Dr Nina Webster, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Dimerix, has built the company’s global strategy from the ground up. She has led a team that negotiated with 21 regulatory agencies across 21 countries to ensure ACTION3, its Phase 3 study, would be suitable for approval across the US, Europe and Asian markets upon trial success.
Founded in 2004, Dimerix is a biopharmaceutical company whose lead asset, DMX-200, is now in Phase 3 clinical trials as a treatment for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), building on strong Phase 2 data from 2020 and a promising interim analysis in March 2024. Nina has also led the recent acquisition of a second clinical asset in acute kidney injury.
The first disease Dimerix is working to treat is a formidable one. FSGS is a rare kidney disease that without effective treatment typically leads to complete kidney failure within five to eight years. Adults and children living with FSGS face a difficult road, with dialysis or transplantation often the only options, and even after a transplant, around 60% of patients see the disease return to their new kidney.
Patients have had very few treatment options, and DMX-200 has the potential to change that.
From clinical milestones to commercial confidence
Dimerix has now completed full adult recruitment, with 333 patients randomised and dosed. Paediatric recruitment continues as an independent cohort, in discussions with the FDA and EMA, with the potential to extend the label to children.
Commercially, Dimerix has secured four separate licensing deals across the US, Europe and Japan, with the potential to receive up to AU$1.9 billion in total upfront payments and milestones, plus royalties.
Partners have already paid over AU$80 million in non-refundable payments, a strong signal of confidence in the program. With additional territories still available, Nina remains focused on ensuring DMX-200 reaches FSGS patients wherever they are in the world.
From regulatory readiness to global reach
For Nina, building a successful export strategy starts with getting the regulatory foundations right. Understanding approval pathways, clinical requirements, manufacturing standards and import regulations early can help businesses develop a stronger commercialisation strategy, avoid costly delays and reduce the risks of entering new markets.
Nina also highlights the importance of finding the right local partners. Trusted distributors, research institutions, healthcare providers and industry partners can provide valuable market knowledge, build credibility and help businesses navigate complex regulatory, logistics and distribution networks. For biotech businesses looking to scale internationally, the right partnerships can be instrumental in turning market opportunities into commercial outcomes.
Progress worth celebrating
Nina's international career has spanned multiple territories and cultures, and with that experience comes a deep appreciation for how far the industry has come in supporting women in leadership.
Australia's pharmaceutical sector has made real strides, and Nina draws genuine encouragement from seeing more women step into senior roles and hold their own on the global stage. For Nina, this is personal. "We are building a better workplace for our children," she says, "and that progress is worth celebrating."
Finding community in Global Victoria Women
Nina’s involvement with Global Victoria Women (GVw) has been a natural extension of that ethos. GVw connects ambitious, experienced professionals who understand the realities of building careers and businesses across borders. It is the quality of that network and the openness of those conversations that Nina finds valuable, a community of people who get it, because they have lived it. For Nina, GVw is exactly the kind of initiative that turns individual experience into collective progress.
That commitment, and the global impact of her leadership, was recognised when Nina won the Global Victoria Women’s Award at the 2026 Governor of Victoria’s Export Awards (GOVEA). Unique to Victoria, the award celebrates women whose leadership is shaping the state’s success in international markets. In Nina’s case, it recognises a career built on turning Australian science into global opportunity through scientific innovation, commercial vision and international collaboration.
Under Nina's leadership, Dimerix has secured major commercial partnerships across North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. Her partnership-led approach has allowed the company to expand efficiently into new markets while drawing on local expertise in regulation, pricing and distribution, strengthening Dimerix's global competitiveness and helping put Australian biotechnology on the world stage.