Speakers 2010

Ted Agne

President, The Communications Strategy Group Inc.

Ted has more than 30 years of business experience including 10 years as an officer at Burson-Marsteller, a global communications and lobbying firm. His life sciences expertise includes biotechnology, medical technology and medical devices. He is experienced in mergers & acquisitions, crisis management and international development. He founded The Communications Strategy Group (CSG) in 1987.

CSG specializes in helping UK and EU companies to establish a US presence along with funding and business development. Currently, the firm is advising the Golden Triangle Partnership on creating partnering and other opportunities with US companies. CSG assisted Eden Biodesign, Oxxon Therapeutics, Domantis and Speedel on their introduction and expansion to the US.

Mr Nic Bowman

Director of Device Design and Development, Pfizer Ltd

Nic Bowman is the Director of Device Design and Development at Pfizer Ltd, based in Cambridge in the UK. He has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Bath University, England (1984). Nic worked initially in the energy sector, firstly engineering in coal mining, and then in oil exploration, reaching the role of Chief Mechanical Engineer for Sperry Sun in 1993.

Between 1993 and 2006 Nic worked for The Technology Partnership, Cambridge, UK, specialising in drug delivery devices.  During this period Nic worked with a number of pharma and device companies, developing a range of breath actuated pMDI’s, pMDI counters and DPI’s.

Between 2006 and 2008 Nic worked as Head of Medical Product Development for Sagentia, Cambridge, UK.  Nic built up Sagentia’s pharma experience and portfolio. Nic moved to Pfizer in 2008.  As Director of Device Design and Development he has responsibility for the design of all novel drug delivery devices for Pfizer.

In 2009 Nic was elected to Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.  He is a regular conference speaker, and is named in 20 patents.

Dr Guy Brown

Senior Lecturer at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge

Dr Guy C. Brown received his Ph.D. in 1986 from the Biochemistry Department at Cambridge, then had a College Research Fellowship from St Catharine's College. He then moved to the Department of Physiology, University College London, with a Wellcome Trust Post-doctoral Fellowship, and after 18 months transferred to a Royal Society Research Fellowship at the Department of Biochemistry at UCL. In 1994 he returned to Cambridge with a Royal Society Research Fellowship, and has been a Senior Lecturer since 2002. He has published about 150 scientific papers, and several books, including most recently: The Living End: The future of death, aging and immortality. His research has been funded by: the Medical Research Council, the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council, the European Union, the Wellcome Trust, the British Heart Foundation, and Alzheimer’s Research Trust.

Professor Mike Cawthorne

Director of Metabolic Research & Professorial Research Fellow, The University of Buckingham

Mike Cawthorne is a graduate of Liverpool University and obtained his PhD from the Royal Free Hospital, University of London. He was formerly Group Director of Diabetes and Obesity Research in the Department of Vascular Biology at SmithKline Beecham, where he led the research team that discovered the insulin sensitiser drug rosiglitazone, now marketed as Avandia. Mike Cawthorne received the Society for Medicines Research Award for Drug Discovery in 2001. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications. He is a former Chairman of the UK Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO) and was the founding Secretary of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO).

Dr Ryan Donnelly

Lecturer in Pharmaceutics at Queens University, Belfast. Ryan Donnelly obtained a BSc (First Class) in Pharmacy from Queen's University Belfast in 1999 and was awarded the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland's Gold Medal. Following a year of Pre-Registration training spent in community Pharmacy Practice, he registered with the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland. He then returned to the School of Pharmacy in 2000 to undertake a PhD in Pharmaceutics. He graduated in 2003 and, after a short period of post-doctoral research, was appointed to a Lectureship in Pharmaceutics in January 2004.

Dr Donnelly's research interests are centred on transdermal and topical drug delivery. Recent work has included the design of novel dosage forms containing photosensitisers for Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) and Photodynamic Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (PACT) and the use of microneedle arrays to bypass the stratum corneum barrier. In addition, he also has interests in mucoadhesion, drug delivery across the nail and the investigation of drug-excipient and excipient-excipient interactions within pharmaceutical systems.

Mr Roger Hickling

Research and Development Director, Phytopharm plc

Roger has over 30 years experience in pharmaceutical research. After graduating from King’s College, London, he commenced his career as a research chemist at Beecham Pharmaceuticals. He subsequently moved into regulatory affairs and then project management within Beecham/SmithKline Beecham, managing a range of projects across different therapeutic areas but particularly in neuroscience. Since the late ‘90s Roger has held senior management positions in a number of small biotech and pharmaceutical companies. He joined Phytopharm in January 2010 as the Research & Development Director.

