Avita Medical, a regenerative medicine company specialising in new treatments for wounds and skin defects, has made three new key board appointments.
The firm, which has operations in the UK, Australia and North America, says Avita Medical’s board of six members now comprises three based in the US and three in Australia.
The US-based directors include Louis Drapeau and Damien McDonald, alongside existing member Mike Perry. The new Australian Board member is Professor Suzanne Crowe, serving alongside Jeremy Curnock Cook and Lou Panaccio (Chairman).
Professor Fiona Wood, Matt McNamara and Mr Ian Macpherson have stepped down from the Board, with Wood, a company co-founder and co-inventor of ReCell, joining the newly-formed Avita Medical Clinical Advisory Board.
Drapeau joins the board as Non-executive Director. Based in the US, he is an Independent Director at AmpliPhi Biosciences; CFO, Principal Accounting Officer and Vice President at Insite Vision; and Independent Director at Bio-Rad Laboratories.
Drapeau has held senior positions with Nektar Therapeutics and BioMarin Pharmaceutical, and has been an Audit Partner at Arthur Andersen. He has formerly been an Independent Director at InterMune, Bionovo, and Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals.
US-based McDonald also joins the board as Non-executive Director. He is Corporate Vice President at Danaher Corporation. He has previously worked for Merck&Co, Johnson & Johnson and Zimmer.
Professor Suzanne Crowe is the third Non-executive Director to join Avita Medical. Based in Australia, she is a physician-scientist and company director with extensive expertise in supporting companies with their medical and scientific strategies.
Prof Crowe is an Associate Director of the Burnet Institute, and is a Principal Research Fellow of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. She is a Principal Specialist in Infectious Diseases at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne and Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Monash University, Melbourne.
Jeremy Curnock Cook and Mike Perry were approved by shareholders to remain as directors for further two-year terms.