Press Releases

• Kenneth Galbraith to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer;
• Mohammad Azab, MD to Senior Vice President, Clinical Research and Medical Affairs;
• Edwin Levy, Ph.D. to Senior Vice President, Corporate Development;
• John North, Ph.D. to Senior Vice President, Scientific Affairs and Chief Scientific Officer;
• Lee Anne Pilson to Senior Vice President, Marketing;
• Iman Karmadi to Vice President, Manufacturing;
• Linda Lupini to Vice President, Human Resources and Administration;
• Elayne Wandler to Vice President, Corporate Communications.

"I am extremely pleased to recognize these highly dedicated and skilled colleagues for their outstanding work over the past year," said Dr. Julia Levy, President and Chief Executive Officer of QLT. "Our recent growth has been remarkable and certainly would not have been possible without the excellence represented by these and other members of the management team. These highly deserved appointments not only reflect the heights we have achieved, but more importantly, ensure that QLT is positioned to build upon this success to drive future growth and prosperity."

Kenneth Galbraith, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has been with QLT since 1988 and will continue to have overall responsibility for the Company's financial operations. Mr. Galbraith has brought nearly $500 million of equity capital into QLT since 1988 and has led or helped steward seven strategic business partnerships with leading global health care companies including Sanofi and CIBA Vision. He was founding director and chairman of the British Columbia Biotechnology Alliance and holds directorships with BIRC Corp. and Active Pass Pharmaceuticals Inc. He also serves as Chairman of the Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network and was selected as one of Vancouver's Top-40 business achievers under the age of 40 in 1994. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia and is a Chartered Accountant.

Dr. Mohammad Azab, Senior Vice President, Clinical Research and Medical Affairs, continues to be responsible for clinical development at QLT, a role he has played since joining the company in 1997. In that time he has built up the company's clinical department, more than doubling the staff to 50 employees by adding new core competencies in pharmacokinetics, data management, statistics, medical writing and clinical quality control. He brings to the role more than 20 years of experience within the field of oncology and the pharmaceutical industry, including worldwide medical management for Sanofi Pharmaceuticals' oncology program and clinical drug development in oncology and gynecology at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Azab received his medical degree from Cairo University and post-graduate degrees from the University of Paris-Sud and the University of Pierre and Marie Curie in France. He has authored over one hundred medical papers and abstracts and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the European Society of Medical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research.

Dr. Edwin Levy, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, joined QLT 13 years ago to work in regulatory affairs and project management before his promotion to Vice President, Corporate Development in 1993. Dr. Levy will continue to be responsible for the establishment of QLT's strategic alliances and to oversee the devices and the intellectual property departments. He has played a major role in developing and managing QLT's partnerships with CIBA Vision, Sanofi Pharmaceuticals and Arterial Vascular Engineering. Prior to joining QLT, Dr. Levy taught philosophy of science at the University of British Columbia, a field for which he has published a number of articles. He received his doctorate at Indiana University.

Dr. John North, Senior Vice President, Scientific Affairs and Chief Scientific Officer, has over 25 years of corporate and academic experience at a senior level in all stages of pharmaceutical and medical device development, from pre-clinical research through to commercialization. Dr. North will continue to coordinate QLT's Oncology management team, lead the technical evaluation of new technologies and oversee the pre-clinical pharmacology, toxicology, analytical development and pilot process development groups. These groups are responsible for major innovations at QLT including the evolution of photodynamic therapy beyond applications in cancer and ophthalmology, into new areas such as immunotherapy and cardiovascular disease. In addition to a Ph.D. in immunology and an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, Dr. North has also held fellowships at the University of California at Berkeley, the Salk Institute in San Diego, and the University of Bristol Medical School.

Lee Anne Pilson, Senior Vice President, Marketing, will continue to oversee the evaluation of potential markets for QLT's product portfolio and will contribute to the formation and ongoing management of the company's strategic partnerships. Promoted to Vice President in 1995 after joining QLT in 1992, Ms. Pilson has expanded the marketing department to 11 people whose experience spans a broad range of therapeutic areas. Her 20-plus years of experience includes tenures at CIBA Consumer Pharmaceuticals, Colgate-Palmolive and leading U.S. Medical Communications agencies. Ms. Pilson holds a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science degrees from New York University.

Iman Karmadi Vice President, Manufacturing, will continue to be responsible for all aspects of chemistry, manufacturing and control at QLT including the manufacture of Visudyne™ and PHOTOFRIN®. Mr. Karmadi has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical industry and manufacturing operations with companies spanning North America and Europe. Since joining QLT in 1996, Mr. Karmadi has played a lead role in building the technical development and manufacturing group. Mr. Karmadi received his engineering degree in Chemical Technology from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany and is a member of the Parenteral Drug Association and the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers.

Linda Lupini, Vice President, Human Resources and Administration, brings nearly 15 years of experience to the role, including over 10 with leading software firm MacDonald Detwiler and Associates. Ms. Lupini will continue to manage QLT's growing demand for highly skilled science and technology specialists. In addition, she is also overseeing the construction of a world-class research facility and new headquarters for QLT. Her broad experience encompasses all aspects of human resources management from recruitment and compensation to training and professional development to employment law. A founding member of the Human Resources Council of the Canadian Management Association, a past board member of Junior Achievement of BC and adjudicator on the BC Employment Standards Tribunal, Ms. Lupini holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia.

Elayne Wandler, Vice President, Corporate Communications, will continue to head up internal and external communications and investor relations for QLT. Since joining QLT in 1997, Ms. Wandler's department has enhanced the company's image and reputation within both the biotech sector and the financial community. She brings nearly 15 years of experience in scientific research, market research management, and pharmaceutical product and sales management including five years with Abbott Laboratories. Ms. Wandler holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alberta and a Master of Business Administration from the University of British Columbia and is the recipient of a number of awards including a Canadian Investor Relations award, an AR100 award for Annual Reporting, and a President's Excellence award in marketing from Abbott.

QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc. is a world leader in the development and commercialization of proprietary pharmaceutical products for use in photodynamic therapy, an emerging field of medicine utilizing light-activated drugs in the treatment of disease. QLT's innovative science has advanced photodynamic therapy beyond applications in cancer towards breakthrough treatments in ophthalmology and autoimmune disease.

QLT's portfolio of products include Visudyne, a therapy currently under review by regulatory agencies for approval to treat wet age-related macular degeneration, and PHOTOFRIN, the world's first approved photodynamic therapy drug, used in the treatment of various cancers throughout North America, Japan and Europe.

Visudyne™ is a trademark of Novartis AG.

PHOTOFRIN® is a registered trademark of QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc.