September 29, 2026 – Toronto, Ontario – Bloom Burton & Co. (“Bloom Burton”) is pleased to announce Ian Mortimer, President & Chief Executive Officer of Xenon Pharmaceuticals, as the recipient of the 2026 Bloom Burton Award.
In the past year, Ian Mortimer lead Xenon through an incredible period of performance, including unprecedented and positive phase 3 clinical trial results with Xenon’s novel epilepsy treatment Azetukalner in adults with focal onset seizures, the filing of a new drug application with the U.S. FDA, and the execution of a US$747.5 million follow-on financing, which is the largest equity offering by a Canadian biotechnology company in history.
“It was joyful to celebrate the phenomenal achievements of Ian Mortimer and the success of Xenon Pharmaceuticals in just the past year at the 2026 Bloom Burton Award Gala,” said Jolyon Burton, President and Head of Investment Banking of Bloom Burton. “What a privilege to commemorate the achievements of all our finalists, and to acknowledge the growth and global contribution of our Canadian healthcare industry, positively impacting millions of people.”
Bestowed annually, the Bloom Burton Award honours an individual scientist, inventor, executive, entrepreneur, industry leader, or policy maker who made the greatest contribution to Canada’s innovative healthcare industry in the previous year. Nominations were accepted from any of the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic/imaging, research instrumentation, consumer health, services or digital health sectors, and equal consideration was given to contributions across any stage of development – from discovery to commercial-end markets.
The Bloom Burton Award finalists and winner were chosen by an esteemed panel of judges, all of whom are respected international leaders in healthcare investment, entrepreneurship and journalism. This year’s panel included:
- Michael Altman, Head of Strategy, Perceptive Advisors
- Christopher Arendt, Chief Scientific Officer, Head of Research, Takeda
- Karen Bernstein, Co-Founder and Chairman, BioCentury
- Joan Eliasek, President, North American Pharmaceutical Distribution, McKesson
- Carl Gordon, Managing Partner, OrbiMed
- Dennis Purcell, Founder and Senior Advisor, Aisling Capital
- Camille Samuels, Director, Venrock Boards
All finalists – Ian Mortimer, Graham Rosenberg and Nate Tchaplia of Dentalcorp, and Ilia Tikhomirov formerly of 35Pharma – were celebrated at the black-tie 2026 Bloom Burton Award Gala held at The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto on September 24, 2026. Each finalist also received a $25,000 cash prize.
For more information, please visit: www.bloomburton.com/gala.