Executive Team

Andrew Howden

Chief Executive Officer

As the CEO of iNova Pharmaceuticals and Managing Director, Andrew brings to iNova a broad experience base with more than twenty five years in the pharmaceutical industry in Australia, Asia and Europe. This includes his work at international pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca, Astra and Upjohn, and with Quintiles and IMS Health.

Andrew joined iNova from IMS Health in September 2008, where he was President of the Asia Pacific region, based in Singapore. He was responsible for overseeing the growth of IMS data and services in all Asia Pacific markets and contributing to regional and global projects for the company.

Prior to joining IMS Andrew was Regional Vice President for AstraZeneca Asia Pacific, overseeing development of all AstraZeneca operations in Asia Pacific, including China, Korea, Taiwan, South East Asia, India, Australia & South Africa.

Andrew moved into business management in 1987, having started his career as a sales representative, after which he held significant responsibilities at the national and international level in Asia and Europe. He has lived and worked in Singapore, the UK & Sweden.

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Science Degree and Masters of Commerce from the University of New South Wales.

Chris van Niekerk

Chief Operating Officer

Chris is the COO and an Executive Director of iNova. He leads a team at iNova with a successful track record of business development and value creation.

Joining iNova in February 2007, in his first 20 months Chris was accountable for all sales, marketing and business development functions across Australia, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific, South Africa and North Asia. Chris and his team now focus on building the company’s pipeline, North Asia businesses and iNova South Africa.

Chris has extensive knowledge and many years expertise in the pharmaceutical industry. He has held roles including Retail Pharmacy, Registrar and CEO of the South African Pharmacy Council, MD of SAD International, Executive Director of Pharmacare Limited, Group Business Development and Executive Committee member of Adcock Ingram and CEO and MD of Douglas Pharmaceuticals Australia to July 2007.

Chris qualified as a Pharmacist in South Africa in 1983 and holds, in addition to a Bachelor of Pharmacy Degree, a Bachelor of Science Honours (Pharmacology) and a Masters in Business Leadership (MBL). Chris is a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa and a proud Australian Citizen.

Norbert Walther

Chief Financial Officer

Norbert is the CFO and Company Secretary who joined iNova in January 2009. Initially responsible for Finance and IT, Norbert now leads a corporate team that includes Finance, Supply Chain and IT.

Previously, Norbert was the CFO of Eli Lilly's Japanese affiliate, Norbert has spent 15 years with Lilly in roles ranging from Finance, Business Development and New Products Planning to Mergers and Acquisitions in Germany, Spain and the USA. He has also been the CFO for Eli Lilly's Australian affiliate.

Norbert holds a Masters and a Bachelors Degree in European Business Administration (EPBS - European Partnership of Business Schools).

Outside work, Norbert’s main focus is his young family, and is a keen participant in bike riding, windsurfing, skiing, soccer and photography.

Graham Garside

Manufacturing Director

Graham has over 30 years experience in the pharmaceutical, diagnostics and biotechnology industries in management roles covering manufacturing, quality, research and development, as well as sales and marketing.

Graham was the Quality Operations Manager for 3M Pharmaceuticals, before moving to the role of Manufacturing Manager. Previously, he was at Abbott Australasia where he he held roles as Manufacturing Manager for sterile products and Quality Operations Manager .

Graham chairs the Australian Standards Committee for controlled environments and is Medicines Australia’s representative on the Therapeutic Goods Administration industry advisory group the Technical Expert Reference Group for non-sterile manufacturing.

He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Biotechnology) Degree, as well as an Honours Masters of Environmental Science Degree.

Graham’s interests are travel and discovering new wines, in addition to family.

Dr Jamshed Ahmed

Medical Director

Jamshed’s overriding goal as a physician is to make a difference to people’s lives by bringing researched products to market that can be accessed in an appropriate and timely manner. Jamshed has been with iNova since its inception and in his corporate Medical Director role, he leads a team of experienced professionals providing iNova's commercial side with regulatory, medical information as well as drug safety and product development support.

Specialising in IVF and Obstetrics/Gynaecology before moving into the pharmaceutical industry in 1993, Jamshed has a unique background. He has experienced the strategic aspects of medical affairs, as well as time spent in operational roles, initially as a medical representative and later leading a sales team of two hundred representatives as a Pharmaceutical Sales Director.

Jamshed has extensive global experience, with successful regulatory submissions in the EU, US and Australian environments, as well as organising global clinical trials at Wyeth UK and at Zeneca’s global head office. He was appointed Wyeth Australia's Medical Director in 1999 and contributed to the successful registration and pricing of new first-in-class high value biotechnology and vaccine products.

Jamshed holds a Medical Degree from Manchester University in the UK.

Sue Elmslie

Human Resources Director

Sue has been with iNova since it became an independent company. Her key focus is aligning iNova's HR strategy and operational activities to support the company's values, goals and business direction.

Prior to iNova, Sue was employed at 3M Australia, most recently as Group HR Manager. Over a 6 year period she provided HR support to a diverse range of businesses including Industrial, Office Supplies, Healthcare and Outdoor Advertising.

Sue holds both a Bachelor Science Psychology (Hons) Degree from the University of New South Wales and Masters of Management from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Sydney.

Sue’s interests include travel, the theatre and she is actively involved in the school community and her children’s sporting activities.

Peter Mayrick

General Manager (Australia & New Zealand)

Peter joined iNova in February 2009 as General Manager for the Australian and New Zealand businesses. A key focus of his role is leading teams who develop and implement sales and marketing plans.

Peter has a solid background in pharmaceutical sales, sales management, marketing, business development and general management, having worked in pharmaceuticals since 1991. He has considerable sales and marketing expertise, having commercialised prescription and over the counter pharmaceutical products in Australian, New Zealand and South East Asian markets.

Peter’s past role was Managing Director of PharmaLink (Innovex) and Inovail Australia and New Zealand, a pharmaceutical services and support company. Before joining PharmaLink in Australia, Peter held sales management and marketing roles for 10 years at Astra Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca and had also worked at Quintiles and Invida.

Peter’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Science (Pharmacology and Microbiology) Degree from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Diploma of Management (Deakin). He is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.