Benitec appoints Kevin Buchi to board

Benitec Biopharma (ASX:BLT) has appointed 30-year biotech industry veteran Kevin Buchi to its board as a non-executive director.

Buchi worked at US biopharmaceutical company Cephalon from 1991 until its acquisition by Teva Pharmaceuticals in 2011.

At Cephalon, he rose through the ranks, holding positions including COO, CFO, head of business development and finally CEO. After the acquisition, Buchi was appointed Teva’s corporate vice president for global branded products.

Buchi also has extensive experience on biotech company boards. He currently also serves on the boards of Stemline Therapeutics, Forward Pharma and Alexza Pharmaceuticals.

Benitec last year acquired US-based Tacere Therapeutics, which has developed a trial-ready hepatitis C treatment candidate. The candidate is based on a gene-silencing technology owned by Benitec called DNA-directed RNA interference, or ddRNAi.

Buchi told Australian Life Scientist that he was drawn to the company due to the potential of the candidate which, if successful in hepatitis C, can likely be adapted for hepatitis B.

“I think Benitec’s at a very interesting point in their history,” he said. “Over the next year or so, we’re going to know whether their approach to treating hepatitis C and hepatitis B is going to work. That, I think, is going to do a tremendous amount for healthcare in general.”

He added that Benitec’s current valuation is “completely out of line” for a company at its development stage, which is presenting a “tremendous” opportunity for investors.

“I’ve got to say it’s rare that I’ll put my own money into these types of things, but I’ve invested my own money in this one. I think this thing’s a potential home run.”

Buchi’s role on the board will be to help the company branch out into the US and European markets.

“Hopefully I can introduce [Benitec] to a bit more of a global investor base, maybe help introduce them to potential partners in the US,” he said.

Benitec shares were trading unchanged at $0.014 as of around 1.30 pm on Friday.