Canada Leadership
L’équipe de direction de Sandoz Canada est diversifiée et détient une vaste expérience dans l’industrie pharmaceutique.
Équipe de direction de Sandoz Canada
Michel Robidoux has been President and General Manager of Sandoz Canada since 2010 and has nearly 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, generics, consumer, and medical devices industry. Under his leadership, Sandoz Canada has become one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical companies in Canada while broadening its portfolio beyond generics to include specialty pharma, biosimilars, and OTC products. Sandoz has an engaged workforce of more than 900 employees in Boucherville and was one of Canada’s top 100 employers in 2017.
Mr. Robidoux originally joined Sandoz Canada as Vice President, Sales in 2008. For more than 10 years before joining Sandoz/Novartis, Mr. Robidoux held the position of Vice President at Roche for different business units within the company such as Diabetes Care, Professional Diagnostics, Molecular Diagnostics, and Applied Science. Prior to Roche, he worked at Bayer for 7 years in various sales and marketing roles of increasing responsibility.
He is an active contributor to the industry as a member of the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA), the Chairman of the CGPA Biosimilars Committee, an active member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association for Pharmacy Distribution Management (CAPDM), as well as a member of Board of the Centre Laurent Beaudoin. Mr. Robidoux holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Université du Québec à Montreal.
Len Arsenault has over 20 years of regulatory affairs experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including more than 11 years with the Therapeutic Products Directorate, spent mostly within the Bureau of Pharmaceutical Quality where he was manager of the Oral Products Division at the time of his departure. He continued on to Rhoxal Pharma to hold executive positions of Director of Regulatory Affairs and Reseach, followed by Vice-President Regulatory Affairs and Development. Len Arsenault joined Sandoz Canada in 2005 as Vice-President of Scientific Affairs, where he is responsible for the Regulatory Competency Center, Medical Information and Pharmacovigilance, and Intellectual Property groups. He is also Vice Chair of the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association Scientific Affairs committee and sits on the CGPA Intellectual Property Committee.
Mr. Arsenault holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Concordia University.
Christian Danis is Vice-President, Legal and Government Affairs, and joined Sandoz in 2004 as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. He now heads a team of professionals working in various areas of activity, including contract negotiations, corporate compliance, security matters, government relations and litigation management and prevention.
Mr. Danis holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the Université de Montréal and is a member of the Québec Bar. He also has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences from Concordia University.
Martin Fournier has been Vice-President, Finance and MIS since 2009. He joined Sandoz in 2006 as Director, Information and Financial Accounting. He has over 17 years of diverse project management experience in the field of accounting and finance, mainly within businesses in the manufacturing sector. Before joining Sandoz, he held various positions in accounting firms at the auditing and consulting levels, most recently at Deloitte as Senior Director, Management and Technology Consulting.
Mr. Fournier holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, B.B.A., from Hautes Études Commerciales Montréal. He is also a member of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec.
Martin Arès has more than 25 years of experience working for global pharmaceutical companies in Canada and Europe. While his career started in sales, he quickly progressed to senior marketing positions, then to global roles, and subsequently to senior management roles in Europe. Since his return to Montreal in 2012, Mr. Arès has held leadership positions at Bristol Myers Squibb and at Sanofi, where he was Vice President, Diabetes and Cardiovascular.
Mr. Arès is recognized as a passionate leader and a strategic thinker with skills in business development, building strong vision, team leadership and talent development. His success stems from his excellent knowledge of the market, his thorough understanding of customer needs and market trends, and his ability to make the right choices to ensure the company's growth. He attracts strong talents and, through his collaborative style, he mobilizes teams to meet clear yet ambitious common objectives.
Under his leadership, Sandoz Canada was named best generics company and best partner in 2017, 2018 and 2019 by one of the largest retailer and wholesaler in Canada. Mr. Arès has been instrumental in advancing Sandoz Canada's market share to the coveted number two position in the Canadian generic pharmaceutical industry. He has been a key player in Sandoz Canada’s evolution into a unique Bio-Generic company and manages one of the largest product portfolios in the industry.
Mr. Arès holds a bachelor's degree in finance and marketing from HEC in Montreal and studied in the fields of strategy and leadership at the London Business School of Economics.
Daniel Abran has been working for Sandoz Canada since February 2007 and is the Executive Director, Commercial Operations Quality. As such, his duties include ensuring the quality of business development, product recall and complaint management, and establishment licence processing. He is also in charge of releasing product batches for imported and purchased products and monitoring quality agreements. Mr. Abran began his career as the owner of DA LAB Inc., and then went on to the positions of Senior Scientist and Manager, Pharmacology at Theratechnologies Inc.
Mr. Abran has a PhD in Anatomy from Dalhousie University in Halifax and did his post-doctoral research at the Research Center of the Sainte-Justine University Hospital in Montréal.
Amarjit Singh has been Vice-President of Sandoz Development Center in Canada since August 1st 2016 after temporary occupying this role for a whole year.
Before joining the Canadian team, Amarjit was the Head of Sandoz Kalwe Development Center in India for six years. Prior to this role, he held various positions with growing responsibility in the Indian pharmaceutical industry at companies as Johnson & Johnson, Panacea Biotec and Sun Pharmaceuticals.
