FSD Pharma Inc. Announces Appointment of Dr. Raza Bokhari as New Director

TORONTO, August 2, 2018 /CNW/ – PRESS RELEASE – FSD Pharma Inc. has announced the appointment of Dr. Raza Bokhari to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Dr. Bokhari currently serves as the Chairman & CEO of PCL, a global diagnostic provider of addiction screening and opioid prescription medication monitoring, including designer drugs and synthetic cannabinoids. He is also the managing partner of RBx Capital, LP.  Recipient of Philadelphia Business Journal’s “40 under 40” award, physician-turned-entrepreneur Dr. Bokhari has over the past several years developed outstanding expertise in aggregating and accelerating life sciences and healthcare services companies. He has a vast knowledge base of developing creative concepts, implementing programs and forming strategic alliances. An effective “change agent” with several years of experience and expertise in start-up and turn-around businesses, he is adept at turning around financially struggling companies. Dr. Bokhari recognizes the special role of private equity funds, venture capital money and leveraged debt partners in executing accelerated growth trends in healthcare services and cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.

“We welcome Dr. Bokhari to the Board of Directors of FSD with his wealth of knowledge in international pharmaceuticals and we thank Mr. Donal Carroll, our current CFO, for his work as a Board Member. Under current corporate law, Mr. Carroll has resigned his position to make room for our newest board member, Dr. Bokhari,” stated Thomas Fairfull, President and Chief Executive Officer of FSD. “I look forward to working with both of these experienced and talented professionals in their new capacities,” continued Mr. Fairfull.

Recognizing his zeal and passion for innovative entrepreneurship, Temple University’s Fox School of Business and Management nominated him “Entrepreneur in Residence” for the academic year 2001-2002. In October 2004, Philadelphia Business Journal (PBJ) named Dr. Bokhari’s company, Parkway Clinical Laboratories (PCL) as one of the top three small businesses to work for in the greater Philadelphia area. In 2001, he acquired financially distressed Lakewood Pathology Associates (LPA). During his term as the President and CEO until May 2007, the company grew ten times in revenue, expanded its client base to more than 25 states and created more than a hundred new jobs in the region. In June 2005, 2006 and 2007, PBJ also recognized LPA as one of the fastest growing top 25 companies in South Jersey. In 2006, LPA was included in the Philadelphia 100 fastest growing companies of the region. In May 2006, Dr. Bokhari sold LPA to a Chicago based PE fund, Water Street Healthcare Partners. The company received a $50 million equity commitment and produced an IRR of 3,684 percent (EBITDA x 8.3). In July 2008, he finalized the merger of PCL with Rosetta Genomics (ROSG), a global biotech R&D Company leading the microRNA revolution in cancer diagnostics and targeted therapeutics, to help execute Rosetta’s global commercialization efforts; the transaction produced an IRR of 137% (EBITDA x 27). 

In April of 2016, Dr. Bokhari was named co-chair of the $100 Million centennial campaign to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Fox School of Business at Temple University, which he kicked off by making a $1 million leadership contribution. This follows his November 2006 $1 million gift to Temple University. In recognition of his support to Temple University and for promoting entrepreneurship in the region and beyond, the suite housing the Fox Business Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute was named “Raza Bokhari Innovation & Entrepreneurship Suite.”

Dr. Bokhari is frequently retained as a consultant for due diligence by PE and VC funds focused in investing in life sciences/bio-tech and healthcare services companies. Regional, national and international media outlets and newspapers have either interviewed him or published his profile as an industry expert and community/civic leader. Dr. Bokhari has also spoken before professional organizations and academic institutions, including the US Congressional Caucus at Capitol Hill in Washington DC. 

Dr. Bokhari has a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Punjab, Rawalpindi Medical College, and an Executive MBA from Temple University, Fox School of Business & Management. More information on Dr. Bokhari is available at www.razabokhari.com.