Joanna Perry MNZM has been appointed to the Board of Helius Therapeutics - New Zealand’s largest licenced medicinal
cannabis company.New Helius board member, Joanna Perry MNZM.
The Chartered Accountant Fellow joins as an Independent Director and will Chair the Board’s Audit Finance Committee.
The appointment of Ms Perry comes as the 100% New Zealand-owned private company prepares to enter both domestic and
international markets.
“Joanna’s significant governance experience, combined with her well-known inquisitive probing, will be a real asset. Her
nature to challenge and always seek continuous improvement strongly aligns with Helius’ internal cultural value of
staying curious,” says Carmen Doran, Chief Executive of Helius Therapeutics.Based in Auckland’s East Tamaki, Helius Therapeutics is New Zealand’s largest licenced medicinal cannabis company.
Ms Perry currently holds other senior independent directorships. As with many previous governance roles, she often leads
responsibility for audit and risk. She has held many regulatory, advisory, standards and reporting-related roles, and
was a long-time member of the former Crown entity, Securities Commission of New Zealand.
The Cambridge University graduate was awarded a Member New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for Services to Accounting.
Having raised $48m in capital since 2018, Helius has invested significantly in both its facility and talent. The arrival
of Ms Perry to the Board of Helius is timely, with its state-of-the-art, integrated medicines manufacturing facility in
Auckland’s East Tamaki set to power up.
“Our world-class executive leadership team is complete, and our board is equally excited to bring high quality, highly
efficacious medicinal cannabis products to market with an exciting R pipeline to follow,” says Ms Doran.
Joanna Perry says it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be involved with such an innovative biotechnology company,
leading the infancy of New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis sector.
“I’m delighted to add my governance and financial experience to the vast pharmaceutical and cannabinoid medicine
experience of the Helius team. It’s an incredible journey not only for Helius, but for the country,” says Ms Perry.
The new Board member at Helius has previously worked with the company’s cornerstone shareholder and Chairman, Guy
Haddleton, and is looking forward to again.
“I respect Guy’s steadfast commitment to business innovation globally. I also admire his personal passion to deliver
safe and effective medicinal cannabis here in New Zealand to improve patients’ quality of life. He has built the team to
get the job done,” says Ms Perry.
Helius Therapeutics is the foundation sponsor of MedCan Summit 2021, which will take place on 12 and 13 October in
Auckland.