Canis lupus familiaris
Dogs
Our canine work looks at mobility, post-operative recovery, inflammation, wound healing and gastrointestinal protection, where owners and veterinarians already track outcomes closely.
Vetria Peptide Sciences
Healing is a signal.
Our vision
Building North America’s leader in targeted peptide therapeutics for veterinary medicine
Our mission
Develop promising peptide candidates around defined veterinary needs, with evidence for each species and intended use.
Animal health focus
Peptide science for animal health.
Vetria Peptide Sciences evaluates peptide-based therapeutic opportunities for dogs, cats and performance horses.
Peptides are short chains of amino acids. They are studied widely for the roles they play in biological signalling, including repair, inflammation and tissue maintenance.
Vetria evaluates where that science fits veterinary practice. We work one species and one defined need at a time. All work is at an early evaluation stage.
Felis catus
Cats
Feline evaluation centers on chronic inflammatory and gastrointestinal needs, and takes the distinct metabolism, dosing and handling realities of cats as a starting condition rather than an afterthought.
Equus caballus
Performance horses
Equine evaluation concentrates on tendon, ligament and soft tissue injury, plus wound care, within the training, competition and welfare realities of working horses.
Proposed areas of focus
Seven needs, grouped into three areas.
Each area pairs a defined veterinary need with the species it applies to. Selection is driven by whether the need is measurable in practice and whether peptide signalling is a sensible place to look.
Showing 7 of 7 areas
01
Mobility and recovery
Orthopedic and soft tissue needs where recovery time and function are already measured in practice.
- Dogs
Post-operative orthopedic recovery
- Performance horses
Tendon and ligament injury
- Performance horses
Soft tissue repair
- Dogs
Inflammation associated with osteoarthritis
02
Inflammation and gastrointestinal health
Chronic conditions where current management is long running and tolerability matters as much as effect.
- Cats
Chronic inflammatory disease
- Cats and dogs
Gastrointestinal mucosal protection
03
Skin and wound care
Surface repair needs common to companion and working animals.
- Dogs and performance horses
Topical wound healing
Areas under evaluation. Program selection and development plans remain subject to scientific review.
Development approach
How we decide what to pursue.
Peptide signalling is well studied in human and animal biology. Vetria is in an early evaluation stage, asking where that science can meet a defined veterinary need and what evidence would be required to proceed.
01
Define the use
Start with the species, a specific veterinary need and outcomes clinicians can measure in practice.
02
Assess the candidate
Review the available evidence, delivery, tolerability and manufacturing considerations for that intended use.
03
Plan development
Map the studies, regulatory path and specialist expertise needed before a program advances.
Leadership and advisors
150+ years of combined experience.
Eight people spanning drug development, veterinary medicine, regulatory affairs, elite sports medicine and public company finance. Company affiliations below describe individual experience, not endorsements or partnerships with Vetria.
Read full biographies
Edward Francis
Chief Executive Officer
20+ years across molecular biology, business development and executive leadership, with 50+ products and technologies brought to global markets.
Edward Francis is a life sciences executive and entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience spanning molecular biology research, business development, and executive leadership. He has helped bring more than 50 natural health products and technologies to global markets and played a leading role in growing Prince Edward Island's bioscience cluster from $100 million to $650 million in annual revenue, including securing $50 million in government funding for a flagship life sciences infrastructure initiative.
Edward holds an M.Sc. in Molecular Biology and a B.Sc. from the University of Prince Edward Island, certifications in Project Management Professional (PMP), Good x Practice (GxP), and MIT Venture Mentorship, and currently holds board and mentorship positions with Health Emergency Readiness Consortium of Canada, Lab2Market, Creative Destruction Lab, Propel ICT and the Emergence BioScience Accelerator.
Dr. Hunter Land, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
20+ years across 25 therapeutic indications, including contributions to Epidiolex and Sativex during his work at GW Pharma.
Dr. Hunter Land brings more than 20 years of R&D expertise across 25 therapeutic indications. He was GW Pharma's first full-time U.S. R&D employee, where he contributed to the development of Epidiolex and Sativex and co-authored treatment protocols for refractory epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and pain.
Dr. Land has presented at more than 50 scientific conferences, is a named inventor on nine patent applications, has authored over 20 publications, and serves as a guest lecturer at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy.
