 Photography by: Brock Kryton When I arrived at the offices of Fedora Pharmaceuticals Inc. for the scheduled face-to-face interview with Christopher Micetich, President & CEO of Fedora Pharmaceuticals Inc. I was greeted by Kelly Alexandra Micetich, Vice President, Operations at Brass Dome Ventures Ltd. Chris’s lovely wife, whom he describes as one of the two most important and influential ladies in his life and who stood by his side through thick and thin; in his published book “One Day You’ll Understand.” The office building is spacious, modern, and beautifully designed. Accentuating the highly innovative and cutting edge nature of this fantastic Albertan business outfit with its highly professional team of people, who are acknowledged by Chris in his book, coining this fact in a potent expression: “When you surround yourself with great people, great things happen.” And great people they truly are who are achieving great things indeed. A world leader in antibiotic drug discovery and development Fedora Pharmaceuticals Inc. is one of the few and most unique worldwide combatants in the last frontier of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics industry; combating Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). The last frontier Jedi in the real sense of the word. An award-winning trend-setter, Fedora Pharmaceuticals was incorporated in December 2011 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. The company received the Alberta Life Sciences’ "Company of the Year" award and the Alberta Science and Technology Leadership (ASTech) Foundation’s award for Outstanding Commercial Achievement. In 2015 this super Jedi team closed the largest licensing deal in Canadian biotech history. Henceforth, winning them numerous awards. One of which was a special national citation for entrepreneurial perseverance from Ernst & Young (EY), which was awarded to Chris himself in the same year. Being an early stage anti-infective drug discovery company, the primary markets for Fedora Pharmaceuticals are the large pharmaceutical companies that would take a new drug all the way to commercialization and market. What sets them apart from the pack is the team’s collective expertise spanning a century of knowledge, their long-standing track record of success and hands-on experience in the pharmaceutical industry. This powerful team with their diverse and extensive experiences have worked across many therapeutic areas in the field, and are well versed in the complex processes of moving a compound from its early stage right through to the clinic. Many of their competitors simply don't have that rich knowledge and experience. Their wealth of personal contacts and networks, which they built over decades upon decades, intimately connected them with every large pharmaceutical company in the world, forming strong relations with the people of those large pharmaceuticals. from senior management to business development teams to research scientists to everyone else in between. In addition to their on-going proactive and highly energetic business development efforts, it’s their paragon of excellence and stellar reputation that generate a consistent pipeline of business for them. The global repercussions of AMR, if not controlled and beaten, will be devastating to the entire human race. “By 2050, 10 million deaths worldwide would result annually, overtaking diabetes and cancer combined, the global economy could fall between $2 and $6 trillion USD” (Source: Public Health Agency of Canada). Therefore, to say that the whole world desperately needs the super-skilled Jedi team of Fedora, to save us from super bugs, would be, I feel, the understatement of the century. We all need the efforts, patience, and unabated dedication of this highly professional team of Fedora Pharmaceuticals, to persevere and win the war against AMR. Chris summarizes perseverance best in his book: “Perseverance isn’t so much about proving something to others. It’s about proving something to yourself - a vastly different and more difficult endeavor.” Author: Imad-Dean KaddouraManaging Editor at Alberta Business Review   Listening to Christopher Micetich, President & CEO of Brass Dome Ventures, and hearing their fascinating story conjured up the name in my mind. Because that’s exactly what they are. They help budding entrepreneurs realize their dreams. As an innovative management and business consultancy firm, another befitting description of this fantastic Alberta business is “Innovation Fomenters”, being experts in the innovation space, they empower visionary leaders to advance their innovative ideas into viable investable businesses. Brass Dome Ventures has a portfolio extending to several industries including life sciences, construction, oil & gas, and cannabis, among others. This young and vibrant Alberta firm, which started in the summer of 2016, has seasoned wisdom in the sum of its professional team’s collective knowledge and skillsets - possessing a combined base of experience and expertise that spans a century of entrepreneurship, life sciences, and business acumen. The original plan was to invest in start-ups however, they quickly realized there were many gaps to fill prior to arriving at the investment readiness stage. With their track record successes and extensive expertise, they were able to fill the gaps which made the company evolve into a business consulting firm in addition to their investment side. Over the years Brass Dome Ventures has grown into what it is today with 10 staff members, a full-fledged office in downtown Edmonton and with many business opportunities on their plates. Their target market is entrepreneurial-minded members of our community with an existing business or with viable ideas that can be turned into a commercialized business. In particular, Brass Dome Ventures’ is drawn to helping businesses challenged with getting to the next level, businesses that have been around for a while and doing well but just can't take it to the step up. It’s their actual direct hands-on expertise that comes from real, practical and applicable experience that they transfer to their clientele that makes Brass Dome Ventures unique. Chris expresses this fact best: “If you aren’t or haven’t been an entrepreneur, then you have not lost sleepless nights thinking about a vision or taken a risk that puts your whole life and your family’s at risk trying to create an opportunity. You don't understand what it takes. And I think without that experience, you really can't provide the advice and assistance to somebody else who is an entrepreneur that needs to take that plunge.” For Chris, the one key thing for Brass Dome Ventures, and actually for any business, is the fact that whatever business model or whatever strategy you have, it doesn't last forever. You can't ever be complacent and react to market developments after the fact. What they instill within entrepreneurs they help is that businesses should not react to what's happening today - rather they should anticipate what's going to happen tomorrow and make the necessary changes before it happens. That’s the key to success in business. Author: Imad-Dean KaddouraManaging Editor at Alberta Business Review |