AVACTA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Joint Managing Director, Launch Diagnostics
- Launch Diagnostics in 2003 As Territory Manager
Biography
Anne joined Launch Diagnostics in 2003 as Territory Manager after 3 years' experience in the commercial sector and has now over 20 years sales experience in the field of in vitro Medical Diagnostics.
Anne is a graduate from both Strathclyde University and Sheffield Hallamshire University and holds a master's degree in Pathological Sciences. Anne started her career as a Biomedical Scientist specialising in Immunology before moving into the commercial arena.
During her time at Launch Diagnostics Anne has progressed through the Sales Department to take up the position of Sales Director in 2011 and since the launch of ACCUSAY Diagnostics in 2014 Anne has been responsible for leading the Irish business. In April 2023, Anne took up the position of Joint Managing Director for Launch Diagnostics Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Launch Diagnostics in 2015 As a Marketing Services Specialist
Cathy joined Launch Diagnostics in 2015 as a Marketing Services Specialist and was instrumental in the development of the Launch Diagnostics France SAS business. She quickly progressed as Marketing Services Manager in 2016 and then onto a new role as Senior Marketing and Administration Manager in 2020. Cathy's strong scientific background and marketing skills have enabled her to continually progress within the company. Cathy held the position of Operation Director before becoming the Managing Director of Launch Diagnostics France SAS in October 2022, leading the French and Belux business.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer, Diagnostics
Biography
Craig has over 30 years experience as a CEO, COO or Chair in quoted and privately owned entities. This experience includes the implementation of growth and expansion plans where he has completed multiple transactions and integrated businesses in a career spanning life sciences, SaaS software, technology, manufacturing and distribution businesses.
Job Titles:
- Chief Commercial Officer, Diagnostics
Biography
David brings to Avacta over 25 years international experience in business development, marketing and sales management in the in-vitro diagnostic medical devices industry, having held senior commercial and Board level positions in global corporations, angel and venture capital funded start-ups and a sector specific trade association. Following a 12 year period at Genzyme Corporation where David led the international sales, marketing and business development functions for the Diagnostics Products division, he joined US/Israeli start-up Molecular Detection as Vice President Commercial Operations to lead the commercial development of a molecular diagnostics technology platform applied to the rapid, accurate detection of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Building on his experience supporting the development of early stage businesses and technologies in the in-vitro diagnostics sector, David joined London/Boston-based specialist life sciences consulting firm Alacrita and led the development of their diagnostics consulting practice, providing both strategic and operational support to early-stage diagnostics companies entering new markets. More recently, as Head of International Sales for US-based Asuragen Inc., David led a team developing and delivering the international commercial strategy for a specialised genetic and oncology molecular diagnostic product portfolio. He is currently a Board member for two early-stage diagnostic businesses developing novel point of care diagnostic testing platforms, and has served on the Executive Committee of the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA). David has a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and Microbiology from the University of St. Andrews and a MBA from the Open University Business School.
Biography
Alastair is Chief Executive of Avacta Group plc.
He has been responsible for the management and strategic development of the company and has led the public and private M&A activities of the Group since the IPO on AIM which was completed via a reverse merger in 2006. Alastair is a respected and trusted executive with many years experience of investor relations in the UK, Europe and US and has successfully delivered multiple follow-on fundraisings for the Group totalling over £120m.
, was appointed to the Board in September 2007. Alastair has over 15 years' experience as Chief Executive Officer of an AIM-listed business, having founded the business and has been responsible for the strategic development of the Group, leading fund-raising and M&A activities during this time. Alastair's time commitment is full time.
Job Titles:
- Non - Executive Director
- Head of Research and Development
Dr Christina Coughlin was appointed as a Non-executive Director in March 2022. Prior to her appointment to the Board, she was not involved with any part of the Avacta Group and has been considered independent since her appointment. Christina has an extensive background in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields, with a broad background of drug development from pre-IND to filing experience in global companies. Christina's time commitment is one to two days per month.
