Board appointments at QBiotics Group

Mark Fladrich is an experienced pharmaceutical executive with a passion for bringing innovative medicines to patients. He has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with over 20 years at AstraZeneca.

Mark brings to QBiotics broad global commercial strategy and implementation experience across all phases of the pharmaceutical product lifecycle in a broad range of therapy areas including: oncology, wound healing, respiratory, cardiovascular, diabetes and metabolism, gastrointestinal, psychiatric disorders, antibiotics and pain management.

Mark was most recently Chief Commercial Officer of Grunenthal - a mid-sized privately owned German company specialising in pain management, where he led the commercial organisation - expanding Grunenthal’s footprint beyond Europe and Latin America to establish a commercial presence in the US and relaunch an important pain management treatment in that market.

In his 23 years at AstraZeneca, Mark held several senior roles including Vice President Global Strategic Marketing, Country President roles in Germany, Australia and New Zealand and Regional Head of Southern and Western Europe. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Mark held various roles at Allergan (now part of AbbVie Inc) and Faulding Pharmaceuticals in Australia.

Mark is currently a Board Observer and Strategic Advisor at HealthMatch, a Sydney based digital startup which has developed a platform to enable patients to match themselves to clinical trials. He is also Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board for Atacana, a consulting firm which specialises in competitive intelligence and strategy consulting to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, currently serving 7 of the top 10 global pharma companies.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy (University of South Australia), Master of Business Administration (Macquarie university), and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Stephen Doyle is a global pharmaceutical executive with more than 24 years’ experience gained across a range of specialties within the medical and pharmaceutical sectors in both developed and emerging markets. Stephen brings extensive knowledge in leading negotiations for pharmaceutical assets across a range of deal types, licensing deals across multiple geographies and commercialisation strategies.

A pharmacist by training, Stephen has held numerous senior leadership roles at top pharmaceutical companies globally during the past two decades. Starting his career at Janssen Cilag and Novartis in Sydney, he was appointed to lead medical affairs of the Oncology Business Unit at Sanofi Aventis (later Sanofi). Over the next ten years, the expansion of Stephen’s remit within Sanofi saw him relocating to Europe and Asia to oversee scientific communications, then commercial operations of the oncology arm in each market. As Vice President of Oncology, Haematology and Transplantation Business Unit in Shanghai, Stephen launched new indications for Sanofi’s drug assets across China, while controlling a P&L accountability of €140M to build a high-performing team culture that translated into double-digit brand growth.

During his time at Boehringer Ingelheim, Stephen led the Specialty Care Business Unit (Oncology, Biosimilars and Rare Diseases) and later the Diabetes Business Unit in Shanghai, managing multiple aspects of the operation including new drug launches, launch readiness, partnership and deal negotiation, team and brand management and evaluation. In 2018 Stephen joined Aslan Pharmaceuticals as the General Manager in China, moving to Singapore as Chief Business Officer to support the growth of Aslan's immunology and dermatology assets in late-stage development.

He holds a Master of Science in Clinical Pharmacy from the University of Derby and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Pharmacy from the Robert Gordon University.

Dr Victoria Gordon brings to QBiotics Group a sound scientific background combined with broad business management experience and a strong commercial emphasis. Victoria left her position as a research scientist in chemical ecology with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to establish EcoBiotics Pty Ltd (EcoBiotics) in 2000, followed by QBiotics Pty Ltd in 2004. Victoria also governed the merger of EcoBiotics and QBiotics to form the QBiotics Group in 2017. Victoria has been Managing Director and CEO of EcoBiotics/the QBiotics Group since their inception. Victoria’ recent additional board experience includes Non-executive Director of Biopharmaceuticals Australia and Non-executive Director and Non-executive Chairman of the Australian Rainforest Foundation. Victoria’s relevant committee memberships include two consecutive terms of the Queensland Government Biotechnology Advisory Council, Federal Government Expert Forum on Biomedicine, Federal Government Expert Forum on Environmental Biotechnology, and the Queensland Government Science Education Taskforce. In 2004 Dr Gordon was presented an award by the Queensland Premier for her service to the biotechnology industry.

Victoria has broad experience in the management of commercial research for Boral Timber Division, then one of Australia’s largest plantation forestry companies, has owned and managed a number of small businesses and has held lecturing positions in industrial mycology and plant tissue culture at the University of Tasmania.

Victoria holds a PhD in Microbiology, Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemistry and Biology (Honours), Diplomas in Human and Animal Health, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Victoria is a Director of QBiotics Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary companies, QBiotics Pty Ltd, EcoBiotics Pty Ltd, QBiotics Netherlands B.V. and QBiotics UK Limited.

Paul brings to the Company expert scientific knowledge combined with extensive practical experience in leadership, resourcing, management and commercialisation of complex multi-institutional research and development projects. Paul is co-founder of EcoBiotics and QBiotics and has been CSO of both companies since their inception.

