Antisense - Management

MANAGEMENT

Phillip Hains
Chief Financial Officer & Company Secretary
Mr. Hains is a Chartered Accountant operating a specialist public practice, The CFO Solution, focused on providing back office support, financial reporting and compliance systems for listed public companies. A specialist in the public company environment, Phillip has served the needs of a number of company boards of directors and related committees. He has over 20 years’ experience in providing business with accounting, administration, compliance and general management services. Having completed his Certificate of Business (Accounting), then Bachelor of Business (Accounting) at Victoria College (now Deakin University), he then undertook the Institute of Chartered Accountants’ Professional Year Program. He holds a Masters of Business Administration from RMIT and his Public Practice Certificate from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1997.

Dr George Tachas

Director, Drug Discovery & Patents

Dr Tachas, received his Ph.D from the University of Melbourne in 1988 and a Diploma of Intellectual Property Law in 1994. Dr Tachas Ph.D studies (1984-88) were in gene transfer, cloning and characterising of genes important in immunology at the Centre for Cancer and Transplantation (now the Austin Research Institute) at the University of Melbourne.

Dr Tachas' three years’ post-doctoral studies (1989-1991) were in the molecular and cellular biology of vascular smooth muscle cells in cardiovascular disease as Head of Molecular Biology at the Cardiovascular Research Unit of the University of Melbourne’s Anatomy Department. It was during this time that he first used antisense oligonucleotides as research tools and developed an interest in antisense as potential therapeutic agents.

Dr Tachas made the move to a leading Australian patent attorney firm, Griffith Hack and Co, in late 1991 where he spent 3 years as a biotechnology assistant and from 1995 to 1998 was a biotechnology-patent law consultant inter alia to the patent firm, Callinan Lawrie. Dr Tachas is well versed in biotechnology patent prosecution, opposition, infringement and licensing, portfolio management and the use of patents as a business tool.

In 1997 Dr Tachas planned to start up an antisense company. Synergy with interests of the Circadian group of companies in also setting up an antisense company led to his roles as exclusive consultant first to Syngene Ltd and then to ATL (2000-2001). Since the ASX listing of ATL Dr Tachas has directed the company’s efforts in expanding its product pipeline and managing the company’s IP portfolio.

Dr Christopher Wraight
Research Director
Christopher Wraight is responsible for Antisense Therapeutics' preclinical R&D programme on novel antisense medicines for a variety of human diseases. Dr Wraight has over 15 years experience in the management of commercial and applied research programmes. He has 25 years experience in basic and applied medical research, and is recognised for his work in receptor biology, antisense delivery and gene silencing. He was educated at Melbourne's La Trobe University, graduating with BSc Honours First Class and the Myers University Medal in 1982, a PhD in Biochemistry in 1987, and an MBA specialising in Technology Management in 2005 (with Chifley Business School). His post-doctoral research included cytokine molecular biology at Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. He was awarded the international Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship to join the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg as Guest Scientist in 1987, where he studied the cell biology of antigen presentation. He joined Melbourne's Murdoch Children's Research Institute in 1991 and was Head of the Dermal Therapeutics Unit there until 2005, publishing a series of papers on antisense modulation of growth factor activity. Dr Wraight joined Antisense Therapeutics as Research Director in 2003. In 2008 he was awarded the "Advancing BioBusiness Award", and Australian Life Sciences Industry award jointly administered by Merck Sharp & Dohme (Australia) and Advance.