Born in PNG to a prominent post WW2 Australian colonial family, Hopper was educated in Sydney at the King's School, Parramatta and subsequently received a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Political Science from the University of New South Wales.
Hopper's first biotechnology company was the ASX-listed Australian Cancer Technology Ltd, where he was CEO based in Sydney from September 2003 to February 2005.
Among the drugs which Australian Cancer Technology worked on during this period was RP101,[2] a small molecule which, by binding to heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27), was designed to prevent the induction of resistance to chemotherapy.
By early 2005 Hopper had relocated from Sydney to San Diego in order to further develop Australian Cancer Technology, but shortly after the move he resigned.
[3] In California in November 2005 Hopper joined Cappello Global, an investment bank based in Los Angeles.