BioCurate Eyes Next Phase of Growth With Appointment of Acting CEO

Founding CEO Dr C. Glenn Begley transitions to advisory role

MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioCurate, an independently operated joint venture between the University of Melbourne and Monash University, and with support of the Victorian State Government, today announced the appointment of Dr Damien Bates as Acting CEO, with Founding CEO Dr C. Glenn Begley transitioning to a specialist scientific, commercial and strategic advisory role for the organisation.

An internationally experienced biotech executive, Dr Damien Bates joined BioCurate as Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Translational Medicine nearly two years ago. He has played a critical role in driving the progression of projects along their respective development pathways through close collaborations with the Universities’ researchers and innovation staff, implementation of industry best practice across all aspects of project management, portfolio evaluation, industry engagement and resource allocation, and strong staff support and management.

BioCurate Chairman the Hon John Brumby AO said the leadership transition marked a critical next step for the company’s development.

“We have a well-developed project portfolio, a highly-skilled and committed team, and an excellent relationship with our Shareholder Universities. As Founding CEO, Glenn has made an outstanding contribution to BioCurate and we thank him for his untiring efforts to deliver our vision.

“We welcome Damien, who already knows the business well and has been the driving force behind the progress of our projects. We believe he will bring new energy, breadth of knowledge and focused leadership to all areas of the business,” Mr Brumby said.

As Founding CEO of BioCurate, Dr Begley’s expertise and his deep international experience, together with his passionate commitment to helping drive quality research and translation within the university and medical research sector, has been instrumental to BioCurate’s foundational success. He has led the growth and success of BioCurate through a number of the critical stages including:

• Establishing the underpinning processes and systems required for an independent, biotech start-up company and gaining national and international recognition of the unique value the BioCurate model brings to the novel drug development process
• Recruiting a high-calibre team of internationally experienced biotech and industry experts
• Nurturing key relationships within the Shareholder Universities, Victorian State Government and the broader medical research and innovation sector
• Building BioCurate’s investment portfolio of highly prospective projects through the review of > 100 early-stage research projects, and
• Advancing capability in Australia’s research and innovation community through hundreds of hours of mentoring, lectures and training focused on translation and commercialisation.

“I am most proud of the staff and team culture that BioCurate has built and remain fully committed to the vision. I am delighted with Damien’s appointment – he, COO Linda Peterson and the BioCurate team, have my unwavering support. I look forward to supporting them as the company moves through its next exciting phase,” Dr Begley said.

Dr Bates said, “It is a great privilege to take over the reins from Glenn. I am looking forward to continuing to work closely with the Board, Shareholders and staff to support research that has commercial potential, and driving projects through to fruition - thereby getting one step closer to realising our mission of translating medical research outputs into high quality preclinical candidates for the bio-pharmaceutical industry and eventually new safe & effective therapies for the community.”

About BioCurate

BioCurate is a bold, collaborative venture, dedicated to delivering benefits to the community by helping to advance Australia’s research and innovation globally. Jointly formed by the University of Melbourne and Monash University, with support from the Victorian State Government, BioCurate identifies promising biomedical research discoveries and manage their translation into high quality pre-clinical candidates with the aim to develop potential novel human therapeutics. We operate in the under-resourced, yet critical, early phases of therapeutic development to overcome common barriers to success and drive early decisions. BioCurate is operationally independent, with a team of experts that brings decades of scientific and commercial expertise, enabling us to recognise and realise real-world potential and providing a critical bridge between academia and industry.

For more information about BioCurate, visit www.biocurate.com.

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MEDIA CONTACTS
Becky Evans
Edelman for BioCurate
M: 0452 579 242
E: becky.evans@edelman.com