GroPep names new CEO

Adelaide-based biotech GroPep (ASX: GRO) has named former Faulding Pharmaceuticals top brass Robert Finder as its new CEO.

Finder, a US citizen now based in Adelaide, was president and chief operating officer of Mayne Pharma (Americas and Asia-Pacific). Mayne Pharma came out of Mayne's acquisition of FH Faulding, where Finder was president and chief operating officer of Faulding Pharmaceuticals Asia-Pacific.

He had spent the previous six years with Faulding in Australia and the United States.

In a statement, GroPep chairman Richard England said Finder's appointment followed an extensive five-month international search by GroPep.

He said Finder was a "seasoned professional manager" with a strong track-record in pharma, and significant "turnaround experience" in biotech, pharmaceuticals and chemicals.

Finder, 55, said GroPep was a company with great science, but which needed experienced business management.

"My background has been in large pharmaceuticals and small companies," he told Australian Biotechnology News. "Often I've been in turnaround situations - where they've been looking to start up new companies, or where the company has been in trouble.

"The company was looking for someone with more of a business background - from what I've seen so far, there's already plenty of good science at GroPep."

An Adelaide local since 1999, Finder said the city was one of the attractions for taking the GroPep role.

"One of the reasons I was interested in the job - besides the challenges of turning the company around - was that my wife and I love Australia," he said.

Before joining Faulding in New Jersey in 1995, his experience included stints as vice-President of manufacturing at Ecogen, Pennsylvania, director of manufacturing at Rhone-Poulenc USA, New Jersey, chairman and managing director of Rhone-Poulenc Thai Industries, Bangkok, and managing director of Monsanto Chemicals Thailand, Bangkok.

Last week, GroPep announced that its sales of reagents and cell culture products had risen 22.5 per cent over the last financial year. England said the sale of the ill-fated Roseville manufacturing plant it acquired with Biotech Australia, combined with growth from the cell culture business, set the stage for the company's fortunes to turn around.