Management
Ruth Ben Yakar, Ph.D. , CEO
Dr. Ben Yakar brings over 20 years of experience in the biomedical field, including over 11 years of management in the biotech industry, leading diverse corporate, business, operational, financial, product development, and research activities. Dr. Ben Yakar was formerly the CEO of Thrombotech, where she led a multi-center phase II clinical trial and led the company towards acquisition. Prior to that, Dr. Ben Yakar served as the Chief Business Officer of Yeda, the technology transfer company of the Weizmann Institute of Science, and a Vice President in several Biotech companies where she led diverse product development activities and clinical and pre-clinical R&D projects.
Dr. Ben-Yakar was awarded a Ph.D. Cum Laude from the Weizmann Institute of Science and won several prestigious awards.
Mrs. Larisa Amir, M.Sc., MBA, Chief Operating Officer
Larisa Amir brings 20 years of experience in management in the biopharmaceutical field, specializing in biochemical analytics under GMP environment and quality assurance (QA) management. Prior to joining Procognia, 7 years ago, Mrs. Amir served as QA Manager at Serono-InterPharm Laboratories, responsible for biopharmaceutical products release and readiness for regulatory inspections (such as FDA and EMEA), and leading; multiple local and international QA projects. In parallel, Mrs. Amir consulted to several emerging pharmaceutical companies, and provided them with the necessary infrastructure, support and documentation required by the health regulatory authorities, for product manufacturing as well as inspection of international sites, new business scouting and leadership of corporate initiatives.
Mrs. Amir holds an MBA from the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa and M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Yehudit Amor, Ph.D., VP Research and Development
Dr. Yehudit Amor is an experienced biochemist, with many years of expertise in the field of glycobiology and proteomics.
During her 13-year tenure at Procognia, Dr. Amor was actively involved in the development of the technological essence of the company that became the raison d'etre for the evolvement of the company from early stage startup to a sales-stage public company. Dr. Amor manages Procognia's Exper-Glyco-Services Center, as well as the company's R&D programs. Yehudit Amor completed her M.Sc and Ph.D. studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she specialized in chemistry and biochemistry of Saccharides. Dr. Amor also serves as a professional consultant in the field of glycobiology.
Uri Ben-Or, CPA, MBA - CFO
Mr. Ben-Or brings over a decade of broad experience in corporate finance, accounting, M&A transactions, IPO's and operations. He provides his services to Procognia through CFO Direct, a company which he founded and is the Chief Executive Officer. Prior to founding CFO Direct he served as the VP Finance of Glycominds, a leading biotechnology company, and as CFO of a spin-off from Telrad Networks, where he led all the corporate finance activities, fund raising and legal aspects of the company. He also served as a Corporate Controller at Menorah Capital Markets and as an Auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Mr. Ben-Or holds a BA degree in Business from the College of Administration, and a MBA degree from the Bar Ilan University. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
