MRVL Pet Pharmaceuticals(TM) Corp. Announces Changes to Management and Board of Directors
Newsfile Corp.
9 min read
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 31, 2021) - MRVL Pet Pharmaceuticals™ Corp. (the "Company" or "MRVL"), a life sciences and technology company focused on the animal health sector, is pleased to announce the appointments of Dr. Joel Beth Navratik, current Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") of the Company, as President and a Director of the Company, and Ivan Hsu as Chief Operating Officer ("COO") and Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") of the Company, effective May 31, 2021, following the resignations of Derrick Gaon as Director and President and Ronald Ozols as CFO, Vice President, and Corporate Secretary.
The Company is also pleased to announce the appointments of Vyvyan Campbell and Patricia Trompeter to the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") following the resignations of Chris Hung and C.K. Cheung, and the appointments of Patrick Bolcholz as Vice President, Sales and Gabriela Baez as Vice President, Marketing, effective May 31, 2021.
In addition, the Company is pleased to announce the establishment of an advisory board (the "Advisory Board") to assist and advise the Board on matters pertinent to the Company's growth and business activities and the appointments of Dr. Lysa Pam Posner, Dr. David B. Goodnight and Dr. Robin Downing as members of the Advisory Board.
The Company wishes to thank Mr. Gaon, Mr. Cheung, Mr. Hung and Mr. Ozols for their services.
Corporate Update
Further to the Company's press release dated February 10, 2021, the Company will no longer be holding an annual general and special meeting of shareholders to vote on the spinout of its medical device technology. The Company has reviewed the competitive marketplace for blood pressure devices that would compete in the same market as the TULIP blood pressure technology and instead the Company has negotiated the sale of the TULIP blood pressure device technology. The Company will retain a 5% net sales royalty for a five-year period in the event the technology can be commercialized on a cost-effective basis. As the Company is currently discussing alternative transactions in the veterinary healthcare, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical space, the Company has determined that this technology was not a core part of the business going forward.
Biographies
Dr. Navratik earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, both from the University of Florida. She completed her internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the world-renowned Animal Medical Center and Bobst Hospital in New York City, New York in 1994. After training, she joined a veterinary practice in Aventura, Florida, later becoming a partner and growing the practice from 2.5 doctors to a thriving 6 doctor 24/7 referral emergency response facility. She sold the practice to VCA Hospitals in 2012 and stayed on as the Medical Director until 2020. She has also served as corporate Medical Director for an 8-doctor veterinary hospital corporation in South Florida from 2000-2012. In 2013, she consulted in the development of OcuBright, a veterinary tear stain supplement that eliminates tear stains in dogs and developed a clinical trial with a veterinary ophthalmologist to determine the safety and efficacy of OcuBright. In 2017, she co-developed a Veterinary continual education company that would provide state mandated Registry of Approved Continuing Education approved continuing education for veterinarians and technicians.
Mr. Hsu is a Wall Street veteran of 13+ years, having advised on various mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions, first, at bulge bracket firms JP Morgan, Citi, and Credit Suisse before transitioning to advising privately held, entrepreneurially run businesses at McColl Partners, which was later acquired by Deloitte Corporate Finance. He not only has experience advising start-up and high-growth companies, but he has also rolled up his sleeves as an operator, having been one of the earliest employees and leaders at Sageworks, a fintech that sold to Accel-KKR. Mr. Hsu earned his Master of Business Administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and his Bachelor of Science from Duke University.
Ms. Campbell's diverse career in television and film spans over 30 years and several continents. She led a team of hundreds of employees and developed leading television shows and documentaries for global media. Ms. Campbell became a believer in MRVL when she learnt of the product and treated her partner for many years with the nutraceutical immune support system. Ms. Campbell is a tremendous animal lover and is dedicated to producing media educating the world about the positive benefits of MRVL's line of products for their pets and loved ones.
Ms. Trompeter brings more than 16 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions and over 15 years in financial management. After graduating from Marquette University's Business Administration program with a major in Finance and Economics, Ms. Trompeter spent a large portion of her career holding a variety of executive positions at GE Capital including CFO, Controller, Operations Leader, Quality Leader, and Mergers & Acquisitions. During her career at GE Capital, Ms. Trompeter participated in over $17 billion in acquisitions and transactions, earning her a reputation of professional excellence. After leaving GE Capital, Ms. Trompeter focused on non-profit ventures and family before co-founding an independent investment and advisory firm growing innovative technologies in emerging markets. She also founded a new venture, Ceres Capital Holdings, focusing on financial consulting and initial public offerings. In addition, Ms. Trompeter is the CEO of Parsec Capital Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company focusing on the space, transportation and technology arena.
Mr. Bolcholz comes to MRVL as a seasoned sales leader with a 16+ year track record of building powerful sales teams as well as strategic selling into enterprise corporations and start-ups alike. His background includes work in the technology, finance, marketing / advertising, and media verticals. He attributes his history of immediate revenue impact on each of his organizations to a professional approach centered around integrity, high energy, practical focus, and disciplined preparedness. His professional experience includes leadership roles at the likes of Oracle, Terminus, The Associated Press, Knight Capital Group, and Franklin Templeton Investments. Mr. Bolcholz graduated from the University of Florida in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Mass Communications.
