Management Team

Dr. Khalid Islam has served as our Chairman of our Board of directors since December 2009 and our Chief Executive Officer since November 2009. Dr. Islam has over 22 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector. From 1999 to 2008, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the SWX-listed anti-infective company Arpida AG. Prior to joining Arpida, he held various research and development roles at Hoechst Marion Roussel and Marion-Merrell Dow, both global pharmaceutical companies. He is the founder/co-founder of several companies and has previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for Arpida AG in Switzerland, Rheoscience A/S in Denmark and Chairman of Arpida Inc. In addition, Dr. Islam is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of C10 Pharma in Norway, an advisor to the venture capital group Kurma Biofund in Paris, a member of the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Network of Excellence in Pathogenomics and of the Editorial Board of Current Drug Discovery and Technologies. He received a Bachelor of Science from Chelsea College, University of London, and his Ph.D. from Imperial College, University of London. He has published over 80 articles in scientific journals and holds numerous patents.

Adrian Haigh joined Gentium in March 2011 as our Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations. He is responsible for establishing our commercial organization and for business development. Prior to joining Gentium, Mr. Haigh served as Regional Vice President, Commercial Operations at Biogen Idec where he managed several affiliates and also the global distributor business. From 2002 to 2007 he held leadership positions at Amgen, including General Manager of Portugal and Scandinavia and Head of the $1.5b International Oncology Franchise. Mr. Haigh’s career also includes management positions with SmithKline Beecham, Schering-Plough, Organon and Novo-Nordisk. He received a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Economic History from Huddersfield Polytechnic, West Yorkshire, England and a Diploma in Marketing from the Institute of Marketing.

Salvatore Calabrese has served as our Chief Financial Officer since December 2010, Senior Vice-President of Finance since February 2010 and our Vice-President of Finance since February 2005. From December 2003 until February 2005, he was an Accounting and Finance Manager for Novuspharma, S.p.A., a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of cancer drugs and a subsidiary of Cell Therapeutics, Inc., a public reporting company, which then merged into Cell Therapeautics, Inc. He reported to the Chief Financial Officer of Cell Therapetucs, Inc. and was responsible for cost containment, budgeting, financial reporting and the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. From September 1996 until November 2003, Mr. Calabrese was employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers as an accountant and was a Manager in Assurance Business Advisory Services at the time of departure. From October 2000 to June 2003, Mr. Calabrese worked in the Boston, MA office of PricewaterhouseCoopers. He earned a Bachelors' Degree in Economics at the University of Messina and a Masters' Degree in Accounting, Audit and Financial Control at the University of Pavia. He is also a chartered accountant in the Republic of Italy.

Armando Cedro has served as our Chief of Manufacturing and Qualified Person since 2003. From 1997 to 2003, he served as our Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Production Manager. From 1987 to 1997, he served as the Chemical Research and Development Laboratories and Pilot Plant Manager at Crinos Industria Farmacobiologica SpA. From 1982 to 1987, he served as the Chemical Development Laboratory Manager at Societa Prodotti Antibiotici, a manufacturer of antibiotic pharmaceutical products. Mr. Cedro received a degree in Industrial Chemistry from the Universita degli Studi di Milano, Italy.

Stefano Giordani joined Gentium as Human Resources Director in December 2007. From 1998 to 2007, he served as Human Resources Manager in Recordati S.p.A where he managed Sales Rep, Plants both fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals line of business. From 1993 to 1998 he was Human Resources Consultant in Confindustria, an Italian Entrepreneur Association. From 1991 to 1993 he worked in a law firm as labour consultant. Mr. Giordani received a bachelor’s degree in law from Università degli Studi of Milan in 1991.

Mr. Terenzio Ignoni has served as our Vice President Quality since January 2011 and as Quality Manager since January 2007. From April 2005 to December 2006, as Quality Control Manager, he was in charge of the development and implementation of the Quality Control Department of Gentium SpA which was audited, approved and officially authorized by the Italian Regulatory Agency in February 2007. From September 2002 to March 2005 he was analytical development manager at Zambon Group, facility of Almisano di Lonigo, Italy. From March 2001 to September 2002 he worked in the Quality Control of Biosearch Manufacturing, company specialized in the research, development and manufacturing of antibiotics and antifungal agents. He obtained a degree in Pharmaceutical chemistry and technologies at the University of Turin, Italy. He is also certified Qualified Person according to EU Directive 2001/83/EC and related amendment.