Board of Directors

Bryce Carmine

Bryce Carmine 

Chairman

Mr Bryce Carmine spent 36 years working for Eli Lilly & Co. and retired as Executive Vice President for Eli Lilly & Co, and President, Lilly Bio-Medicines. Prior to this he lead the Global Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing and was a member of the company’s executive committee. He previously held a series of product development portfolio leadership roles culminating when he was named President, Global Pharmaceutical Product Development, with responsibility for the entire late-phase pipeline development across all therapeutic areas for Eli Lilly.

During his career with Lilly, Mr Carmine held several country leadership positions including President Eli Lilly Japan, Managing Dir. Australia/NZ & General Manager of a JV for Lilly in Seoul, Korea. He is currently Chairman and CEO of HaemaLogiX Pty Ltd, a Sydney-based privately owned biotech.

Mr Carmine was appointed as Chairman of Kazia in January 2024, having served as a Non-Executive Director of the Company since June 2015. He is a member of the Audit, Risk and Governance Committee and Chair of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee.

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Dr John Friend 

Chief Executive Officer

Dr John Friend is a highly experienced oncology and haematology drug developer, driven by a passion for improving the lives of cancer patients. In a career spanning more than 25 years, Dr Friend has worked across a wide range of therapeutic areas in roles from early clinical research through to medical affairs. He was formerly the Senior Vice President of Medical and Scientific Affairs for the US business unit of Helsinn Therapeutics and most recently the Chief Medical Officer at Cellectar Biosciences, a clinical-stage, oncology-focused biotech company in the US.

Dr Friend gained his medical degree at Rutgers University (UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson) and he also holds a BA in chemistry from Southern Methodist University.

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Steven Coffey

Steven Coffey 

Non-Executive Director

Mr Steven Coffey is a Chartered Accountant, having spent his career in public practice since graduating from NSW University in 1983. He has been a partner in the chartered accounting firm Watkins Coffey Martin since 1993.

Mr Coffey is a registered company auditor and audits a number of large private companies as well as a number of not-for-profit entities. He has previously served on the board of an Australian listed public company and is currently a board member of two private ancillary funds (PAFs).

Mr Coffey was appointed as a director to the Company in November 2012 and is considered to be an independent director.  He is Chair of the Audit, Risk and Governance Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee.

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Ebru Davidson

Ebru Davidson 

Non-Executive Director

Ms Davidson is a highly experienced corporate lawyer and is currently the General Counsel for QBiotics Group Limited, an unlisted public Australian life sciences company that discovers and develops pharmaceuticals derived from nature to address unmet medical needs in humans and companion animals. As a former partner at Thomson Geer Lawyers, Ms Davidson brings over 14 years’ experience in equity capital markets, private and public mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions and corporate governance.

Ms Davidson also has extensive experience in advising listed and unlisted entities on compliance and regulatory matters working closely with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and Australian Securities Exchange.

Ms Davidson holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Melbourne, a Juris Doctor (Honours) from Bond University. Ms Davidson is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an Associate Member of the Governance Institute of Australia having completed a Graduate Diploma of Applied Corporate Governance.

Ms Davidson was appointed as a Non-executive Director in June 2023 and is considered to be an independent Director.

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Robert Apple 

Non-Executive Director

Mr Robert Apple has more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including 16 years with Antares Pharma, Inc. as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary, before going on to become President and Chief Executive Officer from 2016 until its acquisition by Halozyme Therapeutics in 2022. Mr. Apple also served on the Board of Directors at Antares from 2016 until May 2022. He previously served on the Board of Directors of InKine Pharmaceutical, PaxMedica Inc., and Kerathin Inc.

Prior to joining Antares, Mr. Apple served as Chief Operating and Financial Officer at InKine Pharmaceutical. He also held prior roles at Genaera Corporation, Liberty Technologies, and Arthur Andersen & Company.

He holds a B.A. degree in accounting from Temple University, Philadelphia.

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