About

Jeremy Levin

DPhil, MB BChir
Chairperson

Dr Jeremy Levin has served as the Chairperson of the board of directors since October 2020. Since March 2015, Dr Levin has served as the Chief Executive Officer, and since April 2014, as the chairperson of the board of directors, of Ovid Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. From May 2012 to October 2013, Dr Levin served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, a publicly held pharmaceutical company.

From September 2007 to December 2012, Dr Levin held several roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, a publicly held pharmaceutical company, ultimately serving as the Senior Vice President of Strategy, Alliances and Transactions. Dr Levin also served as a member of the executive committee at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

Dr Levin earned a BA in Zoology, an MA in Cell Biology and a DPhil in Chromatin Structure, all from University of Oxford, and an MB BChir from the University of Cambridge.

Megan Baldwin

PhD, MAICD
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Managing Director

Dr Megan Baldwin was appointed CEO and Managing Director in February 2014. Dr Baldwin brings over 20 years of experience focussing on angiogenesis and therapeutic strategies for cancer and ophthalmic indications.

Dr Baldwin joined Opthea in 2008 and since then has held various positions, including Head of Preclinical R&D and Chief Executive Officer Opthea Pty Ltd, the 100% owned subsidiary of Opthea, developing OPT-302 for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration. Prior to joining Opthea, she was employed at Genentech (now Roche), the world leader in the field of angiogenesis-based therapies for cancer and other diseases.

Her experience included several years as a researcher in the group of leading angiogenesis expert Napoleone Ferrara, before moving to Genentech’s commercial division and having responsibility for corporate competitive intelligence activities. In these roles, she developed extensive commercial and scientific knowledge in the field of anti-angiogenic and oncology drug development.

She holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of Melbourne, having conducted her doctoral studies at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research on the biology of VEGF-C and VEGF-D, is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a director of Ausbiotech.

Daniel Spiegelman

BA, MBA
Non-Executive Director

Daniel Spiegelman has served as a member of the board of directors since September 2020. Since July 2020, Mr Spiegelman served as interim President of Recardia Therapeutics Inc., a pharmaceutical development company. From May 2012 to January 2020, Mr. Spiegelman served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and a member of the board of directors of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., a biotechnology company. From May 2009 to May 2012, Mr Spiegelman served as a consultant to provide strategic financial management support to a portfolio of public and private life science companies. Mr. Spiegelman has also served as a member of the board of directors of Myriad Genetics, a molecular diagnostic company, since May 2020.

Mr Spiegelman earned a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Julia Haller

MD
Non-Executive Director

Dr Julia Haller was appointed non-executive director of Opthea in June 2021. Since 2007, Dr Haller has served as Ophthalmologist-in-Chief and Endowed Chair at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. She is Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University as well as a director of Bristol Myers Squibb. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and serves on several prestigious boards including the board the John Hopkins Medical and Surgical Association, the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and the Society of Heed Fellows. She is President of the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation and a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Previously, Dr Haller was a director of Celgene Corporation and Professor of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, The Wilmer Eye Institute, where she directed the Retina Fellowship Training Program from 2001-2007.

Dr Haller received a BA from Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude, and completed her medical training at Harvard Medical School.

Lawrence Gozlan

BSc (Hons)
Non-Executive Director

Lawrence Gozlan was appointed as a director on 24 July 2020. Mr Gozlan, a leading biotechnology investor and advisor, is the Life Sciences Investment Manager at Jagen Pty Ltd, an international private investment organisation. Mr Gozlan is also the Chief Investment Officer and Founder of Scientia Capital, a specialised global investment fund focused exclusively on life sciences.

Scientia was founded to provide high level expertise and to manage investments for high net worth individuals, family offices and institutional investors wanting exposure to the life sciences industry. Prior to this, Mr Gozlan was responsible for the largest biotechnology investment portfolio in Australia as the institutional biotechnology analyst at QIC (“the Queensland Investment Corporation”), an investment fund with over $60 billion under management. He previously worked as the senior biotechnology analyst in the equities team at Foster Stockbroking, and gained senior corporate finance experience advising life science companies at Deloitte. Mr Gozlan holds a BSc with Honors in microbiology and immunology from the University of Melbourne.

Michael Sistenich

MSC
Non-Executive Director

Michael Sistenich was appointed non-executive director of Opthea in November 2015 and is Chairman of the remuneration committee.

He has advised a wide range of global institutions, high net worth individuals and companies on healthcare investments over the past 20 years. He is a healthcare specialist in international investment management and investment banking, and led the Bell Potter team which advised the Company through the $17.4M capital raising in November 2014.

Mr Sistenich is currently chairman of the board of Enlitic Inc, and previously served as director of International Equities and Head of Global Healthcare Investments at DWS Investments (formerly a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank) in Frankfurt. Mr Sistenich has long standing capital markets connections and experience in the global healthcare investment community.

Quinton Oswald

Non-Executive Director

Mr. Oswald brings over 25 years of international general management experience, including onsite assignments in the U.S., Europe and South Africa. Most recently, he was the CEO of Notal Vision, a commercial stage ophthalmic home monitoring services provider with a focus on both wet and dry AMD. Prior to Notal Vision, he served as the CEO of Neurotech and, prior to that, as the CEO of SARcode Bioscience, where he was instrumental in the clinical development of lifitegrast ophthalmic solution 5% (Xiidra) for the treatment of dry eye disease, and its subsequent sale to Shire, PLC. Previously, he was Vice President and Business Unit Head for Genentech’s tissue growth and repair business. During his tenure at Genentech, Mr. Oswald oversaw the highly successful commercial launch of Lucentis (ranibizumab) for the treatment of wet AMD. Before Genentech, Mr. Oswald led the North American Ophthalmology business for Novartis, which, in conjunction with QLT, Inc., pioneered Visudyne.

Dr. Susan Orr

OD
Non-Executive Director

Dr. Orr is an experienced medical and business leader with specialization in identifying, developing, and commercializing ophthalmic therapeutic product candidates. Dr. Orr currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer at Claris Biotherapeutics and is a member of the Retina Global Board of Directors. Before Claris, Dr. Orr was the Chief Executive Officer at Notal Vision subsequent to joining the company as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Orr has spent more than 30 years in the field of ophthalmology that also includes ten years in private optometric practice and leadership roles at Alcon and Janssen spanning international development, global new product strategy, and business development and licensing. Dr. Orr participated in multiple acquisitions including Durezolâ and Beovuâ (brolucizumab) and has been a Managing Partner at Fovendeye Consulting since 2016.