SeaDragon Appoints Independent Director – Patrick Geals

Link here. 28 July 2014.

SeaDragon Limited appoints Patrick Geals as a Non-Executive Independent Director

SeaDragon Limited (SeaDragon), Australasia’s largest refiner and blender of high-quality internationally certified concentrated fish oils and fractions has appointed pharmaceutical and food industry expert Patrick Geals as a Non-Executive Independent Director.

Welcoming Mr. Geals to the board, SeaDragon Chairman Dr. Doug Wilson said: “SeaDragon operates in a market that overlaps the pharmaceutical and food sectors. Patrick has a wealth of experience in these industries and will help the company make the most of the significant opportunities we see emerging following the completion of our new refined fish oil plant in Nelson next year.”

Mr. Geals said: “I am very pleased to be joining SeaDragon at this point in its evolution. I strongly believe it is poised to take advantage of the growth opportunities in the Omega-3 health and nutrition space.

“Growing consumer awareness and global demand, supported by an increasing amount of scientific evidence, will allow SeaDragon to add real value to its existing foundations.”

Mr. Geals spent over 15 years in the UK working in the pharmaceutical industry for a number of multinational businesses, including: Novartis; Glaxo (now GSK) and Forest Laboratories. His roles spanned regulatory and medical affairs to sales and marketing management and business development.

In 1994, Mr. Geals came to New Zealand and was Sales and Marketing Director and Managing Director of Novartis New Zealand. In 2002 he joined Fonterra as the Global Head of Fonterra Health and Nutrition, a global business unit focussed on the development, commercialisation and marketing of value-added ingredients for functional foods and nutriceuticals. In his Fonterra role, Mr. Geals was also a director and Chairman of Lactopharma, a discovery and research vehicle focussed on components isolated from milk and colostrum and funded by Fonterra and Auckland University through the Foundation of Research Science and Technology (now the Callaghan Institute).

From mid-2005 until early 2010, Patrick was the CEO of New Zealand Organic Dairy Farmers Co-operative, and its commercial subsidiary Organic Dairy Limited. The start-up venture built and operated a new organic cheese factory and exported cheese to Korea, the Middle East and Australia.

In 2010, Mr. Geals and his partners started a new company, Dairy Nutrition (NZ) Limited,
a baby formula business tailored to export markets. Last year, Mr. Geals joined New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, where he focuses on assisting Food & Beverage, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies improve their export capabilities.

Mr. Geals has a BSc Honours from the University of Aberdeen and a post graduate certificate in human nutrition (GCertScTech) from Massey University. In addition, he has studied management, business strategy, marketing and finance at INSEAD in France and Henley Management School in England.

Contact
Ross Keeley
SeaDragon Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: 03 547 0336

About SeaDragon www.seadragon.co.nz
SeaDragon (NZX:SEA) is Australasia’s largest refiner and blender of high-quality, internationally certified concentrated fish oils and fractions, including Omega-3 oils. Our oils are sourced from fish caught in the clean and pure waters around New Zealand, in the Southern Ocean, and elsewhere. We have more than 20 years’ experience processing fish oils and we are recognised for the quality and purity of our products. We supply health supplement manufacturers around the world to meet the burgeoning demand for pure, high-quality fish oils, which are scientifically proven to deliver significant human health benefits such as lowering the risk of heart disease, improving brain function and joint health. The majority of our supply is exported.