Aston hired to help transform AustCancer

Perth-based Australian Cancer Technology has appointed Dr Roger Aston, former Peptech CEO, to Executive Chairman to oversee their joint ventures, with London-based drug discovery services company Biofocus, and other cancer therapy projects.

Aston has worked at AustCancer for the past year, as Executive director of R&D, involved in acquiring the company's current portfolio of potential cancer drugs.

An experienced executive in the biotechnology industry, Aston has served as chief executive for Peptech and Cambridge Antibody Technology as well as founding pSiMedica, a UK biomaterials company.

Alistair Cowden, AustCancer's managing director, said having a world-class biotechnology entrepreneur on the board, with a strong connection with Europe, is another step in the process of building the company.

"The company has been undergoing a transformation from the mining company shell a year ago to a biotechnology company," he said.

"As a virtual company we use third party institutions such as BioFocus and St Vincent's Hospital to do the research and we provide the management, finance and business framework to make that happen," said Cowden.

"We are not about building laboratories or employing large teams of scientists, we are about providing more money," he said.

"Our focus is cancer and we are trying to get into the space before clinic - we're taking something from pre-clinic into the clinic - which is the added-value step," he said.

Since listing on the ASX, the company's lead product Pentrix, a p53 anti-cancer vaccine, is progressing into a second phase of human trials after completing phase 1a trials earlier this year at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney.

Aston, who was instrumental in the Pentrix project, will be looking to secure a partner from the global pharmaceutical industry this year, if the trials deliver the required results.

Entering into a joint venture with BioFocus in December 2001 gave the company access to cutting edge technologies to develop a new breast cancer drug and a drug to enhance the effectiveness of radiotherapy and some chemotherapy. "Our Biofocus drug discovery projects should have results in the next few months," he said.