Dr Chris Smith

Partner, Brandon Capital

Joining Brandon Capital in 2012, Chris was one of the initial investment team members. During his time with the firm, he has reviewed hundreds of opportunities covering a broad range of indications and modalities and led 9 new deals, all of which Brandon was the founding investor. To date, 3 of those companies have progressed into human clinical trials with first-in-class compounds, with another two companies close to entering the clinic.

Chris has played a key role in the establishment of many Brandon-backed companies, with a number of those companies being spun out from our member institutes. His expertise lies in identifying and then supporting biotech companies to achieve critical value inflexion points. He currently serves as a Director for Brandon-backed companies including Aravax, Denteric, ENA Respiratory Pty Ltd, MycRx, Okogen, Inc., Q-Sera Pty Ltd. and Axelia Oncology.

Prior to joining Brandon, Chris was a Business Development Manager with CSL, Australia’s largest pharmaceutical company. At CSL Chris was responsible for identifying and reviewing opportunities for CSL’s global R&D pipeline. As a consequence Chris has extensive experience with both in-licensing and out-licensing therapeutic drugs and R&D enabling platforms. Earlier Chris spent three years as a postdoctoral scientist at The University of Cambridge, UK.

Chris has a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from The University of Melbourne, a PhD in Immunology conducted at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, and an MBA, specialising in innovation and entrepreneurship, from the University of Cambridge. Chris is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.