With 30 years in medical device commercialization, Tim Smith draws on a wealth of expertise in R&D, sales and marketing, business development and intellectual property management. Tim works closely with Octane’s ventures and partners, bringing senior management perspective on private and public company business strategy and financing.

Ian Grant brings more than 30 years of experience in operations management. Our ventures and partners count on him for expert insight into regulated product development, production process implementation and dynamic manufacturing environments.

J. Drew Phillips is a finance professional with more than 30 years of experience in the biotech, aerospace, telecommunications and aluminum industries, and in the not-for-profit sector. He has worked for global leaders such as Alcan Aluminum and Rolls-Royce Canada, and has extensive experience in raising public and private funds, as well as venture debt and asset financing.

With nearly a decade in each of product development and corporate development, Greg brings expertise across the full arc from bench to balance sheet. He has led global programs from concept through FDA approval, and negotiated the partnerships, joint ventures, and investments that fulfilled corporate strategic innovation needs. As COO of TETEC, Greg leads the manufacture and commercialization of autologous cell therapy for cartilage repair, bringing Octane's regenerative medicine platforms into routine clinical practice in Europe.

Nuala has 20+ years of experience in the design of systems for scaling GMP production of cell therapy products. She earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Oxford, specializing in cell culture automation, then joined Octane and helped co-develop the Cocoon® platform. She was critical in the commercial launch of this platform while working in Lonza's Personalized Medicine team, leading multi-disciplinary teams in Biology, R&D, and Innovation. Today, Nuala applies her technical background to business development, working with partners worldwide to expand access to advanced therapies.

Louis has spent his career turning early-stage innovations into commercial products, with experience across project management, operations, commercial development and strategy. He has held several leadership roles in CDMO and technology businesses, where he has helped scale operations, build commercial teams and bring new manufacturing platforms to market. Today he leads Octane Biotech, the company behind the Cocoon® platform, where he works with partners around the world to develop and deploy scalable manufacturing solutions that make cell and gene therapies more widely available.

Born and raised in Switzerland, Sonja is a biotechnology and chemical engineer with experience in vaccine research and process engineering. She won a Governor General gold medal for her PhD thesis at Royal Military College, an International Master Student Award at the University of Waterloo, and a Mobilite Valais Etude scholarship at the University of Applied Science in Western Switzerland. At Octane, Sonja leads projects that translate and automate implant processes.

Jeremy has built his career on the pursuit of excellence in quality management. After earning his diploma in computer programming and networking at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont., Jeremy worked in the automotive industry, initially as a quality inspector and quickly progressing to a certified quality engineer. At Octane, Jeremy oversees anything and everything quality-related, from qualifying and validating production lines to reviewing submissions to Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As a long-term Octane team member, Jeremy is firmly committed to ensuring the quality of products that improve and save lives.

After 14 years with KPMG LLP, and several years as an independent consultant, Amy accepted the position of Corporate Controller with the Octane Medical Group. Amy brings a wealth of experience to her new role, and she is currently responsible for managing all day-to-day accounting functions of the group. The preparation of internal and external financial statements as well as managing the invoicing, receivables and payables, all fall under Amy. Advising on major transactions such as partnership and acquisition discussions is also a significant part of her responsibilities.