to the Biochem acquisition, Mr. Rus moved to Montreal as President and CEO of Shire-Biochem in 2001. In the year 2002, Mr. Rus returned to the U.K. as Head of Shire’s International Operations (all countries except USA). Since that time, Mr. Rus also serves on Shire’s Executive Committee as well as the Portfolio Review Committee. In 2006 Mr. Rus was charged with the responsibility of establishing affiliates in the increasingly important Emerging Markets, and by 2009 affiliates were open in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Russia, Australia and Japan. Additionally, the management of the Royalty Revenue Investment Portfolio and Intellectual Property Transition were managed out of Shire’s Dublin, Ireland Offices, under Mr. Rus’ leadership. During his tenure at Roche, Mr. Rus was responsible for the Canadian Pharmaceutical business (1994-1998), prior to this, between 1985 -1994 he assumed positions of increasing responsibility including Country Management from the Roche Headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. Germany, Italy, Greece, Portugal and later Canada delivered significant profitability levels to Roche on a revenue of $1.5 billion. In 1972, Mr. Rus began his career in Canada with Warner Lambert. Over the years, he acquired broad experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry, rising rapidly in positions of Sales Management, Marketing, Operations, Clinical Research and Business Development.

Mr. Rus is a Canadian Citizen, received his education in Romania, and is a Graduate of the Executive Marketing Program at the University of Western Ontario (Canada), as well as the International Program at the Institute of Management and Development of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Mr. Rus is multi-lingual, speaking English, Romanian and Hungarian with a practical knowledge of French, Italian and German.

Previously, Mr. Rus was a member of the following Boards: Merus Labs International, ViroChem, Adaltis, United Way (Montreal), Shire Acquisition, Glaxo-Smith-Kline-Shire Canada Inc., Shire Italia S.P., Shire Pharmaceuticals Mexico SAdeCV, 3829359 Canada Inc. and Tanaud International BV.

Dr. Jacky Smith is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and an Honorary Consultant at the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust. She leads a multi-disciplinary research team whose focus is on understanding mechanisms underlying pathological cough and runs a regional clinical service for patients with refractory chronic cough. Dr. Smith is also the Director of the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility. In collaboration with Mr. Kevin McGuinness (Clinical engineer), she has developed a novel method for automated cough detection.

Dr. Alan Goldsobel is a practising allergist and immunologist, a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University Medical School. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and past president of the California Society of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Dr. Goldsobel is co-director of the Allergy and Asthma Clinical Research Center in San Jose, CA where he has served as principal investigator for clinical trials of many of the new therapeutic agents for chronic refractory cough. He has published numerous scientific articles and book chapters in allergy and asthma and his area of interest, cough.

Dr. James Hull is a consultant respiratory physician based at Royal Brompton Hospital. Recently he was awarded the fellowship status of the American College of Sports Medicine. He is also president of the Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology (ARTP). His areas of expertise include chronic debilitating cough, persistent throat symptoms, unexplained shortness of breath, reasons for breathing problems during exercise. He is the clinical lead for the unexplained breathlessness service and the cough / upper airway / vocal cord dysfunction service at the Royal Brompton Hospital. He also has specialist expertise in helping athletes with respiratory symptoms and is currently working with the English Institute of Sport, as a respiratory expert.

Dr. Lorcan McGarvey is a Consultant Respiratory Physician and Professor of Respiratory Medicine at Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. His main programme of research has focused on the clinical and scientific aspects of acute and chronic cough. Dr. McGarvey has been a core contributor to the British Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society cough guidelines and serves on the American College of Chest Physicians Cough Guidelines Expert Committee.

Dr. Alyn Morice is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Head of Medicine, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull in the United Kingdom. He specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of cough and runs the Hull Cough Clinic, the first UK Cough Clinic which he established in 1989 and which has become the largest centre within Europe with an international pattern of referral. Professor Morice has led the European Respiratory Society and British Thoracic Society Taskforces on Cough. He also runs the Hull Respiratory Clinical Trials Unit specialising in the treatment of the airways diseases associated with cough.

Dr. Mandel Sher is a community-based clinician of pediatric and adult allergy, University of South Florida’s Clinical Professor and former Interim Division Chief of Allergy and Immunology of University of South Florida located at Johns Hopkins/All Children’s Hospital. With a unique sub-specialty in Refractory/ Recalcitrant/Idiopathic chronic cough, Dr. Sher established the Center for Cough in Florida in 2009, which combines existing evidence-based approaches with innovative therapeutic modalities to improve chronic cough patients’ clinical outcomes.

Dr. Gil Yosipovitch is a tenured professor of dermatology at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, and Director of the Miami Itch Center, which focuses on chronic itch as a disease state. Prof. Yosipovitch has been awarded dozens of grants from the government, industry, and private foundations to pursue his investigations into the causes and cures of diseases of the skin. He has published more than 400 articles in books and peer-reviewed journals and has edited 4 books. He is the founder and past president of the International Forum for the Study of Itch and serves on the editorial boards of 6 key dermatology journals. Prof. Yosipovitch is the Chairman of the Scientific Board of the National Eczema Association and member of the Scientific Board of the National Psoriasis Foundation. In 2016 he received one of the highest awards in Dermatology, the Marion B. Sulzberger lectureship award, for his work on itch.

Dr. Sonja Ständer is a professor of Dermatology and Neurodermatology, Department of Dermatology, and head of the Interdisciplinary Center for Chronic Pruritus at the University Hospital Münster, Germany. Prof. Sonja Ständer played a leading role in the foundation of the first international and national societies for chronic pruritus and dedicated herself to translational pruritus research, becoming the leader worldwide for this field. She currently focuses her work primarily on novel targets in treatment, clinical trials and translational pruritus research. Since 2007, Prof. Ständer has been the head of an international special interest group developing tools used for measuring chronic pruritus. In 2001, Prof. Ständer founded the first outpatient clinic in Europe dedicated to patients suffering from pruritus.

Dr. Timothy Berger is a dermatologist who specializes in rare, challenging and complex skin disorders. He cares for patients with skin diseases and disorders, including pruritus. Dr. Berger has been inducted into the UCSF Academy of Medical Educators, an honor bestowed on faculty members who have shown particular dedication to medical student teaching. He has published more than 125 scientific articles, 12 book chapters and two books. Dr. Berger served on the board of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Dr. Robert Bissonnette is the founder and president of Innovaderm Research, a clinical research organization (CRO). For more than 20 years, Dr. Bissonnette has dedicated his efforts towards the advancement of dermatology research. He has conducted nearly 200 studies ranging from proof-of-concept to phase 3 studies. He has published more than 180 articles and book chapters and gives lectures on various aspects of dermatology at various national and international meetings. Dr. Bissonnette is board-certified in dermatology and is internationally renowned for his clinical expertise in atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.

Dr. Ethan A. Lerner directs the Program in Itch at Massachusetts General Hospital and is an associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Lerner is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology and the Society for Investigative Dermatology. He has been honored with several awards including the Itch Research Award during the Fifth World Congress on Itch. He serves on the board of directors for the New England Dermatological Society and the International Forum for the Study of Itch and is the editor-in-chief of the journal Itch. Dr. Lerner is on the Scientific Advisory Board of Escient Pharmaceuticals.