Biography
Christina Coughlin, MD, PhD is the former Chief Executive Officer of CytoImmune Therapeutics. Dr. Coughlin joined CytoImmune from Rubius Therapeutics, Inc. where she served as the Chief Medical Officer and led the clinical development, translational medicine and regulatory efforts in the allogeneic red cell therapy platform. Prior to Rubius, Dr. Coughlin was with Tmunity Therapeutics, Inc., where she served as Chief Medical Officer and was responsible for the development of autologous CAR-T and TCR-T cellular therapies. Dr. Coughlin served as the Chief Medical Officer for Immunocore, Ltd where she led the development of KimmtrakTM, recently approved for the treatment of metastatic uveal melanoma. Dr. Coughlin has held other leadership roles in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields in her career including Oncology Asset Team Leader at Pfizer and Clinical Program Team Lead at Novartis. Dr. Coughlin is an oncologist and immunologist, having received her M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and completed fellowships in Hematology and Oncology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and in the Translational Research Group under the direction of Carl June, M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Non Executive Chairman
- Chairman to the Board
- Member of the Remuneration Committee and the Audit Committee
, was appointed as Chairman to the Board in June 2018. Prior to his appointment to the Board, he was not involved with any part of the Avacta Group and has been considered to be independent since his appointment. Eliot has significant experience within US and European life science companies, in particular in the therapeutics area where the Group's Affimer® and pre|CISION™ technologies have a significant focus. Eliot's time commitment is one to two days per month.
Biography
Eliot was appointed as Chairman to the Board in June 2018, bringing with him three decades of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of F-star and also Non-executive Director of Immatics NV, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing TCR-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer (NASDAQ IMTX).
Prior to joining F-star, Eliot was Chief Executive Officer at Immunocore, Creabilis Therapeutics and Solace Pharmaceuticals Inc. The early part of Eliot's career was at GSK and Pfizer.
Eliot holds a PhD in neurophysiology from the University of Liverpool and an MBA from Henley Management College. He is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool and at the University of Pavia. He is a Board member of OSCHR (UK Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research) and the National Genomics Board.
Eliot is a member of the Remuneration Committee and the Audit Committee.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Remuneration Committee
- Non - Executive Director
- Non - Executive Chairman of Fargro Limited a Provider
Dr Trevor Nicholls was appointed as Non-executive Director in August 2013 and was Chairman from August 2013 to June 2018. Prior to his appointment to the Board, he was not involved with any part of the Avacta Group and has been considered to be independent since his appointment. Trevor has vast experience with life science and reagents companies and has provided significant oversight into the development of the Affimer® reagents and diagnostics proposition. During the period Trevor has been Chairman of the Remuneration Committee. Trevor's time commitment is one to two days per month.
Biography
Trevor brings considerable experience in the commercialisation of innovative life science technologies from his previous roles as Non-executive Chairman of Oxford Nanopores Technologies, Chief Commercial Officer at Affymetrix, founder and Chief Executive Officer of UK biotech company Oxagen Ltd and Commercial Director of the Life Sciences business at Amersham International (now part of Danaher Corporation).
Trevor, prior to his retirement at the end of 2020, was Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International, a not-for-profit intergovernmental organisation whose mission is to improve lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment.
Trevor is also Non-executive Chairman of Fargro Limited a provider of products and services for Horticulture, Non- executive Chairman of Iota Sciences Limited, a spin-out company from
the University of Oxford which is commercialising innovative microfluidic technology for the life sciences sector, a Non-executive Director of Conidia Bioscience Limited, which develops and sells patented lateral flow tests for the detection of microbial contamination of aviation and diesel fuels, and a Non- executive Director of Wobble Genomics Ltd, a spin-out of the Roslin Institute, specialising in DNA analytics and diagnostics. Previously Trevor has been Non-executive Chairman of Activiomics Limited, a biomarker discovery specialist, as well as a Non-executive Director of hVivo plc, a clinical research organisation.
