Arovella Therapeutics (ASX:ALA) has strengthened its Board with the appointment of Dr Andrew Nash, the former Chief Scientific Officer of CSL, as a Non-Executive Director, effective 12 November 2025.
Dr Nash brings more than 35 years of experience in drug development and executive leadership across Australia’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. He most recently served as CSL’s Chief Scientific Officer, a position he held until his retirement in March 2025.
After completing a PhD in immunology, Dr Nash began his career in academia before joining Zenyth, formerly Amrad, where he rose to the position of Chief Scientific Officer and then Chief Executive Officer, before the company’s acquisition by CSL in 2006. During his time at CSL, he led global R&D programs spanning plasma therapeutics, vaccines, and emerging cell and gene therapy platforms.
He has been recognised for his contributions to Australian science, elected a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2021 and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2025. He currently serves on the boards of the Burnet Institute, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Brandon BioCatalyst, and Denteric, and was the inaugural Chair of Jumar Bioincubator.
Arovella CEO and Managing Director Dr Michael Baker said Dr Nash’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for the company.
“I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Andrew since we established our first office in the Jumar Bioincubator in 2023,” Dr Baker said. “We’re delighted to have someone with his track record and depth of experience join the Board as Arovella transitions to a clinical-stage company with a promising and diverse pipeline.”
Dr Nash said he was excited to join Arovella at what he described as a “transformative stage.”
“I see great potential in Arovella’s approach to tackling blood cancers and solid tumours,” he said. “The technology is impressive, as is the team driving it forward. With the first product approaching clinical trials, a strong balance sheet, and a growing pipeline, it’s an exciting time to be involved.”
Arovella said the company intends for Dr Nash to transition from Non-Executive Director to Non-Executive Chairman in due course.
The company’s lead program, ALA-101, is an allogeneic invariant natural killer T-cell (iNKT) therapy developed from research at Imperial College London. It is being advanced for blood cancers and solid tumours, targeting the CD19 and CD1d antigens, with additional programs underway using CLDN18.2-targeting and IL-12-TM technologies for solid tumour applications.