To be realistic is to be visionary. And to be visionary means to think ahead of time and work for the future. And Dr. Avtar Dhillon, President and CEO of Inovio Biomedical Corporation belongs to that breed of men, who have made all his moves keeping future in sight. Dhillon, who loves to take up challenges, has re-written the history of the companies he has worked for. Not only this, he has transformed many of them into profitable ventures. In fact, when Dhillon joined Genetronics as president and CEO in 2001, it was a small $6.5 million company with only two weeks of cash left for its operations. But by dint of his hard work and strategic moves, Dhillon transformed it into a company with a market cap of $100 million.

It was rechristened as Inovio Biomedical Corporation. A man who earned his B.Sc honours in physiology and MD degree from the University of British Columbia, Dhillon had showed his entrepreneurial skills by opening and running a successful hair salon while he was still a medical student. In fact, that was the beginning of a successful and enterprising entrepreneur. In July 1989, Dhillon started a medical clinic and subsequently practiced family medicine for over 12 years. In between, from March 1997 to July 1998, he acted as Consultant to Cardiome Pharma Corp., a biotechnology company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

He was also Consultant to IGT Pharmaceuticals from May 1997 to November 1997, to Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals from March 1996 to March 1997, and a biotechnology investment analyst to various institutions from 1996 to 1998. In 1999, MDS Capital Corp., to which Dr. Dhillon was a consultant since the previous year, made him its Investment Manager. A year later, he became the Vice-President of the company.

It was in 2001 that a newly wed Dhillon joined Genetronics, a biomedical company known for its electroporaton therapy, as its president and CEO when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was a job that consumed his every waking moment. The former venture capitalist and medical doctor was forced to adjust to a life with far less freedom than that of a VC. "I had to make a choice between Genetronics and my marriage," he recounted later. He got into the act.

He secured bridge financings, restructured the company to work more efficiently and began designing a trial that would accelerate the marketing of the companies' electroporation therapy system used in treating cancer. The organization reemerged with fresh ambition, a new image, and a new name-Inovio Biomedical. The name change, effective from 2005, was meant partly to symbolize the rebirth of the company. Inovio is the name of a Norwegian startup the company acquired in January, 2005.

Now Dhillon has set his goal to gain gold standard status for eradicating tumors for his company. No wonder, as a result of his efforts the US Food and Drug Administration fast-tracked the device for late-stage head and neck cancer. He now wants to bring his medical device to both US and European markets. The idea is to replace the scalpel with this tool. And as long as Dhillon is at the helm of affairs in Biomedical Corporation he is sure to reach there sooner or later.