Trevor is Chair of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Physician at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center
Biography
Dr Stéphane Champiat MD, PhD is a physician at Gustave Roussy Cancer Center in Villejuif, France. He has been working since 2012 in the Drug Development Department of Gustave Roussy where he is involved in the development of cancer therapeutics, in particular new immunotherapies. He has been principal investigator or co-investigator of more than 50 phase I clinical trials run by many of the worlds leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He is particularly involved in the coordination of the immunotherapy toxicity management program and the development of the intra-tumoral immunotherapy strategy at Gustave Roussy.
Job Titles:
- Joint Managing Director, Launch Diagnostics
Biography
Ian qualified with the Business and Technology Education Council at National Certificate and Higher National Certificate level in Electronic Engineering. He first began his career at De La Rue Systems before moving to Dynatech Laboratories, now called Dynex Technologies Inc.
Ian joined Launch Diagnostics Ltd in 2000 and progressed quickly to the role of Technical Manager. In 2004 he took up the newly created position of Technical Director with a range of responsibilities managing the company's expanding Technical Department covering the United Kingdom and Ireland and recently France and Benelux territories.
Over his 30-year career history, he has held Technical Management, Research and Development and Director roles which, has given Ian a rare blend of technical expertise and commercial skills suited to business developing within the changing field of Clinical Diagnostics. In April 2023, Ian took up the position of Joint Managing Director for Launch Diagnostics Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer, Therapeutics
Biography
Reporting to the CEO, Karen is responsible for Operations within Avacta Therapeutics, supporting the research and development functions with the sole focus of creating maximum value for the organisation's stakeholders. Aligning all employees to the company's goals, Karen strategises and prioritises operational requirements, establishes achievable performance measures and sets comprehensive goals for Avacta Therapeutics' business growth and success.
Karen has over 30 years' experience managing complex global B2C organisations; designing, planning and implementing strategies, plans and procedures, with a focus on operational excellence, promotion of company culture/vision, and continuous improvement. Her last 15 years have seen her successfully undertake VP/SVP roles, predominantly within the healthcare and life sciences sectors. She has grown PE backed businesses with a focus on value creation through expansion, partnerships, and acquisitions, and also has significant experience of successfully delivering business transformation and integration globally in competitive, consumer-focused environments.
Biography
Professor Krishna Komanduri, M.D. is division chief of Hematology-Oncology at UC San Francisco's Division of Hematology-Oncology. In addition to his role as division chief, Professor Komanduri is physician-in-chief of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center as well as the clinical director of the UCSF Living Therapeutics Initiative. As division chief, he also holds the Julius R. Krevans Distinguished Professorship. Professor Komanduri formally held several key leadership roles at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami.
Professor Komanduri also serves on the United Health Care Oncology Advisory Committee and on the Optum Health Blood and Marrow Transplantation Advisory Committee. He is a past Chair of the American Society of Hematology Scientific Committee on Host Defense, is the current Chair of the ASTCT Cellular Therapy Committee and Chair-Elect of the Government Relations Committee.
Among his honors, he was elected into the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2009), and was recently inducted in to the Henry Kunkel Society (2021) and into the second class to be named Fellow of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (2021).
Job Titles:
- Non - Executive Director
- Medical Oncologist
Dr Mark Goldberg was appointed as a Non-executive Director in August 2021. Prior to his appointment to the Board, he was not involved with any part of the Avacta Group and has been considered independent since his appointment. Mark has an extensive background as an Executive and Non-executive Director within the US biotechnology sector and is also a medical oncologist. Mark's time commitment is one to two days per month.
Biography
Mark A. Goldberg, MD, is a medical oncologist and hematologist and a biotechnology executive. In addition to being a Non-executive Director of Avacta, he currently serves on the boards of directors of ImmunoGen, Idera Pharmaceuticals, GlycoMimetics, Blueprint Medicines, and Walden Biosciences. Dr. Goldberg was part of the executive management team of Synageva Biopharma from 2011 until 2014. Prior to that, he served in various management capacities of increasing responsibility at Genzyme Corporation from 1996 until 2011, including as senior vice president of Clinical Development. Prior to joining Genzyme, Dr. Goldberg was a full-time staff physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he still holds an appointment. He is an associate professor of Medicine (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Goldberg is also a longtime American Cancer Society (ACS) and ACS Cancer Action Network volunteer. Dr. Goldberg was a member of the American Cancer Society New England Division Board from 2010-2017. He has been a member of the national Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society since 2019. He received his AB from Harvard College (magna cum laude) and his MD (cum laude) from Harvard Medical School (Harvard MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology).
