NEW APPROACHES TO OLD PROBLEMS:
Using patented technologies to treat people in novel ways
We differ from typical biopharma businesses in that we develop and sell high–quality and robustly tested alternatives to current drug products and therapies to retail customers and healthcare providers. Our FlexiSEQ products for joint pain and stiffness are currently available across Europe in major pharmacies and supermarkets and online, where they have the potential to reach people suffering from osteoarthritis everywhere.
Headquartered in the UK, one of the top three life sciences hubs worldwide, we operate globally. Our technologies dramatically increase the speed and precision with which we develop new treatments and products.
By accessing international centres of excellence, we are accelerating our programme of haematology treatments towards approval. As we reduce treatment risk, improve convenience and increase effectiveness in our products, the value we create for those suffering, and their families, is priceless.
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The need for effective, affordable healthcare products for unmet or underserved diseases and markets is a pressing one for those who suffer from the conditions we target. Our range of drug-free treatments for osteoarthritis, that have no side effects, are already a commercial success, and our research and development pipeline of haematology treatments has blockbuster potential.
Former Chief Financial Officer of Verona Pharma plc, a listed clinical stage bio-pharmaceuticals group. Mr Roy is a strategic executive with a track record in executing and financing international M&A deals and delivering turnarounds, mainly in the bio-pharmaceuticals sector. He has acted as CFO for several biotech and medical device companies including Enigma Diagnostics, Xytis, Morphochem and Santhera. Prior to this, he was a management consultant at A.T. Kearney and PwC leading international teams in large scale projects for big pharma and private equity backed pharmaceutical companies. Mr Roy qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse and holds a B.Sc. in economics from the London School of Economics.
Dr. Garraway has over 30 years’ experience in developing, funding and commercialising novel technologies in the healthcare and bioscience sectors and is one of the founders of Ascension (previously Pro Bono Bio). He is an experienced director of technology companies both as a managing partner of private equity and VC funds, and also from six years at Imperial Innovations plc (now IP Group plc), heading their biotechnology incubator, creating, funding and mentoring companies with novel intellectual property. Prior to this he was an investment banker in the healthcare and FMCG M&A teams at JPMorgan and Robert Flemings investment banks. Dr. Garraway holds a Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Portsmouth and an MBA from the London Business School.
Former General Counsel for ten years at Imperial Innovations Group plc, a London listed spin-off from Imperial College London investing in biotech and industrial start-ups from leading scientific research universities in the UK. Mr Bowen is an experienced director of legal affairs and company secretary, focussing particularly on corporate, financing and commercial matters mainly in the private equity and venture capital sectors. He has previously also acted as General Counsel at RAC plc and prior to that was a legal adviser at GEC plc. Mr Bowen qualified as a Barrister at Lincoln’s Inn, specialising in corporate and trust matters.
| Name | Title | Biography | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Aisbitt |
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Chairman | Former Chairman of Pension Insurance Corporation since 2016. Former chairman of Man Group plc.; more than 20 years’ experience in international corporate finance and was previously partner and managing director in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs. |
| Biresh Roy |
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CEO | See management biography. |
| Dr Richard Garraway |
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Director of Intellectual Property and Strategy Development | See management biography. |
| Prof. Trevor M. Jones |
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Non-executive director | Prof. Jones is a visiting professor at Kings College London, with over 45 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry He was formerly R&D Director of the Wellcome Foundation and a Director of Allergan Inc. Public appointments have included Director General of the ABPI , membership of the UK Government’s Medicine’s Commission, advisor to the Cabinet Office on the Human Genome project, Chair of the UK Government Advisory Group on genetic research, and Commissioner at the World Health Organisation. Prof. Jones is currently Chairman of e-Therapeutics and continues to advise the UK government on public health matters, including COVID-19. |
| David Quint |
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Non-executive director | Representative of the Precision Castparts Corporation. Founder and CEO of RP&C investment banking group. |
| Vladimir Konovalov |
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Non-executive director | Managing Director of Management Company Rusnano; more than 15 years’ of investment management; previously Head of Analytical department of private equity fund Zindel Investment Partners. |
| Ali Baruni |
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Non-executive director | Over 37 years’ experience in the financial services industry; previously held senior roles in Bankers Trust Company and Citibank. |
Edward Tuddenham is emeritus Professor of Haemophilia at University College London. Prof. Tuddenham received his medical degree from the University of London in 1968. In his first post as a trainee pathologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Liverpool, he developed a keen interest in haemophilia sparked by observing a patient with inhibitory antibody to factor VIII. For further training in haematology, he moved to Cardiff and started working on factor VIII under the guidance of Arthur Bloom, which he continued at the University of Connecticut, USA in the laboratory of Leon Hoyer. He was appointed as first director of the new Haemophilia Centre at Royal Free Hospital in London, where he was the immediate successor of Katharine Dormandy in 1978. From 1978 to 1982 his group completed the first large scale purification to homogeneity of human factor VIII. This enabled the sequencing of the protein, cloning of its gene and production of recombinant factor VIII in cultured cells, achieved in 1984 in collaboration with teams at Genentech Inc. In 1987 he left the Haemophilia Centre to set up the Haemostasis Research Group for the Medical Research Council, which he led for 20 years. During this time, his group made many advances in rare bleeding disorders such as deficiency of factor VII, factor XI, combined factor V and VIII and platelet function disorders. He returned to the Royal Free Hospital Katharine Dormandy Haemophilia Centre in 2006 and remained Director until his retirement in 2011. During that time his group initiated the first safe effective gene therapy for haemophilia B, work which was carried out in collaboration with Professor Amit Nathwani, (who became Tuddenham’s successor as Director of the Katharine Dormandy Haemophilia Centre) and teams at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN. Prof. Tuddenham has published over 300 original scientific papers, review articles, book chapters and books His current research interests are the establishment of gene therapies Haemophilia A, Haemophilia B and factor VII deficiency and the structure, function and interaction of factor VIII with other proteins. He is also interested in ways to make affordable therapy available worldwide in resource poor countries.
Dr. Ulrich Thibaut studied Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Tübingen University in Germany. On graduating, and after qualifying as a Pharmacist, Ulrich obtained a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and subsequently joined Byk Gulden GmbH (which later became ALTANA Pharma AG) as a research scientist. He served in various scientific and managerial roles in Research and Development and was appointed Executive Vice President Global R&D and member of the Executive Board of Management of ALTANA Pharma AG in 2004.
After the sale of ALTANA Pharma AG to Nycomed in 2006 Ulrich joined Drägerwerk AG in Lübeck, a global leader in the medical and safety device industry as Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Executive Board. His responsibilities included the global R&D organization of Dräger Medical AG, Dräger Safety AG and Drägerwerk AG’s basic research and development as well as the patent department.
In 2010, Ulrich joined Octapharma AG in Switzerland as Executive Board Member, with responsibility for the global R&D organization of the Octapharma Group. During his more than five years at Octapharma, several new products were successfully launched by the Company, including Nuwiq®, a recombinant FVIII produced in a human cell line and Panzyga®, a new IVIG product.
Ulrich has a broad managerial and scientific background from more than 27 years of R&D work in the healthcare industry and a proven track record of several large and successful product launches emerging from the R&D organizations he led.
Today, Ulrich teaches at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and is a consultant to the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.