Perth, Western Australia, Australia, November 2025 — Marine Biomedical has announced the appointment of Rolee Kumar as its new Chief Executive Officer, marking a significant milestone in the company’s growth trajectory as it advances its breakthrough biomaterial innovation, PearlBone™, toward clinical and global commercial readiness.
With more than two decades of experience across biotechnology, medical research commercialisation, innovation strategy, and emerging medtech growth, Rolee Kumar brings expertise spanning translational research, FDA regulatory pathways, market access, strategic partnerships, grant funding, and scaling early-stage ventures. Over the past year, she has worked closely with the Marine Biomedical leadership team, gaining deep insight into the company’s operations, technology roadmap, and long-term global potential.
This appointment follows Marine Biomedical’s successful $2.1 million capital raise, positioning the company strongly as it progresses its FDA submission and plans for human clinical trials of PearlBone™ — a next-generation, nacre-based bone graft material developed from sustainably sourced Mother of Pearl produced in the pristine coastal environments of Western Australia. PearlBone™ represents a uniquely Australian intersection of regenerative medicine, marine science, orthopaedic innovation, and sustainability.
In her new role, Rolee will lead the organisation’s strategic direction, growth plan, and commercial momentum, with a focus on expanding clinical partnerships, establishing global regulatory pathways, strengthening research collaborations, and preparing the organisation for scale as it moves toward global launch readiness.
Marine Biomedical acknowledged the continued leadership of Patrick Moase, who remains with the organisation as Head of Operations. Patrick will lead manufacturing scale-up, operational readiness, and global quality standards as the organisation enters the next stage of commercialisation.
Before taking on the role of CEO at Marine Biomedical, Rolee Kumar served as Head of Grants at Allied Legal, where she supported startups and innovators across Australia in accessing competitive government funding, grant capital, and market-readiness enablement pathways. Her role strengthened the commercial ecosystem for emerging ventures and founders operating in research-driven domains.
Earlier, Rolee founded her executive leadership journey as Chief Executive Officer at Virex Pharma, where she led development programs targeting global unmet medical needs in respiratory and viral-triggered diseases. Her work in progressing nano-emulsion antiviral formulations for conditions including RSV and Dengue demonstrated her deep understanding of therapeutic development pipelines and clinical strategy.
Prior to Virex Pharma, Rolee spent nearly five years serving as Innovation and Industry Engagement Manager (Health and Medical Sciences) at The University of Western Australia, where she led relationships across hospitals, governments, industry partners, and clinical networks to drive translation of health and life science research.
Previously, Rolee consulted independently across biotechnology and medtech ventures, supporting go-to-market strategy, IP evaluation, regulatory analysis, and commercial readiness. Before this, she worked in research partnership commercialisation at Murdoch University, advancing academia-industry pathways, managing IP portfolios, and helping researchers translate discoveries into applied medical and scientific outcomes.
Earlier in her career, she served in IP and commercialisation roles at Curtin University, Phylogica Ltd (now PYC Therapeutics), and the Telethon Kids Institute, developing foundational expertise in strategy execution, technology readiness, and clinical research frameworks. She began her professional journey as a researcher in paediatric genetic oncology.
Rolee holds an MBA (Advanced) with Distinction from The University of Western Australia, a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biotechnology from Murdoch University, and has recently completed the GAICD certification from the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She was also selected as part of the distinguished 2024 WILD for STEM National Cohort, recognising her leadership across science and innovation.
About Marine Biomedical
Marine Biomedical is a regenerative medicine biotechnology company based in Western Australia, dedicated to developing life-changing medical technologies derived from Australia’s marine ecosystem. The organisation’s flagship product, PearlBone™, is a patented bone graft substitute created from nacre (Mother of Pearl), reflecting a fusion of heritage, innovation, and next-generation biomedical engineering.
With a mission to harness responsibly sourced marine materials to transform patient outcomes, the company is advancing regulatory approvals, sustainable biomaterial manufacturing, and clinical pathways to deliver future-ready solutions for orthopaedic and dental applications globally.
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