Dr. Mark Lindsay, DC, PhD
Chief Medical Officer
35 years supporting elite athletes, with experience as a biotechnology company co-founder and research fellow.
Dr. Mark Lindsay is one of the most sought-after chiropractors and soft tissue specialists among professional, world, and Olympic athletes, and by organizations including the NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB. He is a graduate of Palmer Chiropractic College and the University of Guelph, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. In 1996, Dr. Lindsay was named Outstanding Field Doctor by the Canadian Chiropractic Sports Fellowship for his intensive work with Olympic champion Donovan Bailey.
His career includes 35 years supporting elite athletes and teams. He co-founded Carnyx Therapeutics, Kelvin Therapeutics and Entourage Diagnostics, and is a Research Fellow at the Steadman Philippon Research Institute.
His background includes more than 2,500 hours of postgraduate coursework at the Carrick Institute and extensive fascia training with Dr. Guy Voyer. He authored Fascia: Clinical Applications for Health and Human Performance.
Sources: Carnyx biography
Christopher Cherry, CPA, CA
Chief Financial Officer
20+ years in accounting and audit, including public company Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary roles.
Christopher Cherry is a chartered professional accountant with more than 20 years of accounting and audit experience. He has held Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary roles at publicly traded companies.
Dr. Trina Hazzah, DVM, DACVIM
Chief Veterinarian Officer
Board-certified veterinary oncology specialist, peer-reviewed researcher and founder of Green Nile.
Dr. Trina Hazzah earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Tuskegee University in 2006 and completed a three-year residency in medical oncology. She is a board-certified veterinary oncology specialist and the founder of Green Nile. Over the past several years she has treated hundreds of veterinary cancer patients using integrative approaches, published peer-reviewed research and co-authored textbooks on the subject.
Dr. Patrick Gunning, PhD
Advisor, Medicinal Chemistry
Author of more than 140 publications and co-founder of Janpix, Dunad Therapeutics and Dalriada Drug Discovery.
Patrick T. Gunning is a Professor of Molecular Therapeutics at the University of Glasgow, a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Toronto, and previously held a Canada Research Chair in Medicinal Chemistry as founding and inaugural Director of the Centre for Medicinal Chemistry. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow and completed postdoctoral studies at Yale University.
Dr. Gunning has authored more than 140 research publications and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. His honors include the Boehringer Ingelheim Young Investigator Award, the RSC MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship, and recognition as one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40.
He has co-founded Janpix, Dunad Therapeutics, Dalriada Drug Discovery, HDAX Therapeutics and Carnyx Therapeutics. Janpix became part of Centessa Pharmaceuticals.
In March 2026, Lilly announced an agreement to acquire Centessa for approximately US$6.3 billion upfront, plus up to US$1.5 billion in milestone payments. The potential total is US$7.8 billion. Dunad's 2021 collaboration with Novartis carried a potential value of up to US$1.3 billion.
Sources: Dalriada biography · Lilly announcement
Jennifer L. King, PMP
Advisor, Regulatory Compliance
25+ years in the U.S. federal government, including 16+ years at the FDA and eight years at the NIH.
Jennifer King brings more than 25 years of federal government experience, including over 16 years at the FDA and 8 years at the NIH. During her FDA tenure she helped streamline veterinary drug approval processes and improve regulatory efficiency through stakeholder coordination and workload planning.
A certified Project Management Professional, she holds a Bachelor's in Management Studies and a Master's Certificate in Project Management, and is a graduate of the Excellence in Government Fellows Program.
Tim Lefever, MS
Advisor, Research and Development
20+ years in preclinical research, including nine years at RTI and product safety work at Canopy Growth.
Tim Lefever brings more than 20 years of experience leading preclinical in vivo research teams. He spent nine years at the Research Triangle Institute managing federally funded and industry-sponsored studies on structure-activity relationships, pharmacology, and pharmacokinetics, followed by three years developing product safety programs at Canopy Growth.
Tim has authored numerous scientific manuscripts and presented his research at conferences worldwide.
Commercial development
Complementary roles, built around veterinary use.
Vetria and Lupvindol bring distinct capabilities to the evaluation and development of peptide opportunities in animal health.
Select opportunities and build the scientific and development case around a defined veterinary use through clinical research.
Corporate development and veterinary partner, with complementary development expertise and animal health care approvals.
Potential structures
Licensing by species or indication
Co-development or joint ventures