These senior executive team changes mean Optiscan is now better resourced to implement its transformation plan and future-focussed priorities.
Highlights
• Optiscan’s current Finance Manager, Mr Darius Ooi, has been promoted to the Chief Financial Officer role, and will now lead the Corporate team.
• Ms Belinda Williamson has been appointed as Chief Commercial Officer, and will head Optiscan’s Customer team and lead the Company’s efforts to derive value from its expanding commercial opportunities.
• Ms Jessica Ward has been appointed Optiscan’s US-based Director of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs, and will manage the Company’s burgeoning clinical and regulatory portfolios and lead its Clinical team.
• Optiscan has consolidated the US Business Development team for its life sciences product.
• Optiscan’s Chief Operating Officer Brendan Fafiani has decided to step down from this role to pursue other opportunities.
Optiscan Imaging Limited (ASX:OIL) is pleased to announce a reorganisation of its executive team. Post this revamp, the Company will be better placed to both successfully deliver on its stated transformation, clinical and regulatory strategies, and develop a number of exciting products currently in the pipeline.
Optiscan executive team changes are the result of an operational review
Optiscan has recently completed a comprehensive review of its operations, sales and marketing functions, and clinical and regulatory strategy. A key outcome from this broad-ranging review process was an identified need for Optiscan to realign its Customer (Sales & Marketing), Clinical (Clinical & Regulatory), and Corporate (Finance, Info Technology, Investor Relations/Public Relations) teams in order to meet its stated objectives. To realise this realignment of key corporate responsibilities, the Company has taken steps to consolidate and refocus these functions internally to maintain agility, while building additional support and resources by engaging domain experts, consultants and advisors with deep experience in the US MedTech market.
A significantly enhanced Optiscan senior executive team now in place
The Company’s Finance Manager, Mr Darius Ooi, has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer, and has assumed responsibility of the Corporate team. Darius has been with the Company for nearly three years and has led the transformation of the Finance function to support the Company’s global strategy with an expanding product portfolio. He is an experienced Chartered Accountant who has worked with a variety of businesses, ranging from small enterprises to large corporations, adeptly navigating the complexities of finance and business operations. In his previous role at a large multinational medical device company, Darius played a pivotal role in several transformation projects that significantly contributed to revenue growth and operational efficiency. At Optiscan, Darius has already built a track record for successfully delivering multiple finance-related initiatives and has been instrumental in developing long-term financial strategies aligned to the Company’s transformation journey. All this while managing capital expenditure, managing risk and compliance responsibilities, and playing a key role in the Company’s investor- and corporate relations-related tasks
In an Australia-based appointment, Ms Belinda Williamson has been appointed to the position of Chief Commercial Officer. In this role, Belinda will lead Optiscan’s Sales and Marketing team and steer the Company’s efforts to realise the value of the Company’s expanding catalogue of commercial opportunities. Belinda is a dynamic people leader with a proven track record of leading and managing teams that consistently deliver outstanding growth in sales revenue and market share within the global health care delivery and medical device industry. She was previously Group Sales Manager Medical and National Sales Manager (Surgical Division) at Olympus Medical, and Regional Sales Manager and Strategic Account Manager at Johnson & Johnson Medical. She earlier held sales and marketing roles at Guidant Corporation, Boston Scientific, Bard Australia and Zimmer Australia.
Following the departure of Ms Nicole Williams and Mr Ken Lock, Optiscan has appointed Ms Jessica Ward as its US-based Director of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs to manage the Company’s burgeoning clinical and regulatory portfolios in Australia, Germany and the US, and lead the Clinical team. Her initial focus will be the successful execution of upcoming clinical trials for US FDA regulatory clearance of Optiscan’s new imaging solutions for surgery and pathology. Jessica is a seasoned leader who has successfully driven global clinical and medical affairs initiatives for a number of renowned organisations, including the Stryker Corporation and Atrium Health. Most recently, she led clinical and medical affairs teams at Stryker Instruments, overseeing a wide range of global projects specialising in developing clinical evidence generation strategies to support global regulatory clearances across diverse medical specialties, including Orthopaedic, Neurosurgical, ENT, and Interventional Pain.
The Company’s US Business Development team for its life sciences product, ViewnVivo® has also undergone consolidation. This process has seen the departure of Mr Tim Rowe, and the retention of Ms Shayra Leon who will assume responsibility for this product line in the US, as well as Optiscan’s new veterinary product which is progressing through the product pipeline.
Separately, Mr Brendan Fafiani has decided to step down as Optiscan’s Chief Operating Officer. He has worked closely with Optiscan’s leadership team to ensure a smooth and structured transition.
Optiscan CEO and Managing Director, Dr Camile Farah, said: “I want to congratulate Darius on his promotion. Darius’ elevation to Optiscan’s CFO follows his key role in transforming our Finance function into one that better serves the Company’s growing product portfolio and geographic footprint. Belinda’s appointment as Optiscan’s Chief Commercial Officer will help the Company realise the value embodied in its expanding catalogue of commercial opportunities. Jessica’s appointment as our US-based Director of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs is a clear boost to our efforts to progress the Company’s ever-expanding clinical and regulatory portfolios across all of our targeted geographic markets, with US FDA regulatory clearance being her initial focus.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Brendan, Tim, Nicole, and Ken for their respective contributions to Optiscan’s evolution from a commercial, clinical and regulatory perspective during their time in the Company. I wish them well in their future endeavours.
With the deliberate realignment of Optiscan’s human capital and structure actioned, the Company is now well-placed to meet the clinical, regulatory and commercial realities stemming from its evolving hardware and software product portfolio. I am confident that we have the leadership team in place to deliver on our ambitious transformation plan. Together we will be aggressively pursuing our goals to create value for our patients, customers and shareholders.”
To read the announcement, please click here
About us:
About Optiscan Imaging
Optiscan Imaging Ltd (ASX:OIL) is a commercial stage medical technology company creating a suite of digital pathology and precision surgery hardware and software solutions that enable live optical biopsy for life sciences, diagnostic and surgical applications. Optiscan pioneered the development and manufacturing of miniaturised digital endomicroscopes with spatial resolution more than 1000x that of medical CT and MRI.
Using a revolutionary "tissue contact" method, Optiscan’s patented technology produces super high-resolution digital pathology images for cancer diagnosis and surgical treatment, to unlock real-time insights during surgery, diagnostics, and pre-clinical research. By enabling live, non-destructive, 3D, in-vivo digital imaging at the single-cell level, Optiscan's technology supports earlier disease detection, precision treatment, and improved patient outcomes across a wide selection of clinical applications and settings.
The global addressable market for Optiscan’s medical imaging technology extends beyond traditional surgery and pathology, to also encompass the fast-growing digital health market including robotic surgery. With an expanding product suite and increased demand for digital health solutions, Optiscan is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between surgery and pathology and deliver better outcomes for healthcare professionals and their patients.
To learn more about Optiscan, visit www.optiscan.com
Contact details:
Shareholder & General Enquiries
Optiscan Imaging Ltd
Dr Camile Farah
+61 3 9538 3333
ceo@optiscan.com
Media & Investor Enquiries
The Capital Network
Julia Maguire
+61 2 7257 7338
julia@thecapitalnetwork.com.au
