Board & Management

Peter Francis LLB Grad Dip (Intellectual Property) Non-executive Chairman

Appointed 23 February 2006.

Mr Peter Francis is a partner at Francis Abourizk Lightowlers (FAL), a firm of commercial and technology lawyers with offices in Melbourne, Australia. He is a legal specialist in the areas of intellectual property and licensing and provides legal advice to a large number of corporations and research bodies.

Mel Bridges BAppSc FAICD Non-executive Director

Appointed 12 October 2007 as non-executive Director, becoming an Executive Director on 6 April 2010.

Mr Mel Bridges has more than 30 years experience in the global biotechnology and healthcare industry. During this period, he founded and managed successful diagnostics, biotechnology and medical device businesses. Mel is currently Chairman of a number of listed and unlisted companies. He is Chairman of Alchemia Limited, Impedimed Limited and Leaf Energy Limited. He also co-founded the listed company Panbio Ltd. Mel has extensive experience as a public company director. Mel is also a Non-Executive Director of Campbell Brothers Limited and Tissue Therapies Limited.

The businesses that Mel has founded have won numerous awards including the Queensland Export Award, Australian Small Business of the Year, Queensland Top 400, BRW's Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies for seven consecutive years and The Australian Quality Award. Mel has won numerous awards for his achievements including the Ernst and Young 2002 Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2004 he was anointed the Queensland Entrepreneur of the Year, and in 2005 industry group AusBiotech awarded him the Chairman’s Industry Gold Medal for contributions to the Australian biotech industry.

John Chiplin Ph.D Non-executive director

Appointed 1 February 2010 as non-executive Director, becoming an Executive Director on 6 April 2010.

Dr John Chiplin has broad-based experience in the life science and technology industries, both from an operational and investment perspective.  His most recent accomplishment was the corporate reengineering of Arana Therapeutics, a world leading Antibody developer, which resulted in the acquisition of the company by Cephalon for a significant premium to market (July 2009).  Immediately prior to running Arana, Dr. Chiplin was head of the $300M ITI Life Sciences investment fund in the UK. 

His own investment vehicle, Newstar Ventures Ltd, has funded more than a dozen early stage companies in the past ten years.  Dr. Chiplin’s Pharmacy and Doctoral degrees are from the University of Nottingham, UK. In addition to Benitec, John currently serves on the Boards of Calzada Limited, Healthlinx Ltd and ScienceMedia, Inc.

Iain Ross BSc ChD Non-executive director

Appointed 1 June 2010 as non-executive Director.

Mr Iain Ross is an experienced business entrepreneur with 30 years experience in the international life sciences sector. Following a career with Sandoz, Fisons, Hoffman La Roche, and Celltech he has undertaken and input to a number of company turnarounds and start‐ups as a board member on behalf of banks and private equity groups. He has led and participated in 4 IPOs, has direct experience of life science mergers and acquisitions both in the UK and USA and has raised  more than £200m in the biotech sector. 

He is a Qualified Chartered Director and has a wealth of experience in the life sciences sector and specifically in the field of RNAi and was Chairman of Silence Therapeutics plc from 2004-2010. Currently he is Executive Chairman of Ark Therapeutics Group plc and Chairman of Pharminox Limited and Biomer Technology Limited.

Peter French , Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Peter French, Ph.D, is a cell and molecular biologist who has been extensively involved in both basic and clinical medical research and commercialisation of biological intellectual property. His research areas of expertise include cell biology, immunology, infectious disease (including HIV/AIDS), neurobiology and oncology. He obtained his PhD in 1987 for elucidating the molecular composition of keratin proteins in the developing wool follicle performed at CSIRO and carried out postdoctoral research on neuronal development at the Children's Medical Research Foundation, Sydney. He was Principal Scientific Officer and Manager of the Centre for Immunology, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney for 15 years, from 1987 - 2002. He also has an MBA in Technology Management.

Over the past 10 years, Peter has been extensively involved in leadership roles in Australia's biotechnology industry, including founding the stem cell storage company Cryosite Ltd, a listed public company, and in 2004 launched six new probiotic-based products in pharmacies Australia-wide with Probiomics. Peter is a Past President of the Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology and represented Australia's biological scientists on the Board of FASTS, Australia's peak government lobbying organisation for science and technology. He is currently on the Board of the International Society of Differentiation. He joined Benitec Ltd as CSO in August 2009 and was appointed CEO in June 2010.

Greg West, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Company Secretary

Greg West is a Chartered Accountant and over recent years has worked on ASX listing start-ups. He is a Director and audit committee Chairman of ITC Limited (a business arm of Wollongong University), IDP Education Pty Ltd, Education Australia Limited, and Sydney International Film School Pty Limited. Greg completed his studies with Price Waterhouse and worked in senior finance executive roles in investment banking with Bankers Trust, Bain & Company (now Deutsche Bank), NZI, and was CFO at the largest Australian credit union.

Greg was formally appointed to the position of Company Secretary in May 2011 and CFO in August 2011.