Race Oncology bolsters leadership with key appointment

Race Oncology has appointed experienced biotech executive Dr Megan Baldwin as a non-executive director
Baldwin has more than 25 years’ experience in therapeutic drug development for oncology and opthalmology
She is the founder and chief innovation officer of late-stage biopharmaceutical company Opthea

Special Report: Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) has bolstered its leadership team with the appointment of experienced biotech executive Dr Megan Baldwin to its board as an independent non-executive director.

Dr Baldwin has more than 25 years of experience working on therapeutic drug development programs for oncology and ophthalmic indications.

She is the founder and chief innovation officer of Opthea (ASX:OPT), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel therapy to address the unmet need in treatment of retinal eye diseases.

Baldwin’s experience includes 10 years as CEO and managing director of Opthea, where the company’s lead asset was advanced through preclinical studies to global phase III registrational trials.

Race said Baldwin also has extensive capital-raising experience, including completion of a $180 million initial public offering and dual listing of Opthea on the Nasdaq.

Before founding Opthea, Baldwin was employed at Genentech (now Roche) as a researcher moving to the company’s commercial division.

Her experience in oncology drug development includes both preclinical and clinical investigation of inhibitors targeting angiogenic factors involved in tumour growth and spread. She also managed competitive intelligence activities to support Genentech’s early-stage oncology programs.

Baldwin has extensive corporate governance experience and serves on the boards of Anaxis Pharma and Gertrude Biomedical, and as a director of Ausbiotech.

As for her education qualifications, she holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of Melbourne, having conducted her doctoral studies at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

Baldwin’s appointment to the Race board takes effect from January 1, 2025.

‘Exceptional depth of experience’

Race executive chair Dr Pete Smith said the company was delighted to welcome Baldwin to its board.

“She brings to the role an exceptional depth of experience in biotechnology and therapeutic drug development,” Smith said.

“Megan’s leadership at Opthea, steering the company through its global phase III trials, reflects her visionary approach to addressing critical unmet medical needs.

“We look forward to leveraging her expertise and insights to help drive the future success of Race.”

On track to start phase I trial in 2025

Race recently submitted the ethics and regulatory package for its phase I clinical trial of RC220 bisantrene to the Bellberry Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) at its lead site Southside Cancer Care Centre in Sydney, under principal investigator Dr Mahmood Alam.

The company said the Southside Cancer Care Centre site was set to be activated following regulatory approval with the first patient recruited in Q1 CY25.

Regulatory and institutional packages have also been completed for submission to a second Australian site immediately following HREC approval of the trial, with both sites planned to be activated simultaneously.

The company said additional site evaluation and recruitment was ongoing with the aim of achieving 10 active sites both in Australia and internationally.

This article was developed in collaboration with Race Oncology, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.