Canadian Leadership Team

Amy Cairns was appointed General Manager of Bausch Health, Canada in August 2024. With more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Amy has held several senior leadership roles spanning Marketing, Sales, Commercial Operations and Digital Transformation. Her career includes extensive experience in biopharmaceuticals and medical devices, covering multiple therapeutic areas, including primary care, mental health, oncology and women’s health. Prior to joining Bausch Health, she contributed significantly to the success of the Canadian operations of Organon, Merck and Lundbeck.

A bilingual native of Montreal, Amy is known for her people-centric leadership, patient-focused approach and commitment to creating inclusive, ethical and innovative environments. At Organon, she played a pivotal role in establishing the Women’s Health & Established Brands Business Unit following the company’s spin-off from Merck. During this time, Amy fostered a culture of collaboration, accountability and growth, while leading initiatives to advance women in the workplace and supporting their career progression and empowerment.

In addition to her professional achievements, Amy is a member of Women Leaders in Pharma and the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA), key associations dedicated to championing women’s leadership and advancement in the healthcare industry.

In her role at Bausch Health, Canada, Amy brings a strong focus on long-term strategic growth and business development, driven by her passion for building high-performing teams and enhancing patient outcomes. She holds an EMBA from McGill-HEC and a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University.

Ginette Gagné joined Bausch Health, Canada as the Vice President of Finance in 2013. This role includes management of Canadian and International affairs based in Canada, as well as responsibility for the Information Systems and Customer Service Canada. Bausch Health, Canada is composed of over 1,000 employees – the company has established a strong presence with its prescription health products as well as over the counter (OTC) products.

Ginette was born in Montreal but grew up in Sayabec, a village in the Matapedia Valley of Quebec. She moved back to Montreal to finish her studies and take on a career in finance, which quickly led to her living abroad for over 18 years as part of international mandates. Ginette has been responsible for the finance and information systems role on an international level, including merger and acquisition activities, primarily in the USA, Asia, Latin America, Europe and Middle East/Africa.

Since beginning her career in the technology industry, Ginette has spent most of the last 20 years working in the health, medical device, and more recently, the pharmaceutical industry. Ginette is proud to have successfully managed “many restructuring activities, integrations, decentralizations of major corporations and installations of systems, mainly at an international level”. She also held a position on the board of directors of a health services and medical imaging start-up in Montreal.

Ginette Gagné holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Accounting, a graduate diploma in Accounting, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Quebec in Montreal.

Maxime Barakat is Vice President of both Medical & Clinical Affairs and Global Medical Devices & Clinical Evaluation Group, roles he took on in 2018. Prior to that, Maxime acted as Vice President of Medical & Regulatory Affairs (2013-2017).

Before joining Bausch Health, Maxime was with Bristol Myers Squibb, as Medical Director (2008 – 2013) and Manager & Associate Director of Stakeholders Relations & Market Access at (2005–2008).

Maxime describes himself as “polyvalent, highly adaptable, armed with a keen sense of strategic thinking, and action oriented”. His current and past endeavours have allowed him to collaborate and negotiate with both internal and external customers from diverse cultures. His academic background, along with his professional experiences and accomplishments, drive Maxime’s diverse and deep knowledge of pharmaceutical products and Medical Devices, as he facilitates their advancement from their clinical development to their commercialization.

Maxime is a Doctor of Medicine, and holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree and an Executive Master of Business Administration degree.

Maxime says he is “proud to have a role in bringing high quality products that help improve patients’ lives to the public”.

Sylvie Lafrance brings more than 20 years of commercial legal experience to her role as Director, Legal and Compliance, for Bausch Health, Canada.

In this role she is responsible not just for ensuring that proper procedures and processes are in place and followed for all aspects of the business but also that the company fulfills its responsibilities to ensure the integrity of its communications and interactions with every stakeholder in the Canadian healthcare system related to the company’s medications.

Sylvie has been at Bausch Health, Canada for several years, bringing to the company a previous 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry as well as several years as legal counsel for other important Quebec-based companies.

Sylvie has been at Bausch Health, Canada for several years, bringing to the company a previous 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry as well as several years as legal counsel for other important Quebec-based companies.

She has a law degree from Université Laval in Quebec City and started her law career at the firm ROBIC in intellectual property.

Marie-Élaine Thériault is a passionate and energetic human resources leader with more than 20 years of experience. She has been with Bausch Health human resources for the past 10 years in roles of increasing responsibility and has an earlier decade of experience in other health and pharmaceutical industry human resources.

In her work at Bausch Health, Canada, Marie-Elaine is focused on continuing to build an employee-oriented, high-performance culture with an emphasis on empowerment. With her high level of accountability and collaborative leadership, she works with the full management team to develop key corporate elements, such as organizational design, talent acquisition & management and the ongoing development of a talented workforce.

Marie-Élaine holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial relations from Université de Montréal, is a member of the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CHRP) in Quebec.

Daniel Ndong leads the Canadian manufacturing operations at Bausch Health, overseeing the Laval, Quebec, and Steinbach, Manitoba, facilities which make vital patient treatments for Canada and to export to other countries.

With over 17 years of senior leadership experience in the pharmaceutical and bio-pharma industry, he has successfully managed single plants as well as multi-sites. His extensive involvement in sterile and non-sterile manufacturing as well as significant knowledge in implementing effective and environmentally responsible manufacturing have resulted in several industry site excellence awards, and in ensuring predictable supply for patients.

Achieving results is in Daniel’s DNA, which is evident in his leadership and facilitation style. When working with talented and dedicated Bausch Health teams, Daniel inspires a shared results-oriented and accountability-based culture that optimizes manufacturing outcomes.

Daniel holds a BSc in biology from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) as well as a MS (Law Licence) from the Université Cheik Anta Diop de Dakar in Senegal.

Martin Barbeau joined Bausch Health in 2017, in his current role of Vice President of Market Access & Government Affairs. Prior to that, Martin was employed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals for 15 years.

His most recent position for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Latin America and Canada (LACAN) involved acting as Head of Health Economics and Outcomes Research (2015 – 2017). He took on this role after acting as Director of Health Economics and Patient Access (2007 – 2014), and as Manager, Health Economics (2000 – 2006).

While at Novartis, Martin was honoured for several of his professional contributions: He received the President’s Award and recognition as the Access ‘guru’. He is also proud to have “developed a strong professional reputation in Canada among peers and vendors, and to have achieved Senior Leadership level with a ‘non-traditional’ profile (yellow and green) for an executive”.

Martin observes that “given the specificity of my role with Bausch Health, all of these previous jobs have contributed to my ability to succeed in my current role”.

Martin attended Université Laval in Quebec City, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and a Master of Science degree in pharmacoepidemiology.

Martin says he is proud to be part of Bausch Health because of the company’s admirable culture, where team spirit and common goals pass before personal goals; its success in re-branding the company from Valeant to BHC; and the focus and cultural change of the Market Access team.