Job Titles:
- Abcam in 2005 As a Development Scientist
- Chief Scientific Officer, Diagnostics
Biography
Matt studied Genetics & Microbiology at the University of Sheffield and stayed on to complete a PhD in Molecular Biology with Dr Anne Moir investigating novel surface proteins of the B. cereus endospore. As part of his PhD, he completed an EMBO short-term fellowship at the Pasteur Institute in Paris with Dr Michele Mock looking at the same proteins in B. anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax. After completing his PhD, Matt took a Postdoctoral position in the Department of Biochemistry at Cambridge University with Professor George Salmond. The focus of the project was characterising a novel toxin-antitoxin phage resistance mechanism discovered on a cryptic plasmid in E. carotavora.
Matt joined Abcam in 2005 as a development scientist producing and characterising antibodies. His career at Abcam developed as the company grew to become the leading provider of research-grade antibodies in the life sciences market. He held several roles over his 8 years in the company, culminating in the post of Head of R&D.
His experience at Abcam includes building an imaging team for ICC and IHC, being responsible for managing the antibody characterisation group, running a team responsible for process improvements and QA, project managing a team of developers implementing a new LIMS system and management team of the Product Development & Manufacturing facility.
As Head of R&D, he built and ran a research group with interests in recombinant antibody/binder technologies, alternative detection methodologies, immunoassay development and antibody characterisation. His other responsibilities included contributing to M&A strategy, licensing deals and technology scouting. To support this, he completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Bournemouth in 2012.
Job Titles:
- Group Communications Director
Biography
With almost 25 years experience in healthcare and life sciences marketing and communications, Michael previously worked for the NHS, Department of Health and Smith & Nephew. Here he helped to significantly grow their digital presence and delivered a number of successful international medical device campaigns, as well as working on internal and external corporate communications.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Audit Committee
- Non - Executive Director
- Chairman of the Committee
Paul Fry was appointed as a Non-executive Director in February 2020. Prior to his appointment to the Board, he was not involved with any part of the Avacta Group and has been considered independent since his appointment. Paul has an extensive financial background within the life sciences sector and has been Chairman of the Audit Committee since his appointment to the Board. Paul's time commitment is one to two days per month.
Paul Fry is the Chair of the Committee and is considered to be an independent Non-executive Director. Paul is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and brings significant breadth of recent and relevant financial experience including his current role as Chief Financial Officer of Argenta and his prior role as Chief Financial Officer of Vectura Group Ltd, which was listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Philip Morris International Inc. and subsequently de-listed in October 2021. The current members of the Committee - Eliot Forster and Trevor Nicholls, both of whom are Non-executive Directors - have gained wide experience in regulatory, commercial and risk issues.
Biography
Paul was appointed as a Non- executive Director in February 2020. Paul has extensive financial experience across several industries including biotech, pharmaceutical and telecommunications. Paul is currently Chief Financial Officer of Argenta, a global CRO and CDMO specialising in animal health. Prior to this he was Chief Financial Officer of Vectura Group Ltd, an industry-leading inhaled drug delivery specialist which up until 2021 was listed on the FTSE Main Market.
Paul was also Chief Financial Officer of Immunocore Limited, a leading biotech company focused on the development of a new class of immunotherapeutic drugs based on proprietary T-cell receptor technology. Paul has also served as Director of Global Finance Operations at Vodafone plc and spent more than 25 years at GlaxoSmithKline (‘GSK'), where he held several senior roles including Head of Global Finance Services and Chief Financial Officer for GSK's Italian pharmaceutical business.
