eQcell Inc., Canada’s premier clinical-stage regenerative medicine company addressing conditions and diseases affecting sporting and domestic animals globally, is pleased to announce the appointment to its Board of Directors of Dr. Lisa A. Fortier and Mr. Clinton A. Lewis.
eQcell Inc., Canada’s premier clinical-stage regenerative medicine company addressing conditions and diseases affecting sporting and domestic animals globally, is pleased to announce the appointment to its Board of Directors of Dr. Lisa A. Fortier and Mr. Clinton A. Lewis.
“We are delighted that Dr. Fortier and Mr. Lewis have joined our Board” said Dr. Thomas Koch, Founder and CEO of eQcell. “These two exceptional members of the life sciences community further establish the company’s prospects for successfully developing its next-generation stem cells for the treatment of conditions and diseases in the sector. Osteoarthritis, the leading cause of lower limb disability in humans as well as large companion and sporting animals, is ineffectively treatable, principally palliatively. eQcell’s mesenchymal stromal cells are currently in clinical trials assessing their prospect for significant improvement in treatments.”
In addition to her recognition within the veterinary community as James Law Professor of Surgery at Cornell University, Dr. Fortier is the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA), the American Journal of Veterinary Research (AJVR) and Publications Division Director at the American Veterinary Medical Association. She is a board member at the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. Her laboratory has a particular interest in translational research, including the prevention of post-traumatic osteoarthritis, of significant importance to eQcell’s focus and application of translational medicine.
Mr. Lewis’ extensive career spans 30+ years of commercial, general management and senior leadership experience across the life sciences in human and veterinary medicine, in addition to his direct involvement in pharmaceutical and agribusiness sectors. Joining Pfizer in the human health pharmaceutical segment, he held increasing responsibility in commercial operations and general management, transitioning to President of U.S. operations at Pfizer Animal Health, subsequently becoming Group President at Zoetis following its spin-off from Pfizer. He, more recently, became CEO and Board member of AgroFresh (NASDAQ: AGFS), an agribusiness leader. He is a member of the board at International Paper (NYSE: IP) and United Veterinary Care and, formerly, Chair of the Animal Health Institute, treasurer for Animal Health Europe, the Dean’s Advisory Board for both Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Western University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
“The addition of these two members complements a board whose members represent numerous varied disciplines; a board that includes Dr. C. Wayne McIlwraith after whom the Translational Medicine Institute at Colorado State University was named by its benefactors,” stated Dr. Koch “We are privileged to have Dr. Fortier and Mr. Lewis join this board.”
About eQcell Inc.
eQcell was founded within the Ontario Veterinary College/University of Guelph, Canada, the 5th-ranked veterinary university in the world. The research into stem cells at OVC has been supported by grants and expenditures approximating $6 million over a 15-year period, and external funding from investors in eQcell, exceeding $6 million since 2021, has provided the necessary capital to initiate clinical trials in Canada and the United States and establish its manufacturing center for GMP. Trials in osteoarthritis and septic arthritis are being conducted at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and Canada’s premier veterinary hospital – The Ontario Veterinary College. eQcell became, and remains, the only company authorized by Canada’s Veterinary Drugs Directorate to conduct clinical trials in equine osteoarthritis with MSCs.
eQcell has adopted One Health practices under which positive clinical data from the veterinary indication support preclinical models for translation of its platform into treatments for humans. Osteoarthritis is a major cause of pain and disability in humans for which current treatments are ineffective, not fully effective, or palliative and that affect ~33 million US adults and over 500 million worldwide. The translational nature of the veterinary data is reported to importantly reduce the failure rate in late-stage human trials that approximate 70% at Phase II and 50% at Phase III, reducing risk of capital loss, encouraging investment.
For further information on eQcell:
Dr. Thomas G Koch - CEO and CSO - tkoch@eqcell.com
