Prima BioMed appoints Lucy Turnbull as chairman

Shares in ovarian cancer specialist Prima BioMed jumped 12 percent today after the company announced the appointment of respected Australian biotech champion and once would-be first-lady Lucy Turnbull as its new chairman.

The wife of former liberal party leader and now shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull, Ms Turnbull has a deep association with the Australian healthcare sector.

Currently she is a board member of the Cancer Institute NSW, and was previously chairman of the New South Wales Government's Ministerial Advisory Committee on Biotechnology (2001-2), a Director of the Sydney Cancer Foundation (2002-6) and Director and Chair of the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation (1993-2000). She is also a director of listed domain name and hosting company Melbourne IT.

Prima BioMed's flagship product is its CVac ovarian cancer vaccine which recently completed Phase IIa clinical trials. The company is currently conducting a Phase IIb clinical study in the US and Australia, with plans to start Phase III trials in these and several other countries next year.

Commenting on her appointment Ms Turnbull said: “I look forward to working with the board and management of Prima BioMed in enabling further research and development, so that one day there may be a viable and effective therapy for ovarian cancer that is based on Australian science and innovation”.

Turnbull replaces interim chairman Albert Wong, who remains on the board as deputy chairman.

Prima BioMed’s shares closed today at $0.14 on high volumes of 28.94 million.