As the father of Australian biotech, Leon Serry AM is remembered for his pioneering work as an investor and philanthropist founding Cicardian (now Opthea Ltd), establishing the foundation of Australia’s biotech investment industry.
Leon Serry was the founder and managing director of Circadian, the first ASX-listed biotech company, where he made an outstanding contribution to the Australian biotechnology industry and academic and commercial sectors.
Leon pioneered the development of a vibrant Australian biotechnology industry based on innovative technology transfer from the Australian medical research community throughout the last 20 years, overcoming significant scepticism and numerous funding crises.
Listing Circadian on the ASX in 1985, Leon Serry was notable investor, philanthropist, and company founder in Australia’s biotech sector, founding spin-out companies including Axon, Antisense (now Percheron Therapeutics Limited), Metabolic (now Polynovo Limited) and Optiscan Ltd.
He supported a number of other early-stage Australian biotechs, helping companies attract further funding from High-Net-Worths and investors after providing backing as an angle investor. He is also recognised for his contribution as a mentor and education the next generation of biotech leaders.
Leon was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2017 Australia Day Honours for “significant service to the biotechnology industry, to the development and commercialization of biomedical science, and as a mentor”.
According to The Australian, “[Leon] was born in Newcastle where his father ran the government parachute factory, and later moved to Melbourne. Mr Serry left Camberwell High School at 15 to work as a cost accountant and at age 19 became a qualified accountant, the youngest in Australia.”
Biotech Daily said in its tribute to Leon Serry, “Leon was generous with his time and was constantly concerned with the further development of the Australian biotechnology sector, but he invested in other ASX-listed and non-listed companies and was very well-known across the industry.”
Speaking on the inception of Circadian, Leon told Biotech Daily “I read the Time magazine article on Interferon as a potential treatment for cancer.
“I’d already made some money and wanted to give something back to the community and that’s when I started Circadian. I went to Monash University and found melatonin for jetlag and sleep disorders. “Universities don’t have a bent for commercialization, but you have to get funding for science - and to cure diseases you need commercialization.”
AusBiotech extends its condolences to Leon Serry’s family, friends, and close colleagues, and acknowledges the long-lasting impact Leon will have on Australia’s biotech industry.