Ms. Baez is an accomplished beauty marketing executive with over 17 years marketing experience leading globally recognized brands. Expertise includes channel/trade marketing, retail marketing, social media/influencer marketing, public relations, product development, digital/eCommerce, partnerships, promotions as well as advertising and content creation. Throughout her career she has excelled at growing brands across multiple channel landscapes as well as leading and influencing cross-functional team to achieve and exceed goals. She has spent 10 years at two top Unilever Prestige skincare brands where she grew both brands and launched them in new channels. More recently, she has led emerging brands in new areas of opportunities including eCommerce, international and brand/product development.
Dr. Posner has a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from Purdue University. She completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University and spent 9 years in private veterinary practice. She returned to Cornell to complete a Residency in Anesthesiology and completed her board certification with the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. She was on Faculty at Cornell for 5 years and has been on Faculty at North Carolina State University since 2005. She is currently a Professor of Anesthesiology, the Director of Anesthesia Services, and Anesthesiology Residency Program Director.
Dr. Goodnight graduated from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in 1977 and practiced small animal medicine in the Dallas, Texas area. In the mid-80s, he acquired a Master of Business Administration with the goal of transitioning to the industry side of animal health. In 1996 he joined Brakke Consulting, the largest dedicated animal health consulting firm in the world. He was recruited into the pet insurance business in 1999 by Veterinary Pet Insurance to be the Executive Vice President of Business Development. In 2005, he was recruited by Nestle Purina PetCare Company to use his start-up expertise to design and launch a new pet insurance company, PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance. He served as President and COO until May 2013 when he returned to Brakke consulting as a Senior Consultant. His specific interests and expertise are in start-ups, early-stage technology, new product opportunity and development assessment, go to market strategies and market research. In the fall of 2015, along with Ron Brakke, Dr. Goodnight founded Insight Animal Health, Inc., a company dedicated to developing early-stage animal health technologies for commercialization. In January 2017, Dr. Goodnight accepted the position of Executive Vice President Business Development at LifeLearn, Inc.
Dr. Downing is Hospital Director of The Downing Center for Animal Pain Management, LLC. She has received many regional, national, and international awards, including the Excellence in Veterinary Medicine Award in 2001 from the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, the Erwin Small Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016 from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, and most recently the 2020 Leo K. Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year Award from the American Veterinary Medical Association. Dr. Downing is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner, and she was the third veterinarian in the world to earn the Diplomate credential in the American Academy of Pain Management (a human pain management organization). She was a founder of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management and served as that organization's second President. In addition, she has served as President of the American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians (now called the Human-Animal Bond Association). Dr. Downing is an internationally sought-after speaker on a wide variety of topics including pain management, physical rehabilitation, physical medicine, hospice/end-of- life care, anesthesia related topics, and overcoming compliance obstacles/issues in veterinary medicine. In 2016, she completed her Master of Science degree in Clinical Bioethics from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and Union Graduate College with the intention of translating the practices of clinical bioethics for application in veterinary medicine. This commitment includes framing the imperatives of the Fear Free movement, as well as comprehensive acute and chronic pain management, as obligations grounded in bioethical principles. She is now working on a Doctorate in Clinical Bioethics at Loyola University of Chicago.
About MRVL PET Pharmaceuticals™ Corp.
MRVL PET Pharmaceuticals™ Corp. is a life sciences and technology company focused on the animal health sector with a primary mission of developing and marketing its companion animal products to the retail and veterinary markets. MRVL is developing products targeting canine and feline cancer and arthritis for CVM/FDA approval as well as launching a nutraceutical formulation for pet immune and joint support.
Certain information in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or negatives of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this release include but are not limited to the following: (i) the TULIP technology will reach commercialization (ii) there being global demand for the Company's products; (iii) the Company becoming a global leader in its industry; and (iv) the ability of the Company's products to destroy cancer cells and diminish arthritis pain leading to an improved quality of life for companion animals. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on assumptions which included but are not limited to the following: (i) the TULIP technology will reach commercialization; (ii) the success of the Company's clinical trials in establishing its products can treat cancer and arthritis in companion pets, thereby driving global demand for the Company's products; (iii) the clinical trials establishing that the Company's products are materially superior to its competitors' products; and (iv) that the Company's initial in-house research on its products will be validated by the clinical trials and establish the Company's products can treat arthritis and cancer in pets. While MRVL considers these assumptions to be reasonable, based on information currently available, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies and they may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements also necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including without limitation, risks associated with delays in completing the clinical trials, the clinical trials establishing that the Company's products are not effective to treat cancer or arthritis in pets or that they do treat cancer and arthritis but less effectively than indicative by the Company's in-house research, that competitors will develop products that are superior in quality to the Company's and thereby reduce the probability the Company becomes a global leader in pet pharmaceuticals, adverse industry events, marketing costs, loss of markets, future legislative and regulatory developments, and the inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms or at all.
