Syntara Ltd (ASX:SNT) has selected Tim Luscombe as the company’s newest chief financial officer, filling the shoes of David McGarvey, who is retiring after more than 20 years as the CFO of Syntara and before that Pharmaxis.
McGarvey will continue in his role as company secretary to the board, while giving special attention to concluding financial and legal arrangements associated with the sale of the mannitol business unit.
Invaluable to restructuring effort
"As well as welcoming Tim to the Syntara leadership team I'd like to thank David for his steadfast commitment, sound advice and support to the management and board of Syntara over many years,” Syntara CEO Gary Phillips said.
“We are delighted that David has agreed to continue his engagement with the board as company secretary, where his in-depth knowledge of our business will prove invaluable as we finalise the restructuring of our business following the sale of the mannitol business unit last year."
Incoming CFO Luscombe is a director for Bio101 Financial Advisory, a services firm providing outsourced CFO, taxation and company secretarial options for the biotech and healthcare sectors.
He has more than 10 years of finance and commercial experience working with public and private companies in Australia and abroad and currently serves as CFO or company secretary for several ASX, private, and public unlisted companies.
Luscombe is a Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Certificate in Governance Practice from the Governance Institute of Australia.
About Syntara
Syntara is a clinical-stage drug development company developing novel medicines for blood cancers and conditions linked to inflammation and fibrosis.
The company is running three phase 2 trials and two phase 1c/2 studies in 2024.
SNT’s lead candidate SNT-5505 is designed to treat the bone marrow cancer myelofibrosis which causes a build-up of scar tissue that leads to the loss of red and white blood cells and platelets.
SNT-5505 has already achieved FDA Orphan Drug Designation and clearance under an Investigational New Drug Application for development in myelofibrosis.
After encouraging phase 2a trial results when used as a monotherapy in myelofibrosis, SNT-5505 is now being studied with a JAK inhibitor in a further phase 2 myelofibrosis study with interim data expected by Q4 2024.
Protocols for another two-phase 1c/2 studies with SNT-5505 in patients with a blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome are in development and expected to commence recruitment by Q1 2025.