About Us

Norwood Abbey specialises in developing and commercialising innovative projects and technologies that address significant unmet needs in the medical industry. Norwood aims to identify innovative research projects that are supported by strong intellectual property with the potential to address significant market opportunities.

Our strategy is to utilise the Company's business development and management expertise to develop and commerciale technologies with the aim of increasing shareholder value.

Norwood's Drug Delivery technology platforms can be applied to a range of potential applications - from pain management and metabolic diseases to vaccinations and gene therapy.

Norwood EyeCare's new revolutionary Epikeratome System for Epi-LASIK is the next generation in laser vision correction surgery, offering patients significant improvements over current refractive procedures. Norwood EyeCare is committed to providing innovative solutions for vision correction and exploring new avenues and approaches to correct diseases of the eye.

Norwood's associate company Norwood Immunology is aimed at boosting the immune system of patients, enabling them to fight infection and better cope with treatments where the immune system is compromised. This technology has application in almost all diseases affecting the immune system including cancer, viral infections and autoimmune disorders.

Norwood is developing its technologies in collaboration with pre-eminent Australian and international clinical research institutions and commercial partners. Together Norwood and its partners are applying the technology platforms to address some of today's most challenging and complex clinical problems.

Norwood’s strategy is to establish key strategic alliances and partnerships with the objective of improving people's lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




Board of Directors

 

 

 

Mr Peter Hansen, B.Ec. (Hons) - Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Peter has 30 years experience in product development and manufacturing operations in medical, electronic and optical businesses. Prior to establishing Norwood, Peter was Managing Director of a family group of companies involved in the manufacture and marketing of patented optical products. From 1970 to 1986 he was founder and Managing Director of The Valet Group. In this role he established an electronic manufacturing facility in Singapore and took the company to the ASX in 1986. Peter has been primarily responsible for the development of Norwood’s business and technology and its acquisition of Transmedica and Spectral and their extensive technology portfolios.

 

 

 

Mr Ron Lewis, B.Ec. (Hons) M.A Admin - Non-Executive Director

Ron is one of the founding partners in Lewis Trende, corporate advisers. He has over thirty years' experience in strategic planning, financial structuring, project evaluation, business valuation and corporate due diligence. Ron was previously founder and principal of Australian Business Management Group, which created a group of listed entities supporting innovative technologies and acted as Chairman of two of these listed entities. In addition to his business interests, Ron was a lecturer in the MBA and undergraduate programs at Monash University for 14 years, specialising in corporate finance, mergers and takeovers and financial accounting.

 

 

 

Mrs Elizabeth Wyatt, MBA, BA, Master of Education - Non-Executive Director

Elizabeth was employed by one of the world's most highly regarded and successful pharmaceutical companies, Merck and Co., Inc for twenty years. During the period between 1980 and 2000, Elizabeth held a number of senior roles and most recently was Vice President, Corporate Licensing. Since 2002 Elizabeth has been a Board member of MedImmune, Inc., ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Neose Technologies. She is on the Board of Trustees of the Randolph-Macon College (Chair of Committee on Trustees; Past Chair, Nominating and Enrollment Committees; 1997 Presidential Selection Committee) and recently joined the Board of Trustees at Sweet Briar College.

 

 

Mr Richard Zahn, B.S. BA - Non-Executive Director

Richard has more than thirty years of experience in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical industries. Most recently, Richard was President of Schering Laboratories, Director, Schering Corporation, and a Corporate Vice President of Schering-Plough Corporation. Prior to Schering-Plough, Richard was with Johnson and Johnson (1973-1992) were he held a number of senior positions in sales and marketing and product development.

Company Secretary

 

 

 Mr Jeffrey Bell, C.A. B.Bus Accounting - Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary

Jeff Bell is the Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary of Norwood. He is responsible for the financial and statutory obligations and daily operations of the Company and has over fifteen years experience advising on all aspects of accounting; including statutory financial reporting. Jeff was previously responsible for a diverse portfolio of clients primarily in the medical research and manufacturing fields with the Chartered Accounting firm of Draffin Walker.

 

 


Capital Structure


As at 31 July 2007

A) Top 10 Shareholders

Rank Shareholder No. of Ordinary Shares % of Issued Capital
1 ANZ NOMINEES LIMITED 20,266,768 9.45
2 BARLOMA NOMINEES PTY LTD 13,200,000
6.15
3 WESTPAC CUSTODIAN 10,895,982 5.08
4 CITICORP NOMINEES PTY LTD 7,551,572 3.52
5 CS FOURTH NOMINEES PTY LTD 4,825,675 2.25
6 BEVILLES EXECUTIVE SUPER FUND PTY LTD 4,319,631 2.01
7 CIBA VISION 3,705,882 1.73
8 BLAMNCO TRADING PTY LTD 2,500,000 1.17
9 CLYNOM NOMINEES PTY LTD 2,480,359 1.16
10 CIBA VISION AG 2,333,333 1.09

B) Distribution of Holders of Equity Securities

198,693,913 fully paid ordinary shares are held by 4,121 individual shareholders
Holders of Fully Paid Ordinary Shares
 %
1 to 10,000
2,333
4.49
10,001 - 20,000
498
3.65
20,001 - 50,000
490
8.11
50,001 - 0ver
507
83.76
Total
3,828
100%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

History

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Norwood Abbey was established in 1998 to develop and commercialise medical laser technologies based on electromagnetic and mechanical energy.

In early 2000, Norwood completed the acquisition of Transmedica International, Inc, a United States corporation with a portfolio of patents, patent licences and patent applications, relating to a laser-based drug delivery and body fluid collection technology. In early June 2000, Norwood completed the acquisition of Spectral Biosystems, Inc ("Spectral") a United States corporation. Spectral also owns a portfolio of patents and patent applications which are complementary to Norwood's technology.

In May 2004, Norwood purchased the global licence for the Centurion SES™ System and EpiEdge™ (epikeratome separator) and their associated U.S. Food & Drug Administration and European CE Mark approvals from CIBA Vision, a wholly owned subsidiary of Novartis AG, which includes patents, trademarks, copyrights and know how. These products are key components of the Epi-LASIK technology, the next generation of vision correction surgery.

Norwood Abbey has invested significantly in supporting groundbreaking research undertaken by Associate Professor Richard Boyd at Melbourne's Monash University based on rebuilding the immune system by regenerating the thymus gland which in produces new T cells. Norwood created a separate entity, Norwood Immunology for this project and Norwood Immunology publicly listed on the AIM exchange in London in July 2004. Norwood Abbey has a substantial investment in Norwood Immunology and continues to be the largest shareholder with approximately 49 million shares representing approximately 21% of the Company.