4 March 2019 – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Quality expert Dr Adrian Oates joins BVT as Chief Operating Officer
Bionic Vision Technologies Pty Ltd (BVT) today announced that Dr Adrian Oates has joined the company as its Chief Operating Officer (COO).This appointment helps to build a highly experienced executive team at BVT and complements Brian Gordon’s recent commencement as BVT’s Chief Scientific Officer.With the excellent progress being achieved in its current clinical trial, BVT is increasingly focused on planning for future pivotal trials, regulatory approval and commercial release of its bionic eye technology. Adrian has more than 20 years of senior executive experience in the medical device, in-vitro diagnostic, biological and pharmaceutical health care industries at major companies including Cochlear and CSL.His early career was spent as a research scientist that later expanded to encompass strategic planning, global quality and safety best practices, clinicalstudy & regulatory strategy execution, as well as oversight of operational compliance and third party vendors.Key achievements include playing a leading role at Cochlear as Vice President of Quality & Regulatory in the development of a new sterile implantable medical device; leading the FDA accreditation project for influenza vaccine as Quality Director at CSL Behring; and, building processes and systems required for a start-up company as Vice President Quality, Regulatory and Clinical at Universal Biosensors resulting in the development and commercialization of point-of-care diagnostic test systems for global multinational companies. As Chief Operating Officer, Adrian will oversee BVT’s quality, product safety, operational, reimbursement and risk management practices.
About Bionic Vision Technologies Pty Ltd (BVT)
Bionic Vision Technologies Pty Ltd (BVT) is an Australian medical device company that aims to preserve and restore a sense of vision by developing a range of best in class technologies to address degenerative retinal conditions. BVT is commercializing the technologies developed by Bionic Vision Australia (BVA), a consortium of leading universities and research institutes funded by the Australian Research Council from 2010 to 31 December 2016. In April 2017, BVT received $23.6 million from Hong Kong-based State Path Capital and China Huarong International Holdings. The funds enabled BVT to accelerate development and clinical studies. Consortium members collaborating on the trial include the Bionics Institute, Centre for Eye Research Australia, CSIRO’s Data 61, the University of Melbourne, and The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. BVT will seek further capital to complete regulatory trials and technology development.
How the Bionic Vision Technologies (BVT) Pty Ltd bionic eye works
The BVT developed bionic eye consists of implanted and body worn components. The patient wears glasses with a small video camera mounted on the side. The live feed from the camera is processed and transmitted via an implanted microchip to an electrode array placed in a naturally occurring pocket behind the retina, called the suprachoroidal space. The electrodes stimulate remaining cells in the retina, to generate spots of light that give a patient a sense of vision.