Assignment Help on Mesoblast Corporate Governance

Introduction

The ethicality of board is considered as crucial for maintaining strong position of company in market and this report has maintained purpose of analyzing the corporate governance of Mesoblast which is ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) registered bio-pharmaceutical company. The research has mainly been done through annual report and reports of Chairman and CEO of company. Additionally, theoretical perspectives are also considered to investigate orientation of board which encompass; agency theory, stewardship theory and stakeholder’s theory. Additionally, the communication and disclosure of company is analyzed by lens of stakeholder’s theory. 

Introduction of Mesoblast

Mesoblast Limited is one of the most recognized Australian based medicine regenerative company that has been founded in 2004. The company is famous for dealing with inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular issues and back pain which are most commonly experienced diseases among Australia (Mesoblast, 2019a). The company is engaged in investigating the health conditions, such that new medicines can be made to treating the health issues among people. The vision of Mesoblast is to bring innovative cell based medicines for treating fatal illnesses and to become the only leader of allogeneic cellular products which are approved in United States (Mesoblast, 2019b). The company has experienced durable results of its products for multiple acute and difficult to treat illness. The company has four lead products candidates for different diseases, which include; graft versus host illness, progressive heart disease, disk degeneration and related pain and rheumatoid arthritis and diabetic nephropathy (Mesoblast, 2019c). Each of product candidate has distinct technical aspects, differentiated focal group, unique strategy for recompense, differentiated partnership prospects and different market potential.  The operations of company are based on five strategic obligations which encompass development of differentiated cell based products, delivering late stage clinical products to consumers, fostering development of production capacities to comply with market demand, developing culture of participative and accountable leadership, and developing strategic partnerships (Mesoblast, 2019a). 

The company was initially registered in Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) back in 2004 and since then it has worked for its development. Since then, company has entered into different strategic alliances with an aim of expanding its potential in research and development, manufacturing as well as market orientation. For instance, in 2010 it has developed an agreement with US based company Cephalon to assure manufacturing as well as commercialization of cell based products. Moreover, in 2011, Mesoblast has formed agreement with Lonza Group which is a Swiss based company. In this venture it was agreed that stem cells for production of Mesoblast will be produced and delivered by Lonza (Mesoblast, 2019d). The venture also granted access to company to Singapore based facilities of Lonza. In 2013, company has acquired Orisis and obtained synergetic benefits of this acquisition which has further enabled the company to enhance relationship with JCR which is famous Japan based pharmaceutical company. Additionally, in 2014, company has received recognition by Singapore Economic Development Board  for its contribution in field of medicine in Singapore. Likewise, in 2015, Mesoblast has received $5.8 million from Government of Australia to aid its research and development capabilities (Mesoblast, 2019c). Finally, in 2016, company has received approval for its allogeneic cell therapy in Japan, which was only approved cell based product in that country. Based on this history of Mesoblast, it can be considered that company has gained significant success in biopharmaceutical industry and it is highly differentiated for its innovative products. 

Summary of Corporate Governance 

The board of company is responsible for carrying out different practices, formulating policies and for managing decision making regarding operations of company. The boar’s composition indicates that there are total of 8 board members of Mesoblast of which five are non-executive independent directors (Mesoblast, 2019c). Two directors are executive non independent directors. On the other hand, the chairman of company is also an independent director who is obligated to lead the board and assures that board complies with its roles and responsibilities in effective manner. The chairman agrees that he will not let other board responsibilities to come in way of his responsibilities as chairman. Moreover, in order to avoid any biasness in governance, the role of chairman and CEO are kept separate, which is in accordance with ASX principles and recommendations (Mesoblast, 2019d). Thus, the board of role is to make sure effective implementation of strategies which are being formulated by board.