Prior to co-founding EcoBiotics in 2000, Paul gained an international reputation for his scientific expertise in tropical forest ecology and management. During that time, he held senior leadership positions as a Senior Principal Research Scientist and Program Leader at CSIRO’s Tropical Forest Research Centre and later as Principal Plant Ecologist for an environmental consulting business in the Rio Tinto group of companies.

Paul holds a PhD in Forest Ecology and a Bachelor of Science (1A Honours) from the University of Western Australia. He has been a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors since 2007.

Paul is a Director of QBiotics Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary companies, QBiotics Pty Ltd, EcoBiotics Pty Ltd, QBiotics Netherlands B.V. and QBiotics UK Limited.

Mr Hamish Corlett is a Co-Founder and Partner at TDM Growth Partners, a private investments firm specialising in high growth companies globally. Hamish brings more than 20 years’ experience in investing and investment banking from multiple top-tier investment firms to his role on the QBiotics Board.

Hamish is currently a Non-executive Director of Somnomed Limited (ASX:SOM), a medical company providing treatment solutions for sleep-related breathing disorders. He is also Chair of Somnomed’s Remuneration Committee. Hamish has also been a Non-Executive Director of Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX:TYR) since April 2019.

Hamish holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours Class 1 (Accounting and Finance) from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Diploma of Counselling from the Australian College of Applied Psychologists.

David Phillips brings to QBiotics more than four decades of experience in the global healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. David was previously a senior international marketing executive with Glaxo Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKlein (GSK)) and also a Managing Partner with GSK's Corporate Venture Fund, SR One.

David spent over a decade at Board level and Chief Business Officer roles at Argenta Discovery, The Automation Partnership and Galapagos NV.

In the latter part of his career, David was both an Executive Director and Non-Executive Director of Suda Pharmaceuticals (now Arovella, ASX: ALA). He is now Non-Executive Chair of Inosi Therapeutics, a spin-out from Monash University developing novel therapeutics for fibrosis.

David has been responsible for capital raisings globally, as well as the execution of over 50 pharmaceutical and biotechnology deals and 10 mergers and acquisitions.

David holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Pharmacology from Kings College, London.

David is chair of QBioitcs' Remuneration Committee and also of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Dr Susan Foden was a well-respected figure in the biotech industry and seasoned director whose work generated significant global impact.

She brought more than 40 years of industry experience to QBiotics as director on the boards of small and medium-size private and public healthcare companies in the UK, Norway, Germany and Belgium.

“Sue was an integral part of our company, guiding us with her strong leadership, commitment to excellence and tireless dedication. Her contributions to QBiotics and to the industry as a whole have been immeasurable, and her loss will be deeply felt by all who had the privilege of knowing and working with her. Our thoughts and condolences are with Sue’s family. She will be sadly missed,” reflected Stephen Doyle, CEO and Managing Director.

Sue’s recent board positions included BTG plc (acquired by Boston Scientific in 2019), and Vectura Group plc where she served for over 10 years as Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee until 2019. Susan also chaired, and was a director of, BerGenBio ASA up to its initial public offer on the Oslo Bohrs in 2015 and Neurocentrx.

She was the non-executive chair of TheraCryf plc (previously, Evgen Pharma plc), a non-executive director of Laverock Therapeutics Ltd, an Investment Committee member of CD3, the drug discovery initiative between the European Investment Fund and the University of Leuven in Belgium, and a trustee of the Roslin Foundation in Edinburgh.

Susan's background was in biochemistry and she held an MA and DPhil in Natural Sciences from the University of Oxford. In 1983 Susan joined the UK’s first biotech company, Celltech Ltd and headed up Academic Liaison, establishing some of the early precedents of academic/ biotech partnering and intellectual property development and in-licensing. In 1987 she established CRCT, the technology transfer and development company of what was then Cancer Research Campaign, (now CRT/Cancer Research UK (CRUK)). Over the next 12 years, CRCT was responsible for the development and partnering many programs, significantly Temodal, Abiraterone (with BTG) and some of the early PARP inhibitors from which CRUK has benefitted from many years of royalty flow. Spin-out companies Cyclacel, Kudos and Spriogen Ltd also came from CRCT.

Outside the UK, CRCT set up Cancer Research Ventures and among others, established links with cancer research centres in Germany, Denmark and New Zealand.

In 2000, Susan joined the London healthcare VC firm, Merlin Biosciences as an Investor Director and was a director on several Merlin investee company boards including the oncology-focused companies, BioVex (acquired by Amgen 2011), and Piramed (acquired by Roche 2008).

Susan was appointed as a director of QBiotics Group on 14 October 2019 and was both a member of the Remuneration Committee, including as its Chair, as well as, Executive Chair and Non-Executive Chair through her tenure.