Australian Venture Capital firm OneVentures has added two executives to its healthcare investment management team with the appointment of IP and commercial specialist Sakura Holloway and former Shire Pharmaceuticals scout Sarah Meibusch.
“Sakura and Sarah join an eight-person investment team that is currently 50% female; with diversity in age, education and cultural background,” said Anne-Marie Birkill, managing partner at OneVentures.
The appointments provide additional capacity to source, structure and manage the recently launched $170 million OneVentures Healthcare Fund III.
The fund is focused on investing in Australian companies commercialising drugs, medical devices and diagnostics in or near clinical development stage.
Sakura Holloway joins OneVentures following two years as chief IP counsel at dual-listed Australian biotech company Benitec Biopharma, where her achievements included managing the company’s IP portfolio and supporting the company’s US initial public offering and listing on the NASDAQ exchange.
A registered patent attorney, Ms Holloway's previous positions have included scientific roles with UTS and the Garvan Institute, and roles with Cephalon, CSIRO and FB Rice. She joins OneVentures as an Investment Analyst providing specialist expertise in IP due diligence and management to the team alongside considerable commercial skills and experience.
Sarah Meibusch joins the OneVentures team in the role of Investment Manager. Sarah’s previous responsibilities included five years scouting for technologies for Shire Pharmaceuticals across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and Japan, including sourcing the $300 million Fibrotech deal.
Commenting on the appointments, Dr Paul Kelly, managing partner and head of OneVentures healthcare practice said, “The appointment of Sakura and Sarah completes our Healthcare sector investment team providing critical resources to support the first stage of the execution of our OneVentures Healthcare Fund III investment plan.
“OneVenture’s hands-on approach to deal structuring and management requires access to an expert and experienced professional team. Sakura and Sarah bring new skills that perfectly complement those of the existing healthcare team members. We are delighted to welcome them to OneVentures.”