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MANAGEMENT TEAM
Dr. David Aviezer, Ph.D., MBA - President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Aviezer has served as Chief Executive Officer of Protalix Ltd. since 2002 and its director since 2005 and as our director since December 31, 2006. On December 31, 2006, he became our President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Aviezer has over a decade of experience in biotechnology management, advancing products from early-stage research up to their regulatory approval and commercialization. Prior to joining Protalix Ltd., from 1996 to 2002, he served as General Manager of ProChon Biotech Ltd., an Israeli company focused on orthopedic disorders. Previously, Dr. Aviezer was a visiting scientist at the Medical Research Division of American Cyanamid, a subsidiary of Wyeth (NYSE:WEY), in New York. Dr. Aviezer is the recipient of the Clore Foundation Award and the J.F. Kennedy Scientific Award. He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science and an M.B.A. from the Bar Ilan University Business School. Dr. Yoseph Shaaltiel, Ph.D. - Executive Vice President, Research and Development Dr. Shaaltiel founded Protalix Ltd. in 1993 and has served as a member of our Board of Directors and as our Vice President, Research and Development since December 31, 2006. Prior to establishing Protalix Ltd., from 1988 to 1993, Dr. Shaaltiel was a Research Associate at the MIGAL Technological Center. He also served as Deputy Head of the Biology Department of the Biological and Chemical Center of the Israeli Defense Forces and as a Biochemist at Makor Chemicals Ltd. Dr. Shaaltiel was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley and at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He has co-authored over 40 articles and abstracts on plant biochemistry and holds seven patents. Dr. Shaaltiel received his Ph.D. in Plant Biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science, an M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the Hebrew University, and a B.Sc. in Biology from the Ben Gurion University. Dr. Einat Brill Almon, Ph.D. - Senior Vice President, Product Development Dr. Almon joined Protalix Ltd. in December 2004 as its Vice President, Product Development and became our Vice President, Product Development on December 31, 2006. Dr. Almon has many years of experience in the management of life science projects and companies, including biotechnology and agrobiotech, with direct experience in clinical, device and scientific software development, as well as a strong background and work experience in Intellectual Property. Prior to joining Protalix Ltd., from 2001 to 2004, she served as Director of R&D and IP of Biogenics Ltd., a company that developed an autologous platform for tissue based protein drug delivery. Biogenics, based in Israel, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Medgenics Inc. Dr. Almon has trained as a biotechnology patent agent at leading IP firms in Israel. Dr. Almon holds a Ph.D. and an M.Sc. in molecular biology of cancer research from the Weizmann Institute of Science, a B.Sc. from the Hebrew University and has carried out Post-Doctoral research at the Hebrew University in the area of plant molecular biology. Mr. Yossi Maimon, CPA - Chief Financial Officer Mr. Maimon joined Protalix Ltd. on October 15, 2006 as its Chief Financial Officer and became our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer on December 31, 2006. Prior to joining Protalix, from 2002 to 2006, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Colbar LifeScience Ltd., a biomaterial company focusing on aesthetics, where he led all of the corporate finance activities, fund raisings, and legal aspects of Colbar including the sale of Colbar to Johnson and Johnson. Prior to that, from 2000 to 2002, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Way2Call Communications, Ltd., an Israeli start up company in the telecommunications field, where he led the fund raising efforts, accounting issues and business development activities. Prior to that, from 1998 to 2000, he served as the controller of PEC, a United States company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, where he was responsible for reporting and compliance with the Commission and led the process of delisting and merging PEC into Discount Investment Bank. Mr. Maimon has a B.A. in accounting from the City University of New York and an M.B.A. from Tel Aviv University, and he is a Certified Public Accountant in the United States (New York State) and Israel. Ms.Sandra Lauterbach, Vice President, Sales and Commercial Operations Ms. Lauterbach brings over 20 years of expertise in U.S. and global marketing, commercial strategy, and product development for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Prior to joining the Company, she served as Vice President of Marketing, Endocrinology at EMD Serono and Senior Director, Global Marketing for Fabrazyme at Genzyme Corporation. Her background also includes several years with in the auto-immune therapeutic arena at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and Amgen. She began her career at Merck Human Health as a hospital sales professional. Her experience and track record with pre-launch and launch activities are extensive, especially within the biologic space. Ms. Lauterbach received her Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin and her Masters in Business Administration from the University of South Florida. Mr. Yaron Naos, B.Sc., MBA, Vice President Production Mr. Naos has a wealth of hands-on knowledge as well as managerial experience in the field of pharmaceutical development. Prior to joining Protalix, he served for a decade as R&D Product Manager at Dexxon Pharmaceutical Co., one of Israel's largest pharmaceutical companies, where he was responsible for technology transfer from R&D to production, and in charge of R&D activities that led to many products that were commercialized. Prior to Dexxon, Mr. Naos was plant manager of Medibrands Pharmaceutical Company, as well as logistic manager of Mediline, responsible for all operational activities from procurement to distribution. Mr. Naos holds a B.Sc. in Food Engineering and Biotechnology from the Technion-Israel technology Institute and an M.B.A. degree from Haifa University. Mr. Moshe Chechik, B.Sc., MBA, Vice President, Engineering Mr. Chechik has a vast experience of over 18 years in pharmaceutical managing, engineering, manufacturing and leading projects. Prior to joining Protalix, Mr. Chechik served as infrastructure development director at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and as Engineering Manager at the business unit of Teva in North America. He was in charge of strategic manufacturing plans to meet the growing demand. Prior to that, he served Teva API division as Engineering Manager of North American business unit. He was in charge of managing engineering projects and CAPEX. Prior to his service with Teva, Mr. Chechik served as Production Manager at Nitron Chemtech Ltd. and he served as Engineering & Maintenance Manager at American Israeli Paper Mills Ltd. Mr. Chechik holds a B.Sc in Chemical Engineering from the Technion-Israeli Institute of Technology and MBA degree from Heriot-Watt University Dr. Michal Kahana, DVM, Vice President, Quality Affairs Dr. Kahana has more than 15 years experience in QA management in the pharmaceuticals industry, with a broad knowledge of GMP, GLP, and GCP requirements. Prior to joining Protalix she managed the 85-employee quality department at Dexxon, one of Israel’s largest Pharmaceutical companies, where she guided the company through several FDA, European and Israeli health authorities inspections. |