September 2023

Biotechnology company Sementis will advance its position at the forefront of vaccine technology with the appointment of a new CEO.

Following a global search, Dr Anne Collins has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Sementis. Anne is currently Chief Operating Officer at Sementis.

Sementis owns Australia’s most advanced vaccine platform technology and a portfolio of vaccine candidates in development. It has major government grant funding and key institutional partnerships in place.

These include the University of South Australia, Australian National University, Monash University and Health Security Systems Australia (a division of DMTC Ltd).

As Chief Operating Officer of Sementis, Anne has led its business transformation from a research-focused to clinical stage business.

She has 30 years of international leadership experience in the medical technology and pharmaceutical industries as well as proven expertise in manufacturing, capability building and business development.

“With Sementis poised to take a leap forward on our journey to improve global public health, Anne was the standout candidate amongst a high-quality field,” Sementis Chair, Martyn Evans said.

“She will work closely with the board, executive and scientific team to lead us through clinical trials and international commercialisation. This includes forging new and existing strategic partnerships and alliances and continuing to build on our funding sources.”

Anne’s appointment follows a decision by current Sementis CEO Leanne Hobbs to step down to pursue other opportunities.

“The Board acknowledges the outstanding contribution Leanne has made to Sementis during her time as CEO,” Martyn said.

“Under Leanne’s leadership, Sementis has made significant scientific progress while securing close to $7.5 million in grants and external funding in conjunction with academic partners. We wish her every success in the next stage of her career.”

Dr Anne Collins said: “As CEO my focus will be continued development of the Sementis Copenhagen Vector (SCV) platform while building partnerships and investments to commercialise our leading technology.

“There is a global focus on vaccine platforms that can be rapidly deployed and scaled within 100 days. Our SCV technology has been designed to address this need.

“Immunotherapies and gene therapy are experiencing significant growth. We look forward to exploring how the unique attributes of our SCV technology to deliver multiple antigens can play a role in this sector.

“I am pleased to take leadership responsibility for Sementis, building on its strong foundations as a clinical development company.”

Leanne Hobbs said: “It has been a privilege to lead Sementis during this critical time in history for vaccine development, building capability within Australia to rapidly scale and respond to global medical needs.”

The significance of Sementis vaccine technology to Australian health security has been recognised by the Federal Government via a $3 million grant in 2022 from the Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) program and a $3 million grant to UniSA in partnership with Sementis in 2021 from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).

Media contact: Louise Marsh at Corporate Conversation, [email protected] or 0418 814 147.