Paul holds a degree from Oxford University and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accounts
Paul is Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Biography
Shaun Chilton was most recently Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") of the formerly London-listed Clinigen Group plc ("Clinigen"), a global pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical services platform business, which he led through a significant growth journey. During his tenure, the company expanded through both an organic and a buy-and-build strategy which included successfully completing several transformational acquisitions. The Company was eventually sold to Triton Partners for a total consideration of c.£1.3 billion in April 2022.
Alongside his role as the CEO of Clinigen, Shaun was Non-Executive Chairman of C7Health, a disruptive, venture capital-backed medical technology and services business which executed an acquisitive growth journey before successfully being acquired by a strategic buyer in 2022.
Shaun has held a number of senior and executive commercial positions over more than 30 years in companies in pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical services industries. These include at Pfizer, Sanofi, Wolters Kluwer Health and KnowledgePoint360 Group (now part of UDG Healthcare).
Job Titles:
- Chief Business Officer, Therapeutics
Biography
Simon has over 26 years' commercial experience in the biopharma industry. He has worked with companies from large and mid-sized pharma such as Bristol-Myers-Squibb and Menarini Group to early stage biotechs, supporting business development and licensing activities in addition to being involved in all aspects of business and corporate development. Simon has been involved in over 80 commercial deals across Europe, North America, Australasia, Japan, Russia/CIS and South America.
Simon's career began at University of Oxford spin-out, Oxagen Limited where he established and built a franchise in Women's Health, initially as Programme Director and later as Director of Business Development. He subsequently joined next generation sequencing company Solexa where, as Business Development Director, he was responsible for all commercial activities and external communications leading up to the reverse takeover of Nasdaq-listed Lynx Therapeutics to form Solexa Inc. which was later acquired by Illumina. Since then, Simon has worked as a consultant providing expert commercial and business development resources to a wide range of biopharmaceutical companies. Prior to moving into industry, Simon was a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College London. He has published widely, particularly in the field of complex disease genetics.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer, Coris BioConcept
Sebastien qualified with a business engineering master at the University of Louvain and 10 years later with a MBA at the Louvain School of Management. He began his career in Consulting, mainly with IMS Health (now IQVIA) and joined Heartbeat Experts (later part of Truven Health, now IBM Watson) as VP Market Access, leading a team of international consultants and running projects around the world. After 20 years of international consulting in Sales Force Effectiveness and KOL/Market Access Stakeholder management, he moved In 2019 to the Medical Device industry to manage a SME in Infection Control as the CEO of OneLife. After a couple of years he entered the in-vitro diagnostic industry as Managing Director of Belgian Volition. Since March 2023, Sebastien took up the position of COO of Coris Bioconcept to lead the business and organisational development including Quality and Regulatory, Production and Administration.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Executive Director
Tony Gardiner was appointed as an Executive Director in January 2016 and fulfils the role of Chief Financial Officer for the Group. Tony has over 25 years' experience in senior financial and operational roles across small and large organisations and has previously served as CFO in an AIM-listed business. In addition to this role, Tony is also Company Secretary and provides advice and guidance to the Board and Non-executive Directors. The Board acknowledges that best corporate governance practice would not combine the role of an Executive Director and Company Secretary; however, given the relative size of the Group at this stage, the Board is comfortable with Tony performing both roles but will review the position as the Group grows. Tony's time commitment is full time.
Biography
Tony joined Avacta from AHR, an international architecture and building consultancy practice, where he has held the role of Finance Director since 2011.Between 2007 and 2011, Tony was the Chief Financial Officer of AIM listed Fusion IP plc, an IP commercialisation company, which was subsequently acquired by IP Group plc in 2014. There, he played a key role in supporting the Chief Executive Officer in growing the business and oversaw all finance activities as well as directly supporting life sciences and health technology companies in Fusion's portfolio.Tony has also held senior finance roles within Eversheds LLP, KCOM Group Plc, Eldon Electric Ltd and Hickson International Plc.