Australian company Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) has announced the appointment of Dr Daniel Tillett as its new chief executive officer.
The company's lead asset, bisantrene, is a small molecule chemotherapeutic in development for multiple oncology indications.
Dr Tillett served as the company's chief scientific officer and executive director from 2019 to March 2023. He has most recently served the company in a consultancy capacity. Race said he will work with its executive director, Dr Pete Smith, to advance its strategic, clinical and commercialisation plans for bisantrene.
He has more than 25 years of experience in the biotechnology industry and is the founder and CEO of Nucleics, an Australian biotechnology company focused on DNA sequencing and genomics. He was a tenured academic in the School of Pharmacy and Applied Science at La Trobe University.
“Today’s announcement reflects our commitment to rebalancing the leadership team to ensure we are best positioned to deliver on our primary focus of advancing bisantrene through the clinic," said Race Oncology chair, Mary Harney.
"Through this arrangement, Pete will focus on our partnering, business development and institutional outreach strategy, while Daniel will have carriage of clinical strategy, implementation and shareholder engagement. Race is now strongly positioned to move the business forward and to implement a clinical plan that will ultimately deliver outcomes for patients and our shareholders.”
Dr Tillett said, “I would like to thank Mary, Phil and Pete for their support and encouragement as we worked as a team to address the many challenges Race has faced over the last several months. My priority in stepping in as CEO is to ensure the clinical strategy we have for bisantrene is implemented and our promise to shareholders delivered. My belief in bisantrene and its commercial potential has never wavered. We have an outstanding team at Race to execute on these opportunities and make a real difference for both patients and shareholders."