Board of Directors
Use the fast links below to go to a director's biography.
- Denis M Hanley AM MBA
- Alan D Robertson BSc PhD
- William L Delaat BSc
- Peter Farrell AM PhD DSc
- Malcolm J McComas BEc LLB
- John W Villiger MSocSci(Hons) PhD
- David McGarvey BA CA
Denis M Hanley AM MBA FCPA - Independent Chairman
Denis Hanley is a qualified accountant and company director with more than 36 years' experience in the management of technology-based growth businesses. He joined the Pharmaxis Board in 2001.
Denis spent 14 years with Baxter International Inc., a global medical products and services company. His career at Baxter included a number of international assignments including its Chicago headquarters and his last position was managing director of Baxter's Australian operations.
In 1983 Denis was founding chief executive officer and in 1986 executive chairman of the Australian-based separations technology company Memtec Ltd (ASX MET). Under his leadership Memtec grew into a NYSE listed (MET) global operating filtration and separations business with 1700 employees.
Since the sale of Memtec to US Filter in 1997 Denis has been a successful angel investor focussing on assisting the commercialisation of several Australian technologies. He is non-executive chairman of CathRx Ltd (ASX CXD) and Lochard Ltd and a non-executive director of Universal Biosensors Inc.
Denis holds an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Graduate School of Business where he was named a Baker Scholar.
Alan D Robertson BSc PhD - Chief Executive Officer
Alan Robertson has more than 20 years' experience in drug discovery and product development with leading pharmaceutical companies, including 8 years with Wellcome plc in London and with Australian companies Faulding Ltd and Amrad Ltd. He also assisted early-stage pharmaceutical companies in their start-up and development and was the founding Managing Director of Pharmaxis.
Alan has been CEO of Pharmaxis since December 1999 and has been instrumental in building the company to its present position. Alan joined the board of Pharmaxis in July, 2000.
The co-inventor of 18 patents and author of more than 35 scientific papers, Alan has a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Glasgow and has extensive practical understanding of both the clinical and management aspects of the pharmaceutical industry.
He has been actively involved in the discovery, development and marketing of various compounds, including new treatments for migraine and cardiovascular disease. Alan is the inventor of the migraine therapeutic Zomig, which is marketed worldwide by AstraZeneca.
William L Delaat BSc - Non-Executive Director
Will Delaat is a leading figure in Australia's pharmaceutical industry, with 35 years' global experience in the sector. He joined the Pharmaxis Board in June 2008.
Until his retirement, Will was managing director for 11 years of Merck Sharp & Dohme, Australia's largest exporter of prescription medicines.
During his career Will has held executive positions in both Europe and Australia for Merck and AstraZeneca. He is experienced in sales and marketing and has been responsible for international product launches and commercialisation of respiratory products.
Will also serves the pharmaceutical industry in several important representative roles. He is chairman of the Australian pharmaceutical industry's peak body, Medicines Australia, and chairman of the Pharmaceutical Industry Council.
Will holds a Bachelor of Science, Physiology & Chemistry with honours from the University of London. He is a member of our Audit Committee.
Peter Farrell AM PhD DSc - Non-Executive Director
Dr Peter Farrell has spent more than 20 years developing and commercialising medical products in the USA, Europe, Japan and Australia. He is widely recognised as a leader in the fields of engineering, biomedicine and entrepreneurship, and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2004 for his services to biomedicalresearch and engineering. In 2005, Peter was named the US Entrepreneur of the Year for Health Sciences.
Peter began his commercial career with Baxter Healthcare Inc in Japan as Director and Vice President of Research and Development, then as Managing Director of the Baxter Center for Medical Research. He left Baxter in 1989 to establish ResMed Inc., a company that develops treatments for sleep-disordered breathing and respiratory failure. Peter is currently founding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ResMed Inc. Since its initial public offering in 1995, ResMed has achieved 40 consecutive quarters of record year-on-year growth in revenue and profits.
Peter also serves on the Executive Councils of Harvard Medical School and the University of California at San Diego, and is visiting Professor at the University of Sydney. Peter has written more than 150 papers covering a broad range of topics from engineering applications in medicine to focussing technology to meet business objectives.
Malcolm J McComas BEc LLB - Non-Executive Director
Malcolm McComas is a company director and former lawyer with more than 20 years' investment banking experience. He joined the Pharmaxis board in July 2003.
He is currently a consultant to Grant Samuel, the investment banking, property services and funds management group and was a director of Grant Samuel from 1999 to 2004. He previously served for 10 years as Managing Director of Investment Banking at County NatWest and its successor organization Salomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup) and in various executive roles with Morgan Grenfell (now Deutsche Bank) in Melbourne, Sydney and London.
He has worked with many high growth companies across various industry sectors and has experience in equity and debt finance, acquisitions and divestments and privatisations. He has led more than 50 initial public offerings and significant secondary offerings for companies, institutions and governments. He is non-executive chairman of Sunshine Heart, Inc and a national councillor of the Financial Services Institute of Australia.
John W Villiger MSocSci(Hons) PhD - Non-Executive Director
John Villiger is an independent director and investor. John co-founded The Medicines Company in 1996, and was Senior Vice President of Development until Febuary 2006. This business is NASDAQ listed with market capitalization of US$1.25 billion. The Medicines Company has a significant marketed product (Angiomax) with project sales of approximately $220 million in 2006, two other products in late stage clinical development (Cangrelor and Clevidipine), and around 300 employees.
Previously, John held various positions in product development at Roche from 1986 to 1996 in New Zealand and Switzerland, including International Project Director from 1991 to 1995 and Head of Global Project Management from 1995 to 1996. As Head of Global Project Management, he oversaw the development of Roche's pharmaceutical portfolio, with management responsibility for over 50 development programs and development teams in Switzerland, the UK, USA and Japan. John has a PhD in pharmacology from the University of Otago.
David McGarvey BA CA - Company Secretary and Chief Financial Officer
David has 18 years' experience as Chief Financial Officer of successful Australian-based international technology businesses, and he joined Pharmaxis in December 2002 in his current role.
After 10 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers, David joined high technology start-up Memtec Limited as Chief Financial Officer in 1985. David was instrumental in the US listing of Memtec Ltd on NASDAQ and subsequently on the NYSE, involving SEC filings, full US GAAP financial statements and dual-jurisdiction debt and equity raisings. During his time at Memtec and its acquirer US Filter, David managed the financial and legal aspects of over 30 acquisitions, mergers and divestitures in a number of European and American countries.
