Sygnature Discovery boosts North American growth with new General Manager
World-leading contract research organization Sygnature Discovery has announced a major new addition to its leadership team, with the high-profile appointment of industry veteran Jade Dagher as General Manager, Canada.
Jade Dagher – General Manager, Canada
Jade is a “big hitter” in the sector and has over 35 years of experience in pharmaceuticals, including 25 years with Global pharma giant Merck. He is fluent in English, French, and Arabic, and holds an MBA in strategic management and finance from McGill University CA, as well as a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry.
In his new role, he will be responsible for the commercial leadership of Sygnature’s operations in Canada, building on its successful acquisition of NuChem Sciences in 2023, one of North America’s largest discovery contract research organizations.
Prior to joining the team at Sygnature Discovery, Jade served as General Manager in Northwestern Europe and Canada for Roche Diabetes Care, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. In this role, he was the driving force behind the strategic planning and implementation of the company’s Canadian operations, as well as managing a team of over 200 employees across 11 markets.
His earlier experience at Merck involved leading the Primary Care & Vaccines portfolio, a major part of the Canadian business unit, with revenues nearing $500M. Jade held a variety of leadership roles with the company, including Vice President of Market Access, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Primary Care & Vaccines, Director of Marketing, Vaccines and Director of Marketing, Infectious Diseases, Oncology & Hospital Acute Care.
He brings an in-depth knowledge of the Canadian market and global senior leadership to his new role at Sygnature Discovery.
Commenting on his new appointment Jade said: “I was attracted to this role by the opportunity of building Sygnature Discovery’s North American presence, following its recent major expansion into the Canadian market. Throughout my career, I have run new operating models to maximize synergies and profitability and led major transformations for some of the biggest names in the business. I have a strong background in regulatory affairs, market access, sales, marketing, and health management that I bring to my new position with Sygnature Discovery”.
CEO at Sygnature Discovery Dr Simon Hirst added: “Jade is an experienced and accomplished global commercial leader, with demonstrable results across different cultures, markets, and functions in the pharmaceutical, vaccines, and medtech industries. His strategic leadership skills, strong collaborative spirit, and passion for talent development make him an ideal candidate for this role. Jade is a versatile and resilient, clear communicator able to empower diverse teams to achieve commercial success, and will be crucial to taking our North American operations to the next level.”
About Sygnature Discovery
Sygnature Discovery is a world-leading integrated drug discovery contract research organization based in the UK and Canada with headquarters in Nottingham (UK). Additional sites are located in Alderley Park, Macclesfield, and Glasgow (UK), as well as Montreal and Quebec City (Canada). Its team of over 1,000 employees, which includes 900 scientists, partners with global pharma, biotech, and NFP organizations. Since 2004, Sygnature Discovery has delivered over 40 novel pre-clinical and 25 clinical compounds, with its scientists named on over 170 patents. Therapeutic areas of expertise include oncology, inflammation and immunology, neuroscience, metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, fibrotic diseases, and more.