Mr. Singh, an Indian national, holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Panjab University in Chandigarh, India.
Vincenzo Ciampi is Executive Director, Innovation and Strategic Projects since July 25, 2016. Mr. Ciampi’s responsibilities includes leading corporate initiatives and strategic planning, monitoring and steering monthly performance on key annual objectives and KPIs, as well as developing innovative approach to reach the vision of Sandoz Canada.
Mr. Ciampi brings more than 20 years of experience in business development, marketing, corporate strategy and change management with major corporations in the insurance, IT, financial and health service sectors. His previous positions have included Director, Strategic Projects, at CGI; Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development as well as Vice President, External Communications and Public Affairs, at Standard Life Assurance; and Vice President, Corporate Marketing at Aon Hewitt. Prior to joining Sandoz Canada, he was General Manager, Strategy and Product Management, at Telus Health.
Mr. Ciampi holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Marketing/International Business from McGill University and a MBA from École des Hautes Études Commerciales.
Annick Lambert joined Sandoz Canada in September 2014 and holds the position of Executive Director, Communications. She is responsible for managing internal, corporate and brand image communications, as well as managing all strategic aspects of communications. She has acquired more than 20 years of experience as a manager/leader in communications. She also held many positions in communications and marketing at Pratt & Whitney Canada, in communications and change management at Domtar and she also owned a communication agency.
Mme. Lambert holds a Bachelor degree in Business Management, a Diploma in International Business at École Supérieur de Commerce in Poitiers, France, as well as an Executive MBA at Université de Sherbrooke. She also sits on several Boards of Directors.
Marc St-Pierre holds the position of Vice-president, Human Resources. He joined Sandoz (previously Sabex) in 1997 and, as business partner, his main responsibilities are to oversee the HR strategic orientation and policy alignment for the canadian operations (including the Development Centre, Manufacturing, the Quality Unit and Commercial operations). With over 25 years' experience in the field of Human Resources management, he has previously held several management positions in industry leading companies, more specifically in the publishing/direct mail business (with Reader's Digest) as well as telecommunications (with Canadian Marconi Company).
Mr. St-Pierre holds a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Relations from the Université du Québec en Outaouais and is a member of the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (CHRP).
Nadia Turchetta is Executive Director, Biopharmaceutical since January 2016. In this role she will lead the creation of the Biosimilar business unit and oversee the launch of Sandoz’s portfolio of products as the current existing generation of industry wide biologics reaches patent expiration. Ms. Turchetta has over 13 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to Sandoz, she held various management positions at Novartis until her promotion in 2013 as the Lucentis Brand Director. She distinguished herself by developing innovative strategies to advance the brand and position it securely against competition.
Nadia Turchetta’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Business Administration at the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.
François David joined Sandoz in Octobre 2016. He has a broad experience in the world of Consumer Products. He has had several important mandates during his career, including managing the nation-wide activities of pharmaceutical and medical sales departments, trade marketing, telemarketing, sales, and more. Before joining Pendopharm, he was the National Commercial Director of Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique Canada. Previously, he was a senior Brand Manager at Molson Coors Canada and Director of Local Sales of Montréal NRJ and Rock Détente for Astral Media Radio Québec. He also worked for nine years for Johnson & Johnson Canada, one of the top 3 businesses in OTC, as National Director of Sales (RoC), Product Director – Professional Marketing, Product Director – Stayfree and K-Y brands, and Product Manager – Neutrogena brand.
He has a Bachelor’s degree in Administration with a concentration in Marketing from the Université de Sherbrooke and has completed several specialized educational programs.
Prior to this role, Ms. Giguère held the position of Executive Director, Supply Chain from August 2015. Previously, she was Executive Director, Strategic Project Management, where she was responsible for business planning and the company’s strategic projects. She joined Sandoz from Deloitte Consulting where she managed projects for the healthcare industry, in various areas of the value chain such as logistics, procurement & sourcing and finance. She also developed strategies and performance management models for large organizations.
Genevieve holds a Bachelor degree in Industrial Engineering from École Polytechnique in Montreal, as well as an Executive MBA from Concordia University.
Roger-Ketcha Ngassam has been Vice President Technical Operations since November 2, 2015. Mr. Ngassam joined Sandoz on August 26, 2013 as Plant Manager, and has more than 15 years of experience in manufacturing operations, including with pharmaceutical and industrial companies. During his career, he has shown exceptional skills in Good Manufacturing Practices, new product launches and technology transfers.
Mr. Ngassam holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from École Polytechnique, Montréal and is a member of the Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec.
Vicky Véronneau joined Sandoz Canada in 2011 and is the Vice-President, Quality at the Boucherville plant. As such, Ms. Véronneau ensures the implementation and efficient maintenance of all the quality systems at the Boucherville manufacturing centre, and also makes sure that compliance levels are maintained. She is also in regular contact with the regulatory bodies and provides information on all compliance activities and on the commitments arising from best manufacturing practice inspections.
Before coming to Sandoz, Ms. Véronneau worked for Pfizer (formerly Wyeth) for 11 years where she held various management positions, mainly in the area of quality.
Ms. Véronneau has a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from the University of Sherbrooke.