Saskatoon businessman Brent Zettl is the leading pioneer of the Canadian medical cannabis industry and has led many of Canada’s significant advancements in cannabis clinical research and patient access to medical cannabis.
In 1988, Mr. Zettl founded and led bioscience company Prairie Plant Systems Inc. and its subsidiary CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. (CanniMed), which became first recipients of licenses to produce medical cannabis in Canada. Under his leadership, the company then became the sole provider of legal medicinal cannabis products to Health Canada from 2000 to 2014. In 2016, Mr. Zettl led the initial public stock offering of CanniMed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, becoming the first public traded medicinal cannabis company in Canada. In 2018, CanniMed was acquired by Aurora Cannabis Inc. for ~$1.2 billion.
Mr. Zettl’s journey continued when he founded ZYUS Life Sciences Inc. (ZYUS) in January 2019. ZYUS, a Canadian-based life sciences company focuses on the global development and commercialization of phyto-therapeutics, including cannabinoid and protein-based formulations. ZYUS is focused exclusively on patients by delivering high-quality, consistent and GMP-compliant therapeutic formulations to the global medical market. With decades of experience, ZYUS has set a vision to elevate cannabinoids as a standard of care and re-imagine the potential of medicine in pursuit of transformational impact on patients’ lives.
Giving back to his community is a significant priority for Mr. Zettl. He is Director of the Canadian Environmental Technology Advancement Corporation, Chair of Harvest Community Inc., a non-profit assisting people with intellectual disabilities, and past Chair of Ag-West Bio Inc., an organization supporting growth in the agricultural biotechnology industry. In 2014, he was awarded the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Prairies Business-to-Consumer category, and most recently in May 2019 he was the recipient of the Startup Canada Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Prairie Region.
Mr. Zettl earned a Bachelor of Science and Agriculture with distinction from the University of Saskatchewan.