Dr Jackie Hunter

Senior Vice President, Science Environment Development, GlaxoSmithKline

Dr Jackie Hunter has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years. Most recently, as head of the Neurology Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery at GlaxoSmithKline, she led the discovery and development of new therapeutics for neurological and gastrointestinal disorders. This resulted in potential new treatments for multiple sclerosis, Alzheimerís disease and GI disorders.

In 2008 she became the Senior Vice President & Head of Science Environment Development with a remit to develop a more open and transparent global R&D architecture. This includes new ways of working with academia and other publically funded bodies. She is a member of the Innovative Medicines Initiative and Board.

Dr Jan Jezek

Chief Scientific Officer, Arecor Ltd

Dr. Jezek is a Principal Scientist at Arecor Limited, and the inventor of Arestat™, the proprietary stabilization technology for proteins and other biological molecules. In addition to his scientific leadership role in a number of projects at Arecor aimed at development of stable therapeutic compositions of biologics, he is responsible for IP development and advancement of Arecor’s technology platform. Dr Jezek has been trained as a biophysical chemist and holds a joint Ph.D. from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague (CZ) and University of Bedfordshire (UK).

He continued his carrier as a post-doctoral scientist developing novel biosensors for measurement of water quality, and then as a senior scientist at Insense Limited where he was the principal scientist behind the development of a range of novel wound dressings. His inventions related to protein stabilization during his time at Insense led to inception of Arecor as a separate company focusing on protein stabilization. He is the author of several papers and patents which underpin Arecor’s proprietary technology.

Nigel Job

CEO/Managing Director, Remtec Search and Selection

Nigel founded Remtec Search and Selection Ltd in May 1998, with an objective to provide the very highest level of specialist recruiting service to the Life Sciences and Medical Technology industries. Prior to founding Remtec, Nigel worked within the diagnostics and medical device industries (Sarstedt, Medtronic, Caledonian Medical/Angeion). in a variety of roles(Clinical Applications, Sales, and Marketing Management). Since founding the company, Nigel has accumulated extensive experience of senior management executive search for SMEs and "blue-chip" clients.

Dr Stephen Little

Vice President Personalised Healthcare

Dr Stephen Little is a leading figure in the global personalized healthcare and companion diagnostics industry. Co-founder and former CEO of DxS Ltd, Dr Little led the company from its inception in 2001 to become the market leader in the provision of molecular diagnostics for cancer. In September 2009 DxS was acquired by QIAGEN, a global sample and assay company, DxS will become QIAGEN Manchester, a global Center of Excellence for Companion Diagnostics. Dr Little has over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics sectors, and as VP of Personalized Healthcare at QIAGEN will continue to help shape the personalised medicine marketplace, championing the cause for pharmaceutical partnering and companion diagnostic provision in healthcare.

Mr Simon McGuire

General Manager, Philips Respironics Respiratory Drug Delivery

Simon McGuire has worked in the healthcare industry for the last 14 years, and prior to that spent 10 years in the laboratory equipment and diagnostic industry. In 1998, Mr McGuire joined Medic Aid Ltd. (later renamed Profile Therapeutics plc) where he pioneered a number of service solutions for patients at home. Initially, he focused on the area of sleep therapy and then later on respiratory drug delivery and antibiotic therapy for patients suffering from cystic fibrosis.

In 2004, following his company's acquisition by Respironics, Mr McGuire oversaw the business development of proprietary drug delivery systems within Respironics Respiratory Drug Delivery division. And in 2006, he assumed responsibility for Respironics' overall pharmaceutical drug delivery activities, including the company's collaborative work with partners in the pharmaceutical industry. He became General Manager of Philips Respironics Respiratory Drug Delivery following Philips Electronics' acquisition of Respironics in 2008.

Mr McGuire holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and has been awarded a Chartered Director professional qualification from the Institute of Directors (IOD).

François M. Meurgey

Acting Head of Market Access, TiGenix nv

François Meurgey has spent almost 20 years in the Pharmaceutical industry, a career almost equally divided between Europe and the United States, and between operational and staff functions.

A French national, he is a graduate of Reims Management School, received an Master's degree in International Relations from Université de Paris-Sorbonne and holds a Master of Business Administration from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

He joined Eli Lilly in 1989 and spent ten years in the company, lastly as Director of Sales and Marketing for Lilly in Belgium (1994-1997) and Director of Global Marketing for Prozac at Lilly headquarters in Indianapolis (1997-1999). At the time, Prozac was Lilly's largest drug with global sales of $2.6 billion.

