Dr. Simon Pimstone, MD, PhD, FRCPC, is a founder, Director, and Chief Executive Officer at Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., a publicly traded Canadian biotechnology company (Nasdaq: XENE). Xenon is engaged in discovering and developing novel pharmaceuticals targeting neurological diseases with a key focus on ion channels.
Dr. Pimstone received his MD from the University of Cape Town (MBChB, 1991) and is an internal medicine specialist (FRCPC, UBC, 2001). Prior to his specialization, he trained as a clinical research fellow with the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia (“UBC”) and obtained his PhD in cardiovascular genetics through the University of Amsterdam (1998).
Dr. Pimstone also serves as a consultant physician at the UBC Medical and Cardiology Clinic at UBC Hospital in Vancouver. He is a founder and co-principal investigator (PI) of the Study to Avoid CardioVascular Events in BC (“SAVE BC”), a provincial program focused on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and is founding PI of the SAfER BC study, a provincial study established to track COVID-19 and its impact in the workplace.
Dr. Pimstone has served on numerous non-profit boards including BIOTECanada, LifeSciences BC, the Center for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Providence Healthcare and numerous life sciences company boards including Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals and Alpha9 Theranostics.
Dr. Pimstone has received a number of awards and recognitions including the Globe and Mail and Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40 Awards and was a 2020 Bloom Burton Award finalist. Under his leadership, Xenon has received multiple awards, including the 2020 LifeSciences BC Deal of the Year Award, the 2013 LifeSciences BC Company of the Year Award, the 2013 BIOTECanada Gold Leaf Company of the Year Award and the 2008 BIOTECanada Gold Leaf Emerging Company – Health Award.