Leadership & Partners
Located in Quebec, Canada, the Defence Therapeutics leadership team brings extensive experience in the capital markets, finance, biochemistry, pharmacology, biotech, immunology. Together they have developed the company’s IP and are leading the current product pipeline.
Leadership
Sébastien Plouffe, CEO and Director.
Experienced finance professional and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in both capital markets and project development. Worked for more than 10 years as a successful VP Senior Investment Advisor with Canadian brokerages firms BMO Nesbitt Burns and Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, from which he has accumulated considerable expertise in most aspects of raising and managing capital. Over the last 15 years, Mr. Plouffe was instrumental in the success of various Canadian and International private and public companies in sectors such as biotech, mining and technology.
Science
Dr. Moutih Rafei, Chief Scientific Officer, Director is an immuno-oncologist and has accumulated profound knowledge and insight in the fields of T-cell development, stem cell biology, cancer immunotherapy and autoimmune diseases. With a PhD in Experimental Medicine at McGill University in the laboratory of Jacques Galipeau, Dr. Rafei is a leader in the development of immune-related therapies for catastrophic illnesses and his research has uncovered many seminal discoveries. Dr Rafei received over 20 awards and recognitions over the last 15 years. His research has resulted in over 20 high impact peer-reviewed publications, 5 reviews, 2 book chapters, 1 monograph, and 5 patents.
Finance
Joseph Meagher, CFO & Director (CPA, CA, C.Dir.)
Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) since 2008, obtaining the Chartered Director (C.Dir.) designation from The Directors College (a joint venture between McMaster University and The Conference Board of Canada) in 2017. Joseph currently serves as the CFO for several publicly listed companies namely Gatling Exploration Inc., Pacton Gold Inc., Bessor Minerals Inc., Kanadario Gold Inc., and Huntsman Exploration Inc. Previous experience includes Staff Accountant and Manager.
Science
Dr. Simon Beaudoin, CTSO & Accum Co-Founder, has a MSc and PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Sherbrooke. As co-found of Defence Technologies, Simons’ expertise in biochemistry, and molecular and cellular biology greatly contributed to the conceptualization, realization and valorization of the Accum™ technology platform. With strong expertise in the area of immuno-conjugation and, more particularly, in the development and optimization of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) for anti-cancer applications, and radio-immuno-conjugates for therapeutic and/or TEP imaging applications, his impressive work has been covered in many highly respected journals. Simon is also the recipient of 15 peer-reviewed awards and scholarships.
Science
Dr. Raimar Löbenberg, Director and Chairman, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Pharmacy from the Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany and a PhD in Pharmaceutics from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany. He joined the University of Alberta in 2000 where he is the Founder and Director of the Drug Development and Innovation Centre, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dr. Löbenberg’s research interests are in biopharmaceutics to predict the oral performance of drugs and botanicals and inhalable nanoparticles to treat lung diseases such as lung cancer, tuberculosis or leishmaniasis. He is a cofounder of RS Therapeutics Inc., a foam-based topical drug delivery company. Dr. Löbenberg’s recent notable positions include: President of the Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences; Vice Chair and current member of the United States Pharmacopeia Dietary Supplement Expert Committee; current Vice Chair of the Specialty Committee of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Pharmaceutics of the World Foundation of Chinese Medicine Science; and current member of the Health Canada Scientific Advisory Committee on Pharmaceutical Sciences and Clinical Pharmacology and the Scientific Advisory Panel on Opioid Analgesic Abuse.
Science
Dr. Meterissian is involved in a number of clinical and basic science research projects related to breast cancer. In 1999, along with Dr. Morag Park (the Director of the Goodman Cancer Center), he set-up the McGill Functional Genomics Group which includes an extensive solid and liquid tissue bank for breast cancer. This Tumor Bank has led to a number of landmarks papers including the discovery of the Stromal-derived Protein Predictor (SDPP) published in Nature Medicine in 2008. He presently is involved in clinical research collaborations with the U de M Polytechnique Institute funded by NSERC and translational research projects with Dr. Luke McCaffrey of the Goodman.
He is also on the Scientific Committee of the McPeak-Sirois group representing the MUHC. This is a Clinical Trials Research Group bringing together the large cancer centers in the province. As part of this group he has recently set-up a Breast Cancer Metastases Registry supported by major pharma. This registry will include, in a prospective fashion, clinical data on metastatic breast cancers from across the province and their management.
Our results to date and in progress work includes the support and involvement of the University of Montreal:

We have tackled an industry-wide ADC challenge – Nuclear Localization – using our proprietary technology Accum™.


Partnering with the academic laboratory of Dr. Moutih Rafei (University of Montreal, Canada), Defence Therapeutics is focused on infectious disease and virus vaccine development utilizing the ACCUM™ platform for targeted drug delivery and effective treatments.
State of the Art Facilities
University of Montreal laboratory space of 140 m2, accommodating 12 highly qualified personnel and a wide range of equipment.
Access in process to 12 high tech platforms located at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer as well as the biopharma platforms at the faculty of pharmacy.