Mr. Meurgey then went to Merck Sharp & Dohme, Whitehouse Station, NJ where he was Senior Director, Asia-Pacific Marketing, and then joined Pharmacia, where he was Senior Director, US and Global CNS Marketing. There, he spearheaded the resubmission of Xanax XR to the FDA, resulting in an approval in late 2002.

He joined UCB in February 2003, first as Vice-President of Global Marketing, where he drove the rapid ascension of Keppra to blockbuster status, and supervised the transition of UCB's leading Allergy franchise from Zyrtec to Xyzal. He was also closely involved in numerous Business Development deals, including UCB's takeover of Celltech in May 2004.

In September 2004, he was promoted to Senior Vice-President, Commercialization with responsibility for Global Market Research and Marketing Services, New Product Planning and Portfolio Management, Government Affairs and Pricing & Reimbursement, as well as Global Sales Force Effectiveness and Sales & Marketing Training. He created and co-chaired UCB's Global Training & Development Steering Committee. Throughout his time at UCB, Mr. Meurgey served as a key speaker in numerous roadshows and presentations to Financial Analysts and Investors.

In January 2007, François Meurgey left UCB to create his own Brussels-based consulting business, Oukelos sprl. He operates as Associate Consultant with larger consulting firms (such as Arthur D. Little and CRA International), but also has several small and midsize US and EU biopharmaceutical companies as direct clients. One of his areas of expertise is helping startups and biotech companies bring their product to market. He also teaches at several European universities and business schools, such as ULB/Pharmed in Brussels, ESSEC in Paris and SIMI in Copenhagen.

Dr Eleanor Mitchell

Director of Life Sciences Commercialisation, Scottish Enterprise

Eleanor has extensive experience in strategic, support and operational roles developed at a number of life science companies. A graduate in Developmental Biology from University of Aberdeen followed by an MSc and PhD in Chemical Information Science at Sheffield University, Eleanor joined ITI Life Sciences from Millennium Pharmaceuticals R&D Ltd in Cambridge UK. In that role, she had responsibility for the growth of the business support functions and the development of the research facilities to provide operational efficiency while the company doubled in size and delivered on its oncology research programmes.

Before this she worked as Head of Research Operations at the contract drug discovery provider Cambridge Discovery Chemistry/Combinatorial and spent 11 years in customer support and marketing at 3 life science software companies - Oxford Molecular, Biosym Technologies and the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre in Europe and the USA.

Dr Mike Mitchell

Seymour Pierce, Analyst

Mike Mitchell joined Seymour Pierce to cover the Healthcare sector, focusing on Pharma, Medical Devices & Life Sciences stocks. Mike previously worked in industry (technology discovery, development and commercialisation) and has a strong track record as a sell-side analyst, having previously held positions at Evolution (rated #1 Healthcare analyst for stock-picking, Starmine 2005), Teather & Greenwood and Oriel Securities. Mike holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Leeds.

Dr Thomas B. Okarma

President and Chief Executive Officer, Geron

Geron’s President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors since July 1999. He is also a director of Geron Bio-Med Limited, a United Kingdom company and Geron's wholly-owned subsidiary, and TA Therapeutics, Ltd., a Hong Kong company and Geron's majority-owned subsidiary. From May 1998 until July 1999, Dr. Okarma was the Vice President of Research and Development. From December 1997 until May 1998, Dr. Okarma was Vice President of Cell Therapies.

Dr. Okarma currently serves on the Board of BIO and was Chairman of the Board of Overseers of Dartmouth Medical School from 2000 to 2007. In 1985, Dr. Okarma founded Applied Immune Sciences, Inc. and served initially as Vice President of Research and Development and then as chairman, chief executive officer and a director of Applied Immune Sciences, until 1995 when it was acquired by Rhone-Poulenc Rore.

Dr. Okarma was a Senior Vice President at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer from the time of the acquisition of Applied Immune Sciences until December 1996. From 1980 to 1992, Dr. Okarma was a member of the faculty of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Okarma holds a A.B. from Dartmouth College, a M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University and an executive M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mr Ian Oliver

UK & Ireland Biotechnology Sector Senior Manager, Ernst and Young LLP

Ian Oliver specialises in serving health sciences clients and is based in Reading. He has fourteen years experience with a wide variety of fast-growth listed and pre-IPO biotechnology, medical devices and pharmaceutical companies in the UK and US. Ian completed two years in the Palo Alto, California practice supporting health sciences clients with risk management and assurance, Sarbanes Oxley 404 compliance, transactions and NASDAQ initial public offerings.

Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Ian graduated from Oxford University with bachelors and masters degrees in Chemistry, with research focusing on genetic engineering. Ian represents the UK in Ernst & Young’s Global Biotechnology team and is UK spokesperson for Ernst &Young’s annual thought-leading publication, Beyond Borders – Global Biotechnology Report.

Dr Mene Pangalos

Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer Neuroscience Research Unit, Pfizer

Menelas Pangalos is Senior Vice President and CSO of the Neuroscience Research Unit responsible for research from target to proof of concept across Neurology and Psychiatry indications. As Head of the Neuroscience Unit Dr. Pangalos manages a research group of approximately 200 biologists and clinicians and has span of control for around 400 scientists working across the neuroscience therapeutic area.

Prior to this Dr. Pangalos was Executive Vice President and Head of Wyeth Discovery Research and a member of the Wyeth R&D Executive Committee with a focus on basic research for diseases in five core therapeutic areas; Inflammation, Metabolic Disorders, Musculoskeletal Disorders, Neuroscience and Oncology. Therapeutic area research efforts were supported by core science disciplines; screening, chemistry, protein therapeutics and translational medicine. Prior to assuming this role Dr. Pangalos was Vice President of Neuroscience Research at Wyeth and previously served as Group Director and Head of Neurodegenerative Research at GlaxoSmithKline in Harlow, United Kingdom.

Dr. Pangalos completed his undergraduate studies with first class honors in Biochemistry from the Imperial College of Science and Technology and earned a Ph.D. in Neurochemistry from the Institute of Neurology, both at the University of London. He subsequently worked in the Psychiatry Department at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, at Bristol Myers-Squibb in Connecticut and with Janssen Pharmaceutica in Belgium.

Dr. Pangalos is an Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania and a Visiting Professor at King’s College London. He is an executive editor for Neuropharmacology, on the editorial boards of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, and The Scientific World and on scientific advisory boards for the Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases (King’s College London), Rider University and the National Association for Mental Illness, NJ. He has previously served on the BBSRC Molecular and Cell Biology council and is a member of the American Society for Neuroscience, British Pharmacological Society and an Associate of the Royal College of Science.

Dr. Pangalos has edited the book “Understanding G-protein coupled receptors in the CNS”, as well as a number of journal issues focused on drug discovery in the CNS. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as PNAS, Neuron, Journal of Neuroscience, Nature Neuroscience, The Lancet, British Journal of Psychiatry and Journal of Biological Chemistry.

In 2008 Dr. Pangalos was recognized as one of 6 “Notable People in R&D” by R&D Directions. The New York Academy of Sciences also awarded Dr. Pangalos the inaugural “Innovation in Industry” award for his efforts in Neuroscience, and specifically Alzheimer’s disease, research.

Professor Dame Julia Polak

Emeritus Professor attached to the Department of Chemical Engineering

Professor Dame Julia Polak graduated from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina and obtained her postgraduate training in the UK. She became Professor and the Director of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Centre, Imperial College in 1997. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Imperial College Institute of Biomedical Engineering and has recently been made a new member of the Stem Cell Advisory Board Panel of the joint MRC/UKSCF, Science Advisory Board, (October 2005), Panel of the new EPSRC Peer Review College (2006 – 2009) and Panel of the MRC College of Experts (2006 – 2010). She has also been invited to join the International Advisory Board Committee of the 2nd World Congress of TERMIS (WC 2009 TERMIS).

She was a council member of the Tissue Engineering Society International and the Academy of Medical Sciences (2002 – 2005) and was also European Editor of Tissue Engineering (up until 2004). She is the author of 995 original papers, 117 review articles and Editor/Author of 25 books and is one of the most Highly Cited Researchers in her field. She is a co-founder and Director of an Imperial Spin Out Company called Novathera dealing with Regenerative Medicine Products. She is also the recipient of a heart and lung transplant, in 1995, and into her 11th year post-transplant is one of the longest living survivors in the UK. She has received a number of honours and won a number of prizes.

Dr Cathy Prescott

CEO Biolatris Ltd

Cathy has 20 years of experience in research, management and strategy development within the life-science and venture capital sectors.

Founder and Director of the consulting company Biolatris Ltd., Chair of the UK National Stem Cell Network Advisory Committee, Director for the East of England Stem Cell Network, member of The Genome Analysis Centre, Advisory Committee and the Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation Advisory Committee. She spent seven years working as a venture capitalist specialising in the investment and development of biotechnology companies and was a non-executive director to several private biotechnology companies.

Dr John Shields

Principle, Science and