Board of Directors


Mr. Ron Long, Chairman

Ron Long joined the Board of Amersham PLC in August 1990 as Commercial Director. He was appointed Managing Director Life Sciences in 1996 and CEO of Amersham Pharmacia Biotech in 1997 until June 2000. He was then appointed Vice Chairman of the Group until his retirement from Amersham in June 2001. Prior to joining Amersham, Ron Long worked for 22 years with the Wellcome Foundation PLC, holding Divisional Director appointments in Wellcome Biotechnology Limited and Coopers Animal Health Limited and was Group Managing Director of Calmic International Ltd before leaving Wellcome in 1990. Since leaving Amersham Ron has served as a Non Executive Director of Biacore AB until its sale to GE in 2007, he was also the Chairman of Kudos Pharmaceuticals which completed a successful trade sale to Astra Zeneca at the end of 2005. He served as Deputy Chairman of the Automation Partnership Plc from 2001 to 2005. Non Executive Director of Gyros AB from 2001 to 2007. Chairman and CEO of Procognia Ltd from 2002 until Jan 2008, Senior Non Executive Director of Asterand Plc [formerly Pharmagene Plc] from 2000 to 2008 and Non Executive Chairman of DxS Ltd until its sale to Qiagen in September 2009. Ron is currently Managing Director of Scicona Limited, Non Executive Chairman of Procognia (Israel) Ltd and PeP-Tonic Medical AB, Non Executive Director of Euro-Diagnostica AB, Executive Chairman of Sky Medical Technology Limited and Aeomical Ltd, President and CEO of Medivir AB.

 

Dr. Yeshayahu Yakir, Executive Vice Chairman of the Board

Dr. Yeshayahu Yakir is a co-founder of Procognia Israel. After leading the company for eight years he has now handed the CEO post over to Mr. Alon Natanson, and serves as Executive Vice Chairman of the Board, where he is involved with the company's intellectual property and business development. Dr. Yakir brings more than 20 years of experience in establishing and managing biotech and diagnostic companies. In addition to Procognia he served as President and Director of Healthcare Technologies Ltd., a NASDAQ-traded Israeli holding firm, which specializes in developing, manufacturing and marketing of clinical diagnostic test kits, and providing services and tools for diagnostic and research professionals in laboratories and point-of-care sites worldwide. Dr. Yakir has also served as president and director of Savyon Diagnostics Ltd. He has held senior positions as Head of Thymic Humoral Factor Project at Bayer/Miles-Yeda (Israel). Dr. Yakir holds a Ph.D. in Immunology/Cell Biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

 

Prof. Ruth Arnon

A noted immunologist, Professor Ruth Arnon is a former Vice President of the Weizmann Institute of Science (1988-1997). Professor Arnon joined the Institute in 1960. Prior to her appointment as Vice President, she served as Head of the Department of Chemical Immunology, and as Dean of the Faculty of Biology. From 1985 to 1994, she was Director of the Institute's MacArthur Center for Molecular Biology of Tropical Diseases. Professor Arnon has made significant contributions to the fields of vaccine development, cancer research and to the study of parasitic diseases. Along with Professor Michael Sela, she developed Copaxone® a drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and is presently marketed in the USA, Canada and many other countries worldwide. Professor Arnon is a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences, and presently chairs its Science Division. On the world scene, she is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). She has served as President of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS), and as Secretary-General of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). Her awards include the Robert Koch Prize in Medical Sciences, Spain's Jiminez Diaz Memorial Prize, France's Legion of Honor, the Hadassah World Organization's Women of Distinction Award, the Wolf Prize for Medicine, the Rothschild Prize for Biology and the Israel Prize. Professor Arnon is also the Advisor for Science to the President of Israel and is the incumbent of the Paul Ehrlich Chair in Immunochemistry.

 

Mr. Yehiel Sobol

Mr. Yehiel Sobol possesses three decades of experience as CEO and President of software, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in Israel, the UK, the US and Canada. He has initiated development and global marketing of a diverse range of products and services, including large enterprise network management software, inbound telemarketing & fulfillment services to global high-tech companies, and chemical and biotechnology products for major pharmaceutical and chemical companies. Mr. Sobol's record of success includes the establishment of strategic alliances with major corporations, including IBM, HP, Microsoft, Vodafone, Fujitsu and BT. He has also achieved continuous improvements in competitive positioning, development of new markets and new businesses, restructuring and cost reduction. In his role as General Manager of Gadot Lab Supply Ltd, Mr. Sobol has achieved annual growth of 50% in the marketing and distribution of chemicals, bio-chemicals and molecular biology products in Israel and Europe. Mr. Sobol holds a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Ottawa, in addition to a number of courses in finance, marketing and strategic planning from MIT Sloan.

 

Mr. Ofer Lavie

Mr. Ofer Lavie is a financial business development consultant with extensive experience as CFO in Israeli Hi-Tech industries. He is currently the CEO of the Education Center of the CFO Forum in Israel (the Forum has more than 600 companies registered in Israel). Mr. Lavie also currently sits on the board of: Formula System Ltd, Yozma Pension Fund for the Self Employed Ltd, Procognia Israel Ltd., Alpa Cosmetics Ltd and Shaniv Ltd. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Mr. Lavie was CFO at Metalink Ltd, a public company traded on the NASDAQ and TASE. Prior to Metalink Mr. Lavie held senior positions in leading industries in Israel (Tadiran Ltd. and El-Op industries Ltd.). Mr. Lavie served As CEO of GMA Communications Ltd. Through his activities Mr. Lavie was involved in business activities in: Israel, US, Europe and Asia. Mr. Lavie holds a B.Sc. in Economics (with honors) from Tel Aviv University.

 

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