Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> May 3, 2004

Albert Friesen – Medicure Inc (mph:tsx)

ALBERT D. FRIESEN is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Medicure Inc. He holds a PhD in Protein Chemistry from the University of Manitoba. He was the first employee and President of Winnipeg Rh Institute, developer of the WinRho series of drugs; the company was acquired by Cangene in 1990. He is the Founder and former President and CEO of ABI Biotechnology, whose assets were acquired by Apotex Inc. in 1991; and he is the former President of Novopharm Biotech Inc., a position held until 1997. In addition, he is the Founder of the Industrial Biotechnology Association of Canada, and he has also served on the Advisory Committee of Montreal's Biotechnology Research Institute. In 1997, he co-founded Medicure Inc. Profile
TWST: Would you begin with a brief historical sketch of Medicure?

Dr. Friesen: Medicure was incorporated in 1997, focusing on developing

cardiovascular drugs. Our initial program was centered