Chief Executive Officer

The organisation

NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals is an Australian public company (ASX:NSB) developing novel peptide-based pharmaceutical products that target a number of neurological disorders and diseases of the eye that have high unmet medical need.

Their vision is to transform how the pharmaceutical industry approaches the understanding and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis.  Other potential indications include Glaucoma and Post-Covid Lung Fibrosis.

They believe that no other disease area holds as much need or as much promise for medical breakthroughs as neuroscience.

The company’s goal is to create new products that reach their target in the brain and act as a protector against nerve cell injury. Currently, there are no approved drugs that can slow down or halt neurodegeneration. They believe that EmtinB has potential to bridge the gap and bring this breakthrough medicine to clinics, bringing new hope to patients and their families.

The development of effective treatments for the vast majority of neurodegenerative conditions is limited by inadequate characterisation of these diseases – many questions regarding the direct causes remain unanswered.

EmtinB is believed to have potential because it uses a novel mode of action to harness the body’s own defence mechanisms and combat the progression of the disease.

An early phase 1 clinical trial was started in August 2022, which aims to develop biomarker data from human blood samples.

Instead of focusing on the assumed processes of the disease itself, Neuroscientific Biopharmaceuticals (ASX:NSB) is developing a potential solution by targeting the cells that are directly affected by these diseases and stimulating survival mechanisms that allow the affected cells to withstand the damaging consequences of these diseases.

The brief

At a pivotal moment in NSB’s development, the Company wished to appoint a seasoned CEO with the experience and capability to lead the agreed strategy and to deploy its resources and technology. The primary objective was to lead and evolve NSB such that it is effective in the evaluation, design, development and execution of the Company’s human healthcare business strategy and objectives, in the best interests of all NSB’s shareholders.

The incumbent’s responsibility will be leading the development and execution of the Company’s long-term strategy with a view to creating shareholder value, overseeing the clinical development of NSBs technology, and working with the Board on the Company’s fundraising activities.

The new CEO will report to the Board through the Chairman, Paul Rennie, and the position was to be based in Perth, Adelaide, or Melbourne.

The process

After demonstrating a successful track record of relevant past appointments in the sector, Brooker Consulting was engaged to conduct an executive search and selection process to identify an outstanding candidate to be their next CEO. An extensive strategy was outlined and the campaign was launched by Brooker after a detailed briefing with key stakeholders.  The Brooker team of Jeremy Wurm and Dr Rachel Cameron reached out to almost 500 candidates both locally and globally who, they believed, may have met the brief. A comprehensive combination of external advertising and targeted executive search generated an impressive level of interest and a high-quality shortlist.

The outcome

After the presentation of ten worthy applicants to the Selection Panel, it was decided to interview eight candidates over two days. From these interviews, two candidates emerged and were taken through psychometric testing, reference checking and investor presentations to the Board. Consensus was reached and Stephen Carter was appointed as the next CEO of NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals. Stephen brings in excess of 30 years’ broad experience in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device industry. He has held a variety of senior positions with multinationals (Pfizer, Pharmacia and Upjohn) and started up and ran a number of smaller private and publicly listed companies. Stephen has extensive contacts and experience in both the technical and business aspects of the pharmaceutical industry.