Board of Directors

Gamma Vaccines’ Board of Directors combines extensive business and commercialisation experience with scientific and technical knowledge in the field.

 

Tim Hirst
Professor Tim Hirst

(Executive Chairman)

Professor Tim Hirst is an entrepreneurial academic with wide-ranging experience in establishing new venture-backed companies. Prior to forming Gamma Vaccines in July 2009 he was the CEO of ANU Connect Ventures - a $30M pre-seed investment fund established by the Australian National University and MTAA Super. Tim was a Non-Executive Director of all of the companies established and funded by ANU Connect Ventures, including Cryptopharma Pty Ltd, Dosimetry & Imaging Pty Ltd, Savine Therapeutics Pty Ltd and Warm Contact Pty Ltd as well as both Director and Chairman of Mylexa Pty Ltd and Synergetic Services Pty Ltd. Prior to joining ANU Connect Ventures, Tim acted as an advisor in the establishment of respiratory- vaccine developer Hunter Immunology Ltd, and became a non-executive director of the company in 2004 and Executive Chairman from 2006 to 2007.

Before migrating to Australia Tim was also a Director of Hunter-Fleming Ltd from 2001 - 2004, a UK drug discovery company developing immunotherapeutic products based on Tim’s research at the University of Bristol. Hunter-Fleming was acquired in 2008 by the Italian-based company Newron (SIX:NWRN). Prior to the Newron transaction Tim’s proprietary immunotherapeutic technology was spun-out of Hunter-Fleming into a special purpose vehicle, Trident Pharmaceuticals Inc., based in Boston, MA. Trident has received US$20m of investment from Advent Venture Partners.

Tim has also held Senior Executive positions in universities in the United Kingdom and Australia. From 2003 to 2006 he was Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at the University of Sydney, with overall responsibility for research and innovation strategy. Prior to migrating to Australia in 2003 he was the Professor of Microbiology at the University of Bristol for 7 years and Lecturer/Snr Lecturer/Reader in Molecular Microbiology at University of Kent at Canterbury.

In addition to his current role in Gamma Vaccines, Tim is a Visiting Fellow in the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University and an Honorary Professor in the School of Life Sciences and Technology at the Institute of Technology, Bandung.


Mohammed Alsharifi
Dr Mohammed Alsharifi

(Chief Scientific Officer)

Dr Mohammed Alsharifi is a Research Fellow in the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science at the University of Adelaide where he leads the Viral Immunology Laboratory with a research focus on virus recognition by host cells and the initiation of the immune response during acute viral infections.

Mohammed has extensive medical research experience and training including degrees in Veterinary Medicine from Baghdad University (Iraq), Biomedical Science with first class Honours from Monash University, and a Ph.D in Viral Immunology from the Australian National University.

His PhD studies with Professor Arno Müllbacher at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (ANU) led to important findings including the underlying mechanisms of enhanced susceptibility to secondary viral and/or bacterial infection following primary viral infection. His post-doctoral research with Professor Müllbacher resulted in the discovery of the potential of intranasal gamma-irradiated influenza viruses as effective universal flu vaccines.

In 2008, Mohammed was awarded the Hanson Fellowship and moved to the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science (South Australia) and then the University of Adelaide to continue his research into the influenza virus vaccines.

Arno MullbacherProfessor Arno Müllbacher

(Non-Executive Director)

Professor Arno Müllbacher leads the Viral Immunology Group in the Department of Emerging Pathogens and Vaccines at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) in the Australian National University. His main research interest is in the role cytolytic lymphocytes play in the recovery from viral infection, the mechanisms involved in this process and memory of cytolytic T cell responses.

After studying in New Zealand Arno completed a PhD in the Department of Microbiology in the JCSMR, working on cell-mediated immunity. As a post-doctoral researcher in the Clinical Research Centre in Harrow he worked on problems related to the so-called 'Immune Response gene defects'. In 1981 he returned to the JCSMR at ANU as a Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and was promoted to Senior Fellow in 1989 and then Professor in 2002.

Arno is a named inventor on the patents underlying Gamma Vaccines’ intellectual property.

