Martin Rogers

Martin Rogers (born 1981) is an Australian bioentrepreneur who has been associated since 2007 with a number of ASX-listed biotechnology companies, including Prima BioMed, which he led from 2007 to 2012.

Background

Rogers attended the University of New South Wales between 1999 and 2004 where he gained a double degree in chemical engineering and computer science. Between 2004 and 2007 he engaged in a number of entrepreneurial pursuits as well as worked at Macquarie Bank.^[1]

Prima BioMed

Rogers was part of an investor group that effectively took control of Prima BioMed in late 2007, when he was appointed a director. At that time Prima had Phase IIa data for its CVac cancer vaccine product, but did not have the funds to progress further. Under Rogers' leadership Prima achieved four main things:

* Raised approx. A$82m in new capital. Rogers started with a 1-for-2 rights issue in October 2007 (A$2.0m)^[2] and followed with Share Purchase Plans in December 2008^[3] and June 2009^[4] (each approx A$0.2m) and a share placement in June 2009 (A$1.5m)^[5] before securing an equity funding line which allowed A$14.7m to be raised between July 2011 and March 2011. From late 2009 capital raising became easier. A third Share Purchase Plan in December 2009 raised A$13.7m^[6] while a placement and associated Share Purchase Plan in June 2011 raised A$41.4m.^[7] Between 2009 and 2012 the exercise of options brought in another A$8.4m (A$1.3m in 2009/10,^[8] A$5.1m in 2010/11^[9] and A$2.0m in 2011/12^[10]).

* Experienced an increase in its share price. Prima stock re-rated 19-fold between December 2007 and April 2011, creating a company with a market value of ~A$300m.^[11]

* Moved CVac into mid-stage clinical studies. The extra funding Prima was able to raise allowed CVac to be taken into Phase IIb studies from 2010 with a runway into Phase III.

* Became a Nasdaq-listed company. Prima's ADRs started trading on Nasdaq in April 2012.

Prima announced in May 2012 that Rogers would be stepping down as CEO.^[12] He left Prima at the end of August 2012. By the end of tenure Prima had made it into the S&P/ASX 300.^[13]

Since Prima Biomed

Since 2012 Rogers has been involved at board level in a number of ASX-listed biotech companies, including Cellmid (ASX: CDY) between September 2012^[14] and June 2015;^[15] Rhinomed (ASX: RNO), since September 2012;^[16] OncoSil Medical (ASX: OSL) since April 2013;^[17] and Actinogen (ASX: ACW), since September 2014.^[18]

References