Management

Management
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Management

Dror Bashan

President & Chief Executive Officer,
Director
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Mr. Bashan has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and as our director since June 2019. He has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry with roles ranging from business development, marketing, sales and finance providing him with both cross regional and cross discipline experience and a deep knowledge of the global pharmaceutical and health industries. From 1998 through 2018, he served in a number of senior positions at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Most recently, he served as Teva’s Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, and was involved in strategic alliances, cross-company strategic projects and the acquisition and divestiture of assets. Mr. Bashan holds a BA in Economics and Business Management from the Tel Aviv University and an MBA from the Tel Aviv University.

Eyal Rubin

Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
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Mr. Rubin has served as our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since September 2019. He brings to Protalix more than 20 years of finance and capital markets experience, an extensive background in financial planning and operations, management and strategy and a deep knowledge of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to joining Protalix, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, where he was responsible for all corporate finance, accounting and investor relations activities. Prior to his role at BrainStorm, Mr. Rubin served at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in several roles, most recently as Vice President, Head of Corporate Treasury. In this role, Mr. Rubin was responsible for Teva’s cash operations and cash management, as well as Teva’s equity and debt capital markets transactions. Mr. Rubin holds a BA in Financing and IT Systems from the College of Management, Israel, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a specialization in Financing and IT Systems, and an MBA from Bar-Ilan University, Israel, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a specialization in Finance.

Yaron Naos

Senior Vice President, Operations
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Mr. Naos joined Protalix in 2004, originally as a Senior Director for Operations and later as Vice President for Production, and became our Senior Vice President, Operations in 2018. He has a wealth of hands-on experience and knowledge 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 the commercialization of many products. Later, Mr. Naos was plant manager of Medibrands Pharmaceutical Company, as well as logistics manager of Mediline for period of four years, where he was 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 MBA from Haifa University.

Yael Fellous

Vice President, Human Resources
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Ms. Yael Fellous joined Protalix as its Vice President HR in August 2022. Yael brings to Protalix over 20 years of experience in multidisciplinary environments, such as HR and Operations. She has led strategic and global cross organization processes and technological changes primarily at NICE and Teva Pharmaceuticals. Yael holds a B.SC in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Technion and a M.SC in Science of Management in Organizational Behavior from Tel Aviv University.

 

 

Tanya Gershanik, PH.D.

Vice President, Quality Affairs
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Dr. Tanya (Tatyana) Gershanik joined Protalix in November 2011 and became our Vice President, Quality Affairs in September 2021.

Dr. Gershanik originally served as a Manager of Quality Assurance department, and, for five years before her promotion to Vice President, Quality Affairs, as a Senior Director and Protalix’s Quality Person.

Prior to joining Protalix, Dr. Gershanik held a number of managerial positions in the pharmaceutical industry over a 12-year period, specifically in the fields of pharmaceutical technology and validation. She also served as a lecturer in the Master of Science program at the School of Pharmacy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, at the QP Qualification program led by School of Pharmacy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and at the Bioforum applied knowledge center.

Dr. Gershanik is a member of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) and was awarded a Certified Pharmaceutical Industry Professional (CPIP) credential from the ISPE. Dr. Gershanik holds a B.A., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree, each from the School of Pharmacy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She also is a graduate of the yearly program, “Management of Pharmaceutical Companies, of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

 

Yael Hayon, PH.D.

Vice President,
Research and Development
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Dr. Hayon joined Protalix as its Vice President, Research & Development in July 2020. She brings to Protalix over a decade of experience in pharmaceutical research in development, both in the scientific operations and the administrative functions. She most recently served as Vice President of Clinical Affairs of Syqe Medical Ltd., Tel-Aviv, where she, among other things, established the clinical and medical global strategy, and was responsible for providing strategic input on the regulatory development plan. Prior to her role at Syqe Medical, Dr. Hayon served as the Head of R&D Israeli Site of LogicBio Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease), Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she managed LogicBio’s Israeli-based Research and Development facility and was involved in strategic decision-making. From 2014 through 2016 she served as the R&D Manager, Stem Cell Medicine Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel. Dr. Hayon holds a Ph.D. in Neurobiology/Hematology, and an M.Sc. in Neurobiology, both from the Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel.

Einat Brill-Almon, Ph.D.

Senior Advisor,
(Former Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer)
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Dr. Almon has served as a senior advisor to Protalix since her retirement in April 2022 after having served our company for almost two decades. As a senior advisor, she continues to play an important role in our company.  She first joined Protalix Ltd. in December 2004 and held a number of roles, the latest being Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer. In addition to her tenure with our company, 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 Medgenics Medical (Israel) Ltd. (formerly, Biogenics Ltd.), a company that developed an autologous platform for tissue-based protein drug delivery. Medgenics Medical, based in Israel, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aevi Genomic Medicine, Inc. (formerly, 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 molecular biology of plant genetic engineering.

Raul Chertkoff, M.D.

Senior Advisor, (Former Vice President, Medical Affairs)
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Dr. Chertkoff has served as a senior advisor to Protalix since his resignation in April 2022 after having served our company for fifteen years. He first joined Protalix Ltd. in March 2006. Prior to joining Protalix, Dr. Chertkoff worked for over a decade in executive medical management in Klalit Health Services, one of the largest global Health Care Service Organizations. He also served for 10 years as Chairman of the Israeli Gaucher Association and was a co-founder and executive member of the European Gaucher Alliance. Additionally, he has vast experience in the Public Health and Clinical Sectors, interacting with doctors and patients in clinical research studies, especially in the field of Gaucher disease. Raul received his M.D. from the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Shoshi Tessler, Ph.D.

Vice President, Clinical Development & Regulatory Affairs
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Dr. Tessler joined Protalix as its Vice President, Clinical Development & Regulatory Affairs in October 2023. She brings to Protalix over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, leading a broad range of innovative drug development projects and activities, from lead-stage to phase III clinical trials and marketing applications. She most recently served as the Vice President, Research & Development of Biosight Ltd., a clinical stage biotech company. Prior to that she served as the Vice President, Research & Development of Enzymotec Ltd. (currently part of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) and as a Senior Director Project Champion at Innovative R&D of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA; TASE:TEVA). Her experience and responsibilities include management of all aspects of drug development, including CMC, pharmacology, toxicology, mechanism of action, regulatory affairs, clinical development and intellectual property.

Dr. Tessler holds an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in the area of growth factors and cancer development. She also was a post-doctoral fellow in the area of neurobiology at the Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK.