Board of Directors
Peter Hammond - Chairman
Peter Hammond is a co-founder and principal of Exto Partners Pty Ltd, a boutique venture capital and corporate finance firm based in Sydney. With over 13 years’ experience in financial management, venture capital and corporate finance, Peter has advised biotechnology, financial services, manufacturing, consumer services and technology companies in Australia and USA. Peter has assisted companies through a wide range of growth paths and transitions, including early stage financing, the bringing of new products to global markets to large-scale mergers. As a Principal of Exto Partners, Peter assists clients with capital raising, strategic business planning and development, financial and operational management, and corporate governance. Peter an experienced company director. He sits on the Board of Directors for a number of Exto Partners' portfolio companies and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has a BBus. from the University of Technology Sydney.
Dr Barry Marshall – Executive Director
Dr Marshall is a world authority on Helicobacter pylori. He is the co-discoverer of the H. pylori organism, co-recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology as well as numerous other prestigious awards (including the 1995 Lasker Award and election as Fellow of the Royal Society in 1999 and US National Academy of Sciences in 2008) and he is one of the most esteemed and pre-eminent biomedical scientists in the world today. His discovery has revolutionised the management of peptic ulcer disease and resulted in the cure for peptic ulcers. Related research into a diagnostic leading to patentable technology resulted in the formation of TriMed Distributors Pty Ltd, a successful private company. Prof. Marshall is the Chief Executive Officer of Ondek. He is also a Clinical Professor at the University of Western Australia and is also a practising specialist gastroenterologist.
Lars Molinder – Non Executive Director
Lars Molinder is currently the Group Head of the Healthcare Sector at Carnegie Investment Bank in Sweden. He has over 15 years of financial sector experience working solely with companies in the healthcare sector. Lars has been the Head of Medicine and Biotechnology at the Swedish Industrial Development Fund and made over 40 investments in early stage companies ranging from medical technology and diagnostics to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Prior to joining Carnegie Investment Bank, Lars was the Nordic Head of Healthcare Sector and European co-Head of Healthcare Banking at Alfred Berg and ABN AMRO. He is on the Board of Directors of Bioinvent and Karo Bio, both listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Selected recent deals include: defence adviser to Gambro (PTP) and Biacore (PTP), and sole lead manager for the initial public offering of Clavis Pharma, Orexo and Biovitrum. Lars has a M.Sc. in Engineering.
Dr. Ismail Kola – Non Executive Director
Dr. Kola is a highly accomplished scientist with a track record of success in academia and the large pharmaceutical field. He is currently Executive Vice President, UCB & President, New Medicines™, UCB's discovery research through to "proof of concept" organisation. In this position, Dr. Kola leads UCB’s internal and external discovery of new medicines to treat patients with severe diseases. He joined UCB from Schering Plough Corporation where he was Senior Vice President, Discovery Research and Early Clinical Research & Experimental Medicine, Schering-Plough Research Institute, the pharmaceutical research arm of Schering-Plough Corporation, and Chief Scientific Officer, Schering Plough Corporation. He was also responsible for Early Clinical Research and Experimental Medicine. Ismail came to Schering-Plough from Merck, where he was Senior Vice President and Site Head, Basic Research, and responsible for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, infectious diseases, immunology and rheumatology, animal pharmacology and basic and medicinal chemistry. He also chaired Merck's Antibacterial and Antifungal Worldwide Business Strategy Team. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Research, and Global Head, Genomics Science and Biotechnology, with Pharmacia Corporation, and served as a consultant to SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, where he was also a member of the Genomics Advisory Board. He holds Adjunct Professorships of Medicine at Washington University, St Louis, Missouri, USA, and Monash University Medical School, Melbourne, Australia; a Foreign Adjunct Professorship at The Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; and is a William Pitt Fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge University, UK. Dr. Kola holds a Ph.D. in Medicine from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
William Jeffrey Veling – Non Executive Director
Dr Jeff Veling is an actively practising medical practitioner in family medicine. He is also involved with medical student teaching. He has a hospital accreditation and up until recently also practised obstetrics. Dr Veling trained in Western Australia.