A new board chair for Rhythm Biosciences

News

Rhythm Biosciences (ASX:RHY) has announced the appointment of a new chair with the resignation of incumbent Shane Tanner.

The company has announced that Otto Buttula will join the company's board as director and chair. He will succeed Mr Tanner. Mr Buttula’s appointment will take effect at the close of the company’s annual general meeting on Monday 28 October.

Mr Buttula has had extensive experience in investment research, funds management and information technology and has held directorships in a number of public companies.

He was co-founder, CEO and managing director of IWL Limited, an online financial services company that listed on the ASX in 1999. Mr Buttula also founded and was managing director of Investors Mutual, prior to which he was a co-founder and director of Lonsdale Securities Limited.

Mr Buttula has also served as non-executive chairman of platform and stockbroking provider Investorfirst and led the acquisition of HUB24. More recently, he served on the board as a non-executive director and head of Audit and Risk at Imugene between 2014 and 2016.

Rhythm Biosciences CEO Glenn Gilbert said, “Otto is an active investor within the Australian biotechnology sector, adopting a disciplined approach to small-cap assets, particularly those he deems to be undervalued, with ethical merit and possessing vast upside potential. He has had a long and successful track record of nurturing small cap companies along the path to profitability and/or to potential strategic transactions. Along with the Board, Rhythm’s management team also welcomes him to RHY and I look forward to working alongside him.”

Mr Buttula said, “I have been an investor in RHY since mid-2018 and was attracted to its practical application of mass, simple and affordable screening for colorectal cancer via inexpensive blood tests and its high-quality pedigree emanating from the world-renowned CSIRO team. In my view, it is undervalued, given ColoSTATis not far from potential commercialisation and encompasses a relatively simple business model with a widespread, worldwide application.”

The company's board also thanked Mr Tanner "for his dedication and service" over the last two years. It said Mr Tanner was instrumental in leading the company through its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and listing onto the ASX and has responsibly guided the company’s development of its landmark ColoSTAT technology.