Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) has appointed experienced biotechnology and pharmaceutical finance executive James M. O’Brien as its new US-based Chief Financial Officer, marking a significant step in the company’s transition toward becoming a fully integrated commercial organisation.
Announcing the appointment, the company said O’Brien brings extensive cross-functional experience across financial management, corporate strategy, and global operations, gained over a career spanning multinational public and private life-science companies.
Chief executive Dr Silviu Itescu said O’Brien’s expertise comes at a pivotal time as Mesoblast advances the commercial rollout of Ryoncil and prepares for potential label expansion.
“We are very pleased to have Jim join us at Mesoblast. His deep cross-functional financial expertise and knowledge of US markets fills a key senior leadership position as we transition to a mature commercial organisation,” Itescu said. “Jim’s extensive experience will provide Mesoblast with the financial leadership required as it commercialises Ryoncil and looks forward to label expansion.”
He added that O’Brien’s skill set would complement that of Head of Finance Andrew Chaponnel, strengthening the organisation’s financial controls, revenue forecasting, governance, and capital allocation.
Ryoncil (remestemcel-L-rknd) is the first FDA-approved mesenchymal stromal cell therapy, indicated for paediatric patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (SR-aGVHD). Mesoblast is also pursuing additional indications for Ryoncil, including adult SR-aGVHD and biologic-resistant inflammatory bowel disease.
O’Brien has held senior leadership roles overseeing corporate and business-unit finance, reporting, internal controls and accounting operations at Actavis, which Allergan later acquired, before AbbVie acquired the combined entity. He also played a central role in integrating international acquisitions and managed financial activities relating to transactions totalling nearly US$10 billion. Earlier in his career, he built a finance team that oversaw supply chain and revenue management for Nycomed, a private-equity-owned company with US$750 million in revenues, which Sandoz later acquired for US$1.5 billion.
More recently, O’Brien served as CFO of Nasdaq-listed Cognition Therapeutics, where he oversaw the company’s successful listing, and held the same role at the dual-listed Finnish biotechnology company Faron Pharmaceuticals. His earlier career included finance roles at Bristol Myers Squibb, and he began as a certified public accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the US.