BIVICTRIX - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Finance Officer
- Chief Financial Officer
Alex Hughes is Chief Finance Officer for BiVictriX Therapeutics Plc, bringing over 10 years of experience in senior financial leadership roles within listed businesses and more recently biotech. Mr. Hughes supported the UK investment of US listed Instil Bio (NASDAQ: TIL), which raised $368m during an IPO onto NASDAQ in March 2021. Prior to this he held senior roles in Luxfer MEL Technologies (NYSE: LXFR), helping grow the business into new markets whilst restructuring and implementing SAP S/4 Hana.
At BiVictriX, Mr. Hughes is responsible for maintaining strong internal financial controls, regulatory filings and investor relations.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Non - Executive Chairman
Dr. Michael Kauffman joined the BiVictriX Board in 2022 and was appointed Chairman in January 2023. He has over 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry, including expertise in preclinical research, clinical development and regulatory strategy. In addition to BiVictriX, he is a board member for Verastem Oncology, Adicet Bio and Kezar Life Sciences.
Dr. Kauffman previously served as Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Karyopharm, where he guided the Company's transition from a discovery stage biotechnology company to a commercial stage organisation with the global approvals of XPOVIO®, and latterly served as Senior Medical Advisor. Dr. Kauffman was previous Chief Medical Officer of Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. where he lead the development and approval of Kyprolis® and was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of EPIX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (previously Predix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.).
Dr. Kauffman was the leader of the Velcade® development programme at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and has also held a number of senior positions at Millennium Predictive Medicine and Biogen. Dr. Kauffman received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins Medical School, trained at Beth Israel and Massachusetts General Hospitals in Boston and is board certified in Internal Medicine.
Job Titles:
- VP, Product Development & CMC
Dr. Oliver Schon is VP, Product Development & CMC at BiVictriX Therapeutics plc, bringing over 20 years of experience in antibody discovery and manufacture. Dr. Schon obtained his PhD in Cancer Research from The University of Cambridge before joining Sir Gregory Winter's domain-antibody biotech venture Domantis Ltd in 2003 which was acquired by GSK three years later. Dr Schon continued to work at GSK for over ten years dedicated to developing biologics and cell therapy platforms for use in the clinic until he joined IO-focussed American biotech Agenus Inc in 2017; it was here that he amassed considerable CMC and biologics-based therapeutics manufacturing experience, developing numerous bispecific antibodies from discovery up until Investigational New Drug application (IND) and beyond.
At BiVictriX, Dr. Schon is applying his broad expertise from lead discovery to manufacture in order to progress differentiated, safe and developable bispecific therapeutic ADC candidates to clinical development.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Senior Independent Non - Executive Director
Drummond Paris brings over 40 years of experience in senior management roles in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Mr Paris previously spent eight years as President of Kowa Research and Kowa Pharmaceuticals Europe Ltd and held several leadership positions in Novartis at country, regional and global levels.
Mr Paris was previously the Non-Executive Chairman of Karus Therapeutics Ltd, Electrospinning Company Ltd and Sirigen (now part of Becton Dickinson).
Job Titles:
- Director
- Non - Executive Director
Iain Ross was Chairman at the time of the Company's successful IPO in 2021 and handed the role over to Dr Kauffman in January 2023. In addition to BiVictriX, Mr Ross is currently Executive Chairman of ReNeuron Group plc (LSE:AIM) and Non -Executive Chairman of Silence Therapeutics plc (LSE/NASDAQ) and Kazia Therapeutics Limited (ASX/NASDAQ).
Mr Ross has completed multiple financing transactions and has over 30 years of experience in cross-border management as a Chairman and CEO in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. He has led and participated in eight IPOs and has direct experience in M&A transactions in Europe, the USA and the Pacific Rim.
During his career, Mr Ross has held senior positions at multinational companies including, Sandoz AG, Hoffman La Roche, and Celltech Group plc. He has a BSc (Biochemistry) from London University and is a qualified Chartered Director.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Independent Non - Executive Director
Prof. Robert Hawkins brings over 20 years of experience in medical oncology and the development and utilisation of advanced therapies in the oncology sector. He is the scientific founder of Instil Bio (NASDAQ: TIL), which raised $368m during an IPO onto NASDAQ in March 2021 and has a market capitalisation of $2bn (August 2021).
Prof. Hawkins was a founding consultant of Cambridge Antibody Technology, which was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2006, and was a founding consultant of Oxford Biomedica plc. He was formerly a Cancer Research UK Professor at the University of Manchester and remains a practicing Medical Oncologist at the Christie Hospital in the UK. Over his career, Prof.
Robert Hawkins brings over 30 years of experience in medical oncology and the development and utilisation of advanced therapies in the oncology sector. He is the scientific founder of Instil Bio (NASDAQ: TIL), which raised $368m during an IPO onto NASDAQ in March 2021 and is currently Head of Research and Development leading clinical and research teams in LA and Manchester.
Dr. Hawkins was a founding consultant of Cambridge Antibody Technology, which was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2006, and was a founding consultant of Oxford Biomedica plc. He was formerly a Cancer Research UK Professor at the University of Manchester where he led the development of cell and gene therapy including leading several major EU consortia. As a practicing Oncologist at the Christie Hospital in the UK he had leading roles in multiple practice changing trials in the treatment of kidney cancer. Over his career, Dr Hawkins has had multiple scientific/clinical advisory board positions within big pharma and biotech companies.
Dr. Hawkins received his MB BS from University College, London and was awarded an MRC training fellowship to work with Sir Gregory Winter at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, from where he obtained a PhD in antibody engineering. He trained in Medical Oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London and Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Corporate Finance LLP
Job Titles:
- Director
- Independent Non - Executive Director
Susan Lowther brings over 30 years of experience in senior financial leadership roles across a broad range of public and private life science companies. She is Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of Arecor Therapeutics plc which is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market.
Susan's previous Chief Financial Officer roles include IXICO plc, Novacyt SA, BioWisdom and Lab21 Group.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Director
- Founder of BiVictriX Therapeutics Plc and Is the Inventor of the Bi - Cygni
Tiffany Thorn is the Founder of BiVictriX Therapeutics plc and is the inventor of the Bi-Cygni® approach, a novel concept which originated from her previous experience as a clinician supporting the diagnosis of haematological malignancies. Ms Thorn has led BiVictriX since its formation in 2016, meeting key corporate milestones and securing c.£10m in investment to date, including leading the successful IPO of the Company onto the London Stock Exchange's AIM market in August 2021.
Ms Thorn brings a strong background in the ADC sector having held senior management positions at ADC-sector specialist, ADCBio Ltd (now Sterling Pharma Solutions), coupled with direct clinical experience from within the NHS. Ms Thorn trained and qualified as a HCPC-registered Clinical Immunologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Preston Royal Hospital, UK and during this time was awarded "NHS England's Chief Scientific Officer's Rising Star Award" for her commitment to facilitating better healthcare by strengthening the links between the UK's healthcare sector and the biotech industry.
Ms Thorn graduated with a First-Class Honours Degree in Biochemistry with Biomedicine from Lancaster University and obtained an MSc in Clinical Immunology from the University of Manchester.