Dr. Ron Boch is the Vice President, Biotechnology and Industry Affairs with lead responsibility for BIOTECanada’s policy development reflecting the diverse nature of Canada’s health, industrial and agricultural biotechnology sectors.
He brings a wide range of scientific, research and commercialization expertise in his work with emerging companies, vaccine manufacturers and global pharmaceutical companies, having worked for over 25 years with industry particularly regarding biotechnology products, vaccines and formulation. In 2021, Ron was awarded the Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences Award of Leadership in Canadian Pharmaceutical Sciences for demonstrated leadership in advancing the cause of pharmaceutical research and development in Canada. As a named inventor of over 60 US and international patent applications including nine different patent families, Dr. Boch developed new technologies for business opportunities and managed relationships with key opinion leaders in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industry. At QLT Inc., he contributed to the development of Visudyne used for photodynamic therapy of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over 60. He led formulation and pharmaceutical development activities of a wide variety of preclinical and clinical products.
Dr. Boch serves advisory Boards including the Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences and Industry Advisory Committee of the Drug Development and Innovation Centre at the University of Alberta. He completed postdoctoral studies at the University of British Columbia, a Ph.D. in Chemistry and B.Sc. in Biochemistry, earned from the University of Ottawa.