About us

Founded in 2017, Solstar Pharma has built a precision RNA interference (RNAi) platform that leverages years of research experience and unique insights into small interfering RNA (siRNA) nucleic acid medicine.

Leadership

We have assembled a management team of biopharmaceutical experts with extensive experience in drug discovery, development, and commercialization.

Tom Rossi

PRESIDENT & CEO

Tom Rossi serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Solstar Pharma Inc. Mr. Rossi has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and vaccine industries in Canada and abroad. Previously, he was the President and CEO of Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corp., a TSX-listed specialty pharma company focused on the development, manufacture and commercialization of innovative medicines. Prior to Acerus, Mr. Rossi held a variety of senior leadership positions within Novartis both in the Pharmaceuticals and Oncology divisions. While at Novartis, he served as CEO and Country President for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada, CEO and Country President for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Belgium-Luxembourg and General Manager Oncology in Canada.

Mr. Rossi joined Novartis from Merck Canada (Vaccine Division) and began his healthcare career with Johnson & Johnson.

Mr. Rossi received a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University and an MBA from the John Molson School of Business focused on Pharmaceutical Marketing.

Dennis Baltzis, PhD

CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER & CO-FOUNDER

Dennis Baltzis, PhD is a co-founder of Solstar Pharma Inc. and as its President from 2017 until November 2021. Mr. Baltzis now serves as the Chief Scientific Officer and is one of the members of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining Solstar, Mr. Baltzis spent 5 years monitoring, managing, and coordinating various phase I-III oncology clinical trials throughout Canada and the United States. Mr. Baltzis previously worked as an oncology clinical research

associate at Covance, and as an Oncology Clinical Research Coordinator at the Clinical Research Unit of the Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada.

Tommy Baltzis, CFA, CPA, CA

CHAIRMAN

Tommy Baltzis serves as the President, CEO and portfolio manager of the Quebec based investment firm WhiteHaven that he co-founded. Mr. Baltzis has over 20 years experience in corporate finance and over the last decade has specialised in financial services in Canada. Under his leadership, WhiteHaven has a combined assets under management of CDN$ 1.4B and has pioneered democratizing alternative investments to the retail market through the exempt market.

Mr. Baltzis also serves on various other board of corporations and notably as the Chairman of the Private Capital Markets Association of Canada (“PCMA”) and director to the Board of Governors of the Conseil des fonds d’investissement du Quebec (“CFIQ”).

Mr. Baltzis is also a PwC Alumni and held senior roles with Lallemand, one of the largest international private yeast manufacturing corporations for 7 years.

Mr. Baltzis received a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the John Molson School of Business and has earned the rights to use the CFA designation and the CPA, CA designation.

Dennis Baltzis, PhD

DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER

Mr. Baltzis obtained both his B.Sc. in Microbiology and Immunology, and his PhD degree in Experimental Medicine specializing in molecular oncology & virology from McGill University. He then pursued his post-doctoral training in Immunology at the University of Dundee, Scotland working as a Medical Research Council scientific advisor to various pharmaceutical companies. His research findings provided information that helped shape research and development policies regarding drug discovery for major pharmaceutical companies.

Peter Mentzelos

DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER

Mr. Mentzelos is an entrepreneur with a successful background in project development, finance, and operational logistics. He has successfully set up, launched, and sold several profitable businesses over the past 20 years. Mr. Mentzelos started his career as a financial advisor for RBC and then ventured off on his own and became a serial entrepreneur.

SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR, SOLSTAR PHARMA

Prof. Sonenberg is a pioneer and prominent expert in the field of protein translation. He received his PhD in Biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science (Rehovot, Israel) in 1976. He joined the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in Nutley, New Jersey as a Chaim Weizmann postdoctoral fellow with Aaron Shatkin. In 1979 Prof. Sonenberg moved to Montreal to become an Assistant Professor and later Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill University. He is a James McGill, and a Gilman Cheney Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and the Goodman Cancer Institute at McGill.

The Sonenberg Lab’s primary research is on the mRNA translational control of protein synthesis. His work has led to a number of breakthroughs including the discovery of the mRNA 5′ cap-binding protein, eIF4E, the rate-limiting component of the eukaryotic translation apparatus. eIF4E overexpression is prominent in many cancers, suggesting its utility as a tumor marker and anti-cancer drug target. His lab now works on translational control in cancer, oncolytic viruses as anti-cancer drugs, microRNA control of mRNA translation, and translational control of plasticity, learning and memory, and neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases.

Prof. Sonenberg is the recipient of numerous prizes and honours including the Killam Prize in Health Sciences, the Robert L. Noble Prize from the National Cancer Institute of Canada, the Gairdner International Award, the Rosenstiel Award, the Wolfe Prize in Medicine, the McLaughlin Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, the Order of Canada and Prix du Québec, prix Wilder-Penfield – Recherche biomédicale, by the Government of Quebec. He is an elected member of the Royal Society of London and Canada, and a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academies of Sciences and Medicine, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the European Molecular Biology Organization. He was awarded honorary doctorates from Université Laval and the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS). Prof. Sonenberg’s research has been published in highly respected scientific journals such as Nature, Science and Cell, and has been cited over 130,000 times in the academic literature.

Partnerships

GF Mille Co. Ltd
(GFM) Agreement

GF Mille Co. Ltd. (GFM) is a Japanese research-based company developing precision nucleic acid medicines in collaboration with Gifu University.

GFM conducts basic research and preclinical studies in Japan primarily in the fields of oncology and virology.

Linear Therapies Inc.
(LTI) Agreement

Linear Therapies is a company focused on the research & development of antimicrobial, anti-viral, and anti-cancer agents for the treatment of life-threatening diseases. Linear Therapies is focusing on delivering a safe and immediate anti-infective agent specifically targeted at the COVID-19 pandemic.

B-Organic Films Corp.
(B-Organic)

B-Organic is a bio-chemical research company that concentrates on the development of molecular structures that have scientific or commercial value for industry partners in the Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical and Agricultural sector.

B-Organic has developed and patented a simple and natural matrix to be used as a unique innovative excipient which is able to enhance bioavailability of several poorly soluble drugs, fatty acids, and vitamins and consequently to improve performance for numerous active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

About us

Leadership

Tom Rossi

PRESIDENT & CEO

Dennis Baltzis, PhD

CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER & CO-FOUNDER

Partnerships

GF Mille Co. Ltd (GFM) Agreement

Linear Therapies Inc. (LTI) Agreement

B-Organic Films Corp. (B-Organic)

GF Mille Co. Ltd
(GFM) Agreement

Linear Therapies Inc.
(LTI) Agreement

B-Organic Films Corp.
(B-Organic)