Our Team

Spinifex has a highly experienced Board and senior management team made up of individuals who have held senior positions in international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and financial institutions. Spinifex has also brought together a multidisciplinary team of pharmaceutical consultants to complement its own internal expertise and to assist in the development programs thereby maintaining operational flexibility and diversity. By complementing its own internal expertise Spinifex believes this approach will ensure that the company consistently meets commercial and regulatory deadlines and all products are developed to the highest possible industry and regulatory standards.

The key personnel are listed below:

Tom McCarthy, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer &, Managing Director
Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd

Dr. Tom McCarthy is Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Spinifex. He has over 13 years experience in drug discovery and development and has been responsible for a variety of drug development programs under Investigation New Drug applications (IND) with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. McCarthy prior positions include Vice President, Drug Development at Starpharma Pty Ltd where he was responsible for Starpharma’s projects from lead candidate optimization/selection through to IND submission and clinical trials. In this role he managed the development for SPL7013 Gel (VivaGel™) and was responsible for securing in excess of US$25M of United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for Starpharma’s drug development programs. Dr. McCarthy completed Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree and a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry at Monash University in 1989 and 1993 respectively and has completed post-doctoral training at the University of Oxford.

Matthew Murphy
Company Secretary, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd

Matthew is a Partner at MPR Group and is Company Secretary for Spinifex. In addition his team at MPR provide broad based accounting and taxation services to Spinifex. Matthew is a Certified Practicing Accountant with over 15 years experience in Business, Accounting and Taxation Advisory services. He has gained his extensive experience by working with many facets of business, including Corporate, Government and the Public Practice arena.  Matt's focus is to provide quality business, accounting and taxation services to small to medium size enterprises.  Commensurate with MPR's philosophy, Matt provides holistic advice to business owners, which is based on sound technical knowledge and practical experience.  As a business owner he understands the real needs of his clients, and focuses on the professional services gap that exists in the market place between accountants and clients.  Matt has the skills, experience and ability to consult and advise on an extensive range of business matters, from complex taxation corporate structuring to strategic business planning.

Dr Andrew Baker
Director, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd

Dr Andrew Baker is Associate Director at GBS Venture Partners Ltd (GBS). Andrew joined GBS in 2002 and has over 18 years experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, including 14 years working with industry leaders Genentech, Bayer and Johnson & Johnson. While working in the United States, Dr Baker had key responsibilities that included directing pharmaceutical and biotechnology research, and identifying and evaluating technology opportunities. Prior to joining GBS he was Deputy Director of Johnson & Johnson Research in Sydney. Dr Baker is directly responsible for the $30m GBS Genesis Fund and a keyman on the recently closed $150m Bioventures III fund. Dr Baker earned a Bachelor of Science (Genetics) degree with honours from the University of Sydney and a Doctorate of Philosophy from the Australian National University in Canberra.

Dr Joshua Funder
Director, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd

Dr Joshua Funder is a senior member of the managment team at GBS Venture Partners Ltd (GBS). Josh joined GBS in 2004 with experience in biotechnology management, business strategy and the international pharmaceutical industry. Before joining GBS he worked in corporate strategy and development at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, a drug discovery start-up in Boston. Joshua also worked as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in San Francisco, focusing primarily on corporate strategy in the high-tech and bio-pharmaceutical sectors. In addition he worked with the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative to successfully negotiate reduced prices for anti-retrovirals and initiate pharmaceutical supplies across eastern and southern Africa. Joshua served as interim CEO of Proacta Inc following GBS investment and is on the board of directors of GBS portfolio companies OPAL Inc and Pacific Therapeutics.

Joshua earned his Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degrees at Melbourne University and his Master of Laws degree at the London School of Economics. He holds a D.Phil in intellectual property for biotechnology from Oxford University where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

Dr Chris Nave
Director, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd

Chris is a founding partner of Brandon Capital Partners. Chris was previously Director of Commercialisation at the Baker Heart Research Institute, Melbourne where he was responsible for the commercialisation of technologies developed at the Baker and the Alfred Hospital, including the management of local and US spinout companies. Chris was responsible for the conception of the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund.

Prior to this Chris was the Manager of the Biotechnology Team at Melbourne Ventures, the commercialisation company of the University of Melbourne. Concurrently during this period, he was an investment manager for, and on the investment committee of Uniseed Pty Ltd, a $62million pre-seed fund. Chris has international experience with Leiras Pharmaceuticals in Finland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Schering AG, working for their Business Development group and has successfully moved companies to the US, securing investment from US investors for these companies.

He is a director of Nucleus Network Pty Ltd and is an observer on the board of Osprey Medical Inc. Past directorships include Hatchtech Pty Ltd, Radical Biotechnology Pty Ltd, Pargenex Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd, Velacor Pty Ltd, V-Kardia Pty Ltd, V-Kardia Inc and Opal Therapeutics Inc. Chris has a first class honours degree in science and a PhD in endocrinology and physiology from the University of Melbourne and is completing a Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Melbourne. Chris is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is a member of Ausbiotech, BioMelbourne Network and the US Association of University Technology Managers.

Dr John Kurek
Director, Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd

John joined Uniseed as an Investment Manager in Melbourne.  He is responsible for working closely with Melbourne Ventures Limited, the University of Melbourne's commercialisation group, in identifying new investment opportunities, and also covers Uniseed's overall biotechnology opportunities.

John has a strong background in several therapeutic disciplines including pain, stroke, peripheral neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease and hepatitis B.  He was the Pharmaceutical Development Manager at BioDiem Ltd and Preclinical Development Manager at AmRad before joining Uniseed.

He brings with him extensive experience in managing drug development and preclinical projects, as well as strategic designing and implementation of various drug development activities.  John holds a Science degree (Honours) in Biochemistry at MonashUniversity, and a PhD from the Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne.  In addition, he has a Graduate Diploma in Drug Evaluation and Pharmaceutical Science from the University of Melbourne and a Diploma in Education from MonashUniversity.

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Professor Maree Smith,
Inventor of Spinifex's EMA401 technology

Spinifex is also proud to acknowledge here the role of Professor Maree Smith as joint inventor (along with Dr Bruce Wyse) of Spinifex's EMA401 technology. Prof Smith is currently Executive Director & Director-Efficacy of TetraQ a preclinical contract R&D organization at The University of Queensland. Prof Smith has a broad range of expertise and know-how in preclinical and clinical drug development, including animal models of disease, assay development and validation, in vivo pharmacokinetics in animals and humans as well as clinical trials. Apart from active involvement in the commercialization of her own IP over the last decade (one of her patented technologies is licensed to QRx Pharma), Prof Smith has considerable experience with the undertaking of milestone-driven contract preclinical research and development studies for a range of Australian biotechnology companies. Prof Smith has published more than 65 peer-reviewed papers and she is a member of the editorial review board for Pain: Clinical Updates. Prof Smith was awarded in 2003 she was awarded a Uniquest “Trailblazer Award” with Dr Williams.