Biota appoints new Director
Melbourne, Australia - 1 February 2010: Biota Holdings Limited (ASX: BTA) today confirmed the appointment of Professor Jeffery Errington FRS FMedSci as a Non-Executive Director.
Professor Jeffery (Jeff) Errington is a renowned scientist in the field of microbial cell and molecular biology and is a Fellow of the Royal Society. He is currently the Director of the Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences and the Director of the Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology at Newcastle University. He is a world authority on the biochemical pathways responsible for bacterial replication, an essential pre-requisite to the successful development of novel antibacterial drugs.
Biota's Chairman, Jim Fox, reconfirmed Biota's strategy of investment in anti-infective drug discovery and acknowledged Jeff's past contribution to innovation in this area. He welcomed Jeff to the Board and looked forward to the contribution he would bring.
About Biota
Biota is a leading anti-infective drug development company based in Melbourne Australia, with key expertise in respiratory diseases, particularly influenza. Biota developed the first-in-class neuraminidase inhibitor, zanamivir, subsequently marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as Relenza. Biota research breakthroughs have included novel nucleoside analogues designed to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, licensed to Boehringer Ingelheim, and a series of candidate drugs aimed at treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease. Biota has clinical trials underway with its lead compound for human rhinovirus (HRV) infection in patients with compromised respiration or immune systems.
In addition, Biota and Daiichi Sankyo have pooled their respective intellectual property for the development of second generation influenza anti-virals.
RelenzaTM is a registered trademark of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies.
*Further information available at www.biota.com.au
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CEO Peter Cook Adam Michael, Justine Lamond & Benjamyn Tan
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CFO Damian Lismore
T: +61 3 9915 3721