Atmo Biosciences Limited, a digital health company developing the world’s first ingestible gas-sensing capsule for monitoring gut health and microbiome function, has made three key appointments, further building capability at the executive and Board levels.

Kate Hill has been appointed to the Atmo Biosciences Board as a Non-Executive Director. Dr Carl Runde joins Atmo as Chief Financial Officer, and Sue Dafnias has been appointed as Head of Commercial.

Ms Hill is an accomplished company director with publicly traded companies in the technology, biotech, and SAAS fields. This follows a successful career as a senior partner and first female Board member of Top 4 accounting firm, Deloitte.

Dr Runde brings to Atmo  decades of valuable experience in senior finance roles, including 18 years as an executive with ResMed (NYSE:RMD; ASX:RMD) and, most recently, as CFO of Osteopore (ASX:OSX).

Ms Dafnias previously held senior commercial leadership roles within health technology companies Planet Innovation, Johnson & Johnson Medical (NYSE:JNJ), Dentsply Sirona (NASDAQ:XRAY) and Vision BioSystems (acquired by Danaher Corporation).

Atmo Biosciences CEO Mal Hebblewhite congratulated Kate, Sue, and Carl on their appointments, and expressed his delight to have such talented and high-calibre senior people joining Atmo, commenting, “Building our team is a key priority to achieve our near-term strategic objectives, which includes a pivotal clinical trial for an initial indication in gastrointestinal motility and transit time.

“These new appointments collectively bring many decades of commercial experience and industry expertise, at a critical and exciting time for our business. We look forward to leveraging their significant experience in health technology and life science industries as we work towards our goal of transforming the diagnosis and management of functional gut disorders,” he said.

Kate Hill (Non-Executive Director)

Kate Hill is a Non-Executive Director of Countplus (ASX:CUP), Elmo (ASX:ELO), and Seeing Machines (AIM:SEE), where she is also Non-Executive Chair. Ms Hill is also currently the part-time Company Secretary of Kazia Therapeutics (ASX:KZA; NASDAQ:KZIA) and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Australia.

Commenting on her appointment, Ms Hill said, “I am delighted to join Atmo and support the team in executing the next set of key commercial milestones.

“Moving towards commercialization is a major goal for Atmo and I’m looking forward to guiding the business through the next phase of its strategic direction,” she said.

Dr Carl Runde (Chief Financial Officer)

Dr Carl Runde has over 20 years’ experience as a finance business partner in the medical device industry. Dr Runde holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in International Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand, a Master of Business Administration from Macquarie University, and a PhD in Business from the University of Sydney.

Commenting on his appointment, Dr Runde said, “The opportunity to join Atmo Biosciences at this crucial stage of commercialization was simply too exciting to miss.

“Atmo’s technology has the potential to significantly improve the lives of millions of people globally. Contributing to an emerging business in this way is a rare career opportunity and I am thrilled to be part of the team at Atmo,” he said.

Sue Dafnias (Head of Commercial)

Sue is an entrepreneurial leader with over 25 years’ healthcare experience in sales, marketing and product commercialisation, from product creation to marketing execution.

Ms Dafnias holds a Graduate Diploma in Marketing (Distinction) from RMIT University, a Bachelor of Biological Science from Deakin University, and is currently studying for a Graduate Certificate in Human Nutrition, at Deakin University.

Ms Dafnias said she was looking forward to joining a team that has successfully navigated the challenges of the pandemic and continues to achieve key milestones.

“The Atmo team has done an incredible job of working through some challenging times over recent years, which is a testament to their commitment and ability.

“It is such an exciting time to be in the microbiome space with growing evidence suggesting a strong association between gut health and many chronic conditions. Patients with gut problems often struggle and remain undiagnosed for years. The opportunity to provide insight to aid diagnosis for such patients is phenomenal,” she said.