Novogen (ASX:NRT) has announced the appointment of Dr James Garner as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Dr Garner will take up the role on 1 February next year, at which time he will also be appointed to the company's Board of Directors.
Novogen said Dr Garner, 42, brings broad experience in drug development and commercialisation, acquired through regional and global roles in the biotech and pharmaceutical sector.
His previous responsibilities have included leading non-clinical safety and efficacy, phase I-IV clinical trials, product registration, reimbursement, medical marketing and business development.
Dr Garner is currently Head of the Unit Development Office, AP R&D with Sanofi based in Singapore. He will relocate to Sydney in the New Year.
After qualifying in medicine at Imperial College in London, Dr Garner spent several years as a practicing clinician in the UK and Australia before joining Bain & Company, a global management consulting company in 2002.
He subsequently worked with Biogen and Progen Pharmaceuticals in Australia and with Quintiles, an international clinical research organisation in Singapore.
In 2009, he was appointed Regional Vice President for Takeda Pharmaceutical Company with overall responsibility for all clinical development activities and registration of new chemical entities in the Asian region (excluding Japan), and served as General Manager of the company’s regional R&D Hub in Singapore.
In mid-2013, Dr Garner took up his current role at Sanofi.
Aside from his medical qualifications, Dr Garner holds a BSc (with First Class Honours) from University College London, an MA in Philosophy and an MBA from the University of Queensland, and a postgraduate qualification in Applied Finance & Investment from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.
In 2008, he was named a ‘Young Executive of the Year’ by the Australian Financial Review’s BOSS Magazine.
In announcing the appointment, Novogen’s Interim Chairman, Ian Phillips welcomed Dr Garner to the Company.
“James is joining Novogen at an exciting time and he brings a wealth of relevant experience from the international pharmaceutical and biotech sector. I am confident as CEO, he will lead us through the next stage of the Company’s development and achieve both our short and long term goals,” said Mr Phillips.
“Also I would like to take this opportunity to thank Iain Ross for the significant contribution he has made over the past 5 months as Acting CEO by ensuring that the Company is well-placed to progress our lead candidates through to the clinic in 2016/17. Mr Ross has led the initiative to identify and successfully recruit James Garner as our new CEO,” he added.
Novogen appointed Mr Ross Acting Chief Executive in July following the sudden resignation of founder and former CEO, Graham Kelly.