Natural Leader

Jacqueline Shan, PhD discusses her successful journey with CV Technologies Inc.

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By Kristine Archer

Jacqueline Shan, PhD is riding high on the recent success of CV Technologies Inc. (CVT) (Edmonton, AB), the company she co-founded in 1993. But she is not your typical biotech success story.

A scientist above all else, Shan’s career path has taken her down a road not traditionally travelled by hardcore researchers –– natural medicine. But Shan says that she and her colleagues saw the potential in marrying traditional clinical methods with natural therapeutics when CVT was established.

A Novel Approach

“I was very interested, along with a group of scientists from the University of Alberta, in starting a company with the vision that we could develop natural therapeutics from natural sources,” Shan says.

“Nature is a good source of medicine,” she adds. “(You need to) find evidence to demonstrate how it works and also to develop a consistent formulation, and also distil the value.”

Shan acknowledges that consumers sometimes feel reluctant about natural treatments, mostly because there is often very little real science backing up marketers’ claims. The best way to combat these perceptions, she says, is to combine universally accepted testing methods with natural sources.

“Research always stays first for me,” Shan says. “People are thinking about pharmaceutical companies –– they do a lot of (clinical) trials. So we are basically using a pharmaceutical model, trying to develop a naturally based product.”

CVT put this theory into practice with its most popular product, Cold-fX®. The medication, made from an extract of North American ginseng and designed to help prevent colds and flus and relieve their symptoms, has undergone seven clinical trials –– including two major U.S. Food and Drug Administration-regulated Phase II trials, which showed Cold-fX can reduce the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by 89 per cent. It is also the only natural product to successfully complete a Phase II trial.

The company even developed its own patented ChemBioPrint process, which identifies the chemical profile and biological activities of natural health products –– notoriously inconsistent from batch to batch –– in order to develop proprietary compounds that can then be standardized and patented.

An Ounce of Prevention

Shan says that CVT’s philosophy emphasizes not only natural therapeutics, but also a preventative approach, by treating illnesses before they start –– a method underscored by her educational background.

“We decided really to focus on prevention,” she says. “As a pharmacologist/physiologist combination, I know the best way is to prevent your own physiological system from deteriorating, so you don’t get the disease.”

A native of China, Shan started university at the age of 15, and went on to obtain two doctorates, the first of which was in pharmacology at Peking Union Medical College (Beijing, China).

“China is such a big country and there are many, many talented people. Some people go to university very young –– but I was on the young side,” Shan says.

Shan’s research interests then took her to the University of Alberta to work with CVT co-founder Peter Pang, PhD. It was there where she eventually completed her second doctorate, this time in physiology. It was out of the subsequent post-doctoral research projects that the genesis of CV Technologies emerged.

According to Shan, a major pharmaceutical company wanted to spin off a contract research company from one of these projects. She and some of her colleagues eventually decided to expand to natural product development and commercialization.

Taking Control

Despite a lack of business experience, Shan decided to keep all the commercialization efforts in-house, noting that her company’s unique approach mandated a personal touch.

“I made the decision that we need to focus on doing our own commercialization . . . because we are an emerging industry,” she says.

“There aren’t many people in the pharmaceutical companies that understand or know how to market the preventative-based medicines –– or they are not interested in them,” Shan adds. “I think we are in the leading position to do that and I think we can do it well.”

Shan’s confidence is underscored by CVT’s growth in size, scope and bottom line. The company’s market cap currently stands at more than $25 million, and sales of Cold-fX alone have jumped to $11.3 million in the first quarter of 2005 (up from $1.8 million only one year before).

While clinical data and trial results are important, it doesn’t hurt when some important consumers spread the word about how much they love your product.

Cold-fX certainly has some famous fans. It all started when then-Edmonton Oiler general manager Glen Sather tried the product and passed it on to members of his team. In fact, the Edmonton players became the test group for a Cold-fX study.

“Before we knew it, word got out . . . and then the majority of NHL hockey teams were taking the product because it worked for them,” Shan says. The word-of-mouth campaign continued to spread, attracting celebrity admirers from all walks of Canadiana: from author Margaret Atwood, to singer Michael Burgess, to eventual Cold-fX spokesperson, television personality Don Cherry.

“When we recall back now, it was really not part of the marketing plan,” Shan says. “All of those people are great for the enthusiasm about Cold-fX because it worked for them. We never approached the people at the beginning and said, ‘We want you to take the product. We want you to become our spokesperson.’ We never did that –– all those people (were) talking about Cold-fX because of their own experiences,” she adds.

Staying Successful

But success hasn’t come without struggle. Shan, who has yet to reach her 40th birthday, currently juggles three major roles at CVT. Already the company’s CSO, Shan was recently named president and CEO. While she welcomes the challenge, Shan acknowledges that it’s difficult to strike the right balance.

“It is a tremendous transition for me, but it’s something I really enjoy,” she says. “And also, of course, another personal challenge is always . . . time and being a young mother. That’s extremely challenging.

“I never set a particular career goal to be president of (a company). But I feel strongly (that) I can at this stage,” she adds.

Shan notes that while she enjoys her current responsibilities, she knows her company’s growth will necessitate having a few helping hands.

“As the company grows bigger and bigger, and stronger and stronger, certainly, from my point of view, I would like to see the responsibilities and roles being shared by other people. It’s not possible for (one person) to do everything.”

Such rapid growth can bring its own problems: small companies can buckle underneath the weight of sudden immense success. But Shan says an emphasis on training and careful recruiting helps CVT stay ahead of the curve.

“From a human resources point of view, we have a good training program . . . especially in the last couple of years we, as the company grew so rapidly, have been training people internally, and also recruiting highly talented people,” she says.

“It is pretty challenging . . . to get the right fit, not only from the skill point of view. It is really important to bring (in) people that have the same enthusiasm, the same vision.”

The Road Ahead

As for the future, Shan says the sky’s the limit.

“We have started a project in collaboration with McGill University to evaluate the (effects) of Cold-fX on viral-induced cancer . . . and that’s just one aspect, of course, in the pattern,” Shan says.

“We do have a pattern –– and early on we said it (would) cover all the immune deficiency-related diseases –– cold and flu, and viral-related cancer, and things like HIV infection, and hepatitis –– those are part of that,” she adds. “Of course (for) each indication, you can see (it) is a huge area. It will need a lot of development and clinical study.

“Of course we do work with other areas — for example, the central nervous system. We are working on products to prevent the nerve cells from degeneration (and) enhance memory and learning,” Shan adds, pointing to other CVT products, such as Remember-fX and Ad-fX.

In fact, Shan has discovered or co-discovered 10 products protected under United States or Patent Cooperation Treaty patents. She also plans to expand the success of Cold-fX beyond Canadian borders, noting that “Cold-fX is a global product. We are really positioning (it to) become a global brand.”

Shan says setting goals and staying determined are vital to success in the biotech business –– skills that translate from her research-based beginnings.

“I think one of the major things I learned is to be focused,” Shan says. “We have a very, very focused goal.”

When it comes to transitioning from science to business, Shan advises that her science colleagues need to step out of the lab and stay open-minded.

“I think what we need to do as scientists is to get out beyond that small box (we) are working in. We have to learn to how to communicate and we have to learn the business skills as well.”