Adelaide, Australia, 18 March 2020 – GPN Vaccines is pleased to announce Ms Eve Michelle Martin has been appointed as Company Secretary and General Counsel. Ms Martin will replace Dr Tim Hirst who has resigned as Company Secretary to focus on his role as Chairman & CEO of the Company.
Eve has extensive experience advising companies in relation to intellectual property transactions and commercialisation, including on matters relating to IP ownership, licensing, assignments, collaborations, alliances and sponsorships. She was a lawyer at the Australian National University for over 10 years, Associate Director at Engage UC, the Innovation and Strategic Initiatives Office of the University of Canberra and a Senior Lawyer at Meyer Vandenberg Lawyers advising universities, investment managers and start-up companies on a wide range of issues including legal due diligence, subscription arrangements, non-disclosure, collaborative research and development, Corporations Act compliance and commercialisation of product developments. Eve was also Commercial Manager, Corporate Council and Company Secretary for FEI (now part of Thermo Fisher). She currently runs her own advisory and legal practice and is also Director, Commercial & Operations and Company Secretary for Digital Health CRC Limited, a Cooperative Reasearch Centre.
Eve commented on her appointment “I am delighted to be joining GPN Vaccines as Company Secretary and General Counsel where I can bring my legal and corporate governance expertise to an advanced technology company working on a globally important public health challenge – a better vaccine for preventing pneumonia.”
GPN Vaccines’ Chairman & CEO, Dr Tim Hirst commented, “I have worked with Eve as a lawyer for a number of years and have valued her insights and advice on the start-up ecosystem and in contract negotiation. I am thrilled to welcome her as Company Secretary and part-time General Counsel as we build an exceptional team to make GPN Vaccines a truly successful clinical stage biotech company.”
About GPN Vaccines
GPN Vaccines is a public (unlisted) biotechnology company developing a vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is responsible for causing life-threatening pneumonia, bacteraemia and meningitis, as well as otitis media (middle ear infections). Each year it causes 1-2 million deaths worldwide, killing more children than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. There are now 98 different serotypes of S. pneumoniae and the best vaccine currently on the market only protects against 13 of them. Gamma-PN – GPN Vaccines’ new S. pneumoniae vaccine is being developed to protect children and adults against all S. pneumoniae strains, regardless of strain serotype.