 

To Be Inserted
Dr Jean Petre

(Non-Executive Director)

Dr Jean Petre has specialized in vaccine development for over 30 years working with leading pharmaceutical/vaccine companies. Jean worked for Solvay & Cie before becoming Head of Human Vaccine Development for SmithKline Biologicals (now GSK) located in Rixensart, Belgium in 1985. He then joined Biocine in 1994 (now part of Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics) where he developed new presentations of combined vaccines, including glycoconjugates, to suit collaborative projects with developing country vaccine manufacturers. During a distinguished career he has made significant contributions to the development of recombinant hepatitis B, acellular pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type B, and several multivalent pediatric combination vaccines. In 2001 he founded Bio-Net Asia Co Ltd, which provides services on vaccine production and development projects, particularly in developing countries

He holds a Bachelor degree in Chemical Science and a Doctorate in Molecular Biology (PhD) both from Brussels University (Belgium). He also undertook post-doctoral research at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel and at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (USA).

 

Eng Liang Tan
Eng Liang Tan

(Non-Executive Director)

Eng Liang Tan is President Commissionaire of the SOHO Group – one of Indonesia’s fastest growing pharmaceutical companies. The SOHO Group specialises both in the manufacture and distribution of API prescription medicines and herbal and healthcare products throughout Indonesia and in nine other countries.  Since taking over as President Commissionaire in 1997, Eng has grown SOHO’s turnover more than 20-fold to US$400 million per annum. The SOHO Group has implemented the Balanced Scorecard – a management tool widely used by Fortune-500 companies - and in 2007 SOHO became one of only 140 companies worldwide to be inducted into the Balance Scorecard’s Hall of Fame.

Recently, Eng has set up a new Sydney-based international herbal medicines business, SFI

Eng holds a German degree as Diplom Physiker (equivalent to MSc) in Physics (specialising in Nuclear Physics) from the University of Bochun, Germany that included research on the gamma emission spectra of radioactive compounds. Eng also has a postgraduate masters degree in Management from the University of Bradford, England. He has also trained at the ICI Pharmaceuticals Division, HQ UK in 1974, Beecham Ltd in Singapore in 1978 and Warner Lambert Inc USA in 1984.

 

Eng Liang Tan
Dr Ken Tempero, BSc, PhD, MD, MBA

(Non-Executive Director)

Dr Ken Tempero has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for almost 40 years in roles ranging from the design and conduct of Phase I (first time in man) trials at Merck and Co., Inc. to overseeing Merck’s international Phase II – IV clinical programs and then world-wide clinical operations at G. D. Searle and Co., Inc. Additionally, he has served as Chairman and CEO of MGI PHARMA and led that company through a period of extensive restructuring, identification of promising intellectual property, establishment of international partnerships, the generation and codification of data leading to the approval of its first New Drug Application (NDA) by the US FDA and the creation of MGI PHARMA’S proprietary sales force.

Ken has published and lectured extensively and had teaching responsibilities at the University of Nebraska, Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota and Rockefeller University.

He holds a Doctorate in Pharmacology (PhD) and in Medicine (MD) from Northwestern University (USA), with a specialization in internal medicine. In addition, he has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Fairleigh Dickenson University (USA) with a focus on pharmaceutical marketing.

 

External Scientific Advisory Board Members

Dr Marzuki Abdullah

Mr Justin B Davies, Leader, Radiation Technology, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Sydney, Australia.

Dr Darodjatun Sanusi, President-Emeritus, PT Bio Farma, Bandung, Indonesia.

Professor Dr Markus M Simon, Metschnikoff Laboratory, Max-Planck Institut für Immunologie, Freiburg, Germany.

External Contractors

Accountant
Lawler Partners, Sydney
RSMI Bird Cameron, Canberra

Auditor
Ernst & Young, Canberra

Consultants
Australian Biologics Pty Ltd, Melbourne
BSI Management Pty Ltd, Sydney
Cole & Associates, Chicago
GreenDot Consulting, Sydney
Hay Group, Sydney
Viria Pty Ltd, Canberra

Legal Services
Dibbs Barker, Sydney
Innovation Law, Brisbane
Spruson & Ferguson, Sydney

Patent Attorney
Spruson & Ferguson, Sydney

R&D
The Australian National University, Canberra
The University of Adelaide, Adelaide
PT Rel-ion, Jakarta
Retroscreen Virology, London