Experience

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  Cynata Therapeutics

  • Melbourne, Australia

  • Vice President, Partner Engagement

    • Jun 2019 - Feb 2023
    • Melbourne, Australia

    Cynata Therapeutics is an ASX listed, Australian clinical-stage stem cell and regenerative medicine company focused on the development of its proprietary Cymerus™ MSCs therapies, addressing a range of serious, unmet medical needs. Cymerus overcomes the challenges of other production methods by using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and the precursor cell, mesenchymoangioblast (MCA) to achieve economic manufacture of cell therapy products.Key responsibilities are to source, initiate, manage and build relationships with alliance partners and effectively develop Cynata’s business globally.

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  Prota Therapeutics Pty Ltd

  • Level 14, 90 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000

  • Chief Executive Officer

    • Feb 2017 - Jan 2019
    • Level 14, 90 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000

    Prota Therapeutics Pty Ltd (ACN 614 991 356) is an Australian private start up company, formed to develop and commercialise novel probiotic oral immunotherapy allergy treatments developed by Prof Mimi Tang, at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne.The oral immunotherapy treatment is a world-first approach aimed at treating a range of food allergies. The lead product is for the treatment of life threatening peanut allergy, a leading cause of death from food allergies. Treatment involves a proprietary combination of a probiotic and peanut flour preparations containing increasing amounts of peanut proteins administered daily, for the 18 months current treatment duration. The probiotic may act as a bacterial adjuvant to modify the immune response to peanut allergens, switching off or reducing the severity of the potentially deadly immune reaction.It is hoped that this re-programming of the immune response to peanut allergens could lead to a long-lasting ability for peanut allergy sufferers to tolerate peanut as part of a regular diet.As the first appointment for the company, the founding CEO will drive the development and commercialization of Prota’s allergy products, by building a strong team through internal hires and leveraging skills from a network of experienced advisors and consultants.The near to mid-term focus is to accelerate the clinical trial program, develop scaled up cGMP product manufacturing processes and prepare for discussions with regulatory agencies.The long-term goal is to ultimately achieve global commercialisation, to make these potentially life-saving products available to allergy sufferers, while realizing a return on the capital investment.

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  Mesoblast

  • Vice President, Research Operations

    • Sep 2014 - Mar 2017

    This role was established to provide operational leadership, oversight and management across all research department programs, for Mesoblast’s innovative adult stem cell therapies including laboratory research, scale up manufacturing and pre-clinical programs. The key focus and responsibilities for this role are: • to lead, manage and collaborate with principal investigators, external collaborators and commercial vendor supply companies to develop and submit proposals to meet the development and manufacturing needs of the company.• to formulate strategies and develop processes to monitor and manage research alliance performance obligations and deliverable milestones, particularly for in-licensed technology.• to review and improve processes and procedures for initiating, reviewing and implementing new collaborations or research partnerships.• to provide critical operational input into research and pre-clinical study protocol design and logistics.• to develop budgets according to funding guidelines and manage annual operating and capital expenditure.

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  Mesoblast Limited

  • Vice President, Alliance Management

    • Jan 2013 - Aug 2014

    The objective for this role is to optimize management of new and existing alliances with key licensing partners and research collaborators for the development and commercialization of the Mesoblast’s pipeline of products. The major focus is to manage strategic alliances, to ensure effective working relationships with collaborators; monitor performance to ensure strategic objectives are met; provide compliance oversight of contractual obligations and assist with identifying and resolving issues to optimize outcomes for all parties. Drive the start up phase of new collaborations by scoping the projects, preparing milestones and budgets, develop management and reporting structures and negotiate contracts.

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  Mesoblast

  • Vice President, Operations

    • Mar 2008 - Dec 2012

    Mesoblast Limited, an Australian public company, (ASX:MSB; ADR:MBLTY) is a world leader in commercialising biologic products for the broad field of regenerative medicine, with early focus on adult stem cell products for orthopaedic, cardiovascular and immunological applications. Reporting to the Executive Director and to the Board, key responsibilities are to provide operational, legal, and project management leadership or support for the cinical, regulatory, business development and manufacturing fuctional units.Major achievements to date include negotiating and settling numerous discovery and preclinical projects and faciliting ongoing collaborations; successful IND's applications and clinical trial implementation for studies in the USA and AUS; negotiations of all contracts with suppliers, service providers, investigators and consultants.

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  Norwood Immunology Limited

  • Chief Operating Officer

    • 2004 - 2008

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  Genera Biosystems

  • Chief Executive Officer

    • 2002 - 2003

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  CSL Limited

  • Business Manager, (Sales & Marketing)

    • 1997 - 2000

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  Rhone-Poulenc Rorer

  • Regulatory Affairs Manager

    • 1989 - 1996

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  ICI Pharmaceuticals

  • Regulatory Affairs Associate

    • 1988 - 1989