WELCOME TO THE PRECINCT: GCHKP’s newest resident is neurovascular device company Wallaby Medical-phenox.

WELCOME TO THE PRECINCT: GCHKP’s newest resident is neurovascular device company Wallaby Medical-phenox, which has set up its Australian HQ in Cohort Innovation Space.

A key lure for the US/Chinese/German firm was the opportunity to co-locate in the heart of the Precinct with Neutex Image-guided Surgery and Robotics Training Centre, which opened early May in partnership with Philips and Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT.

It is a thrill to see the GCHKP commercial ecosystem grow in alignment with strategy!

Wallaby-phenox is here to springboard global expansion of its treatments for stroke and other conditions. Kirk Lavagna-Slater, VP for International Direct Markets, heads the local office with a remit to open the Indian market and the broader Asia-Pacific region, as well as direct entry into Latin America.

Kirk shares a long professional history with founders of the world-first Neutex facility, Doctors Hal Rice and Laetitia de Villiers.

“The Gold Coast is a great location to access the Asia-Pacific," he says, "but the unique value is the opportunity to work closely with Neutex and doctors Rice and de Villiers, who I’ve known and worked with as leading innovators for 15 years."