John Westwater

John brings almost 20 years’ global life science experience across operational, venture capital and investment banking roles.

Most recently John held the role of CFO at Elastagen, an innovative Australian medical device company, until it was sold to Allergan, a global medical aesthetics company. The deal was recognised by the AIC as the Best Venture Capital Investment of 2018. Post-closing, John continued to oversee the integration of Elastagen’s clinical programs at Allergan as Director R&D, and latterly as a consultant.

During his tenure at Elastagen and Allergan, John had a broad remit that spanned finance, corporate development and clinical functions, and was intimately involved in internationalizing the business through to its successful exit. As CFO, John led the Company’s fund-raising efforts including the Series B round. He was also heavily involved in the design and execution of the Company’s two clinical studies conducted in the UK.

Prior to Elastagen, Dr Westwater spent eight years at Nomura Phase4 Ventures in London, investing in early to mid-stage life sciences companies primarily in the US and Europe. John started his career in investment banking with Morgan Stanley where he spent over four years in their Corporate Finance and Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring Department (MARD) teams, advising pre-IPO to blue-chip healthcare multinationals on various capital raisings, divestitures and acquisitions.

At different times in his career, John has also been an independent healthcare consultant, providing strategic advice to various companies through the years.

Dr Westwater holds a PhD and a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from Heriot Watt University in the UK with the first year of his PhD studies spent at Dundee University. He is also a recipient of the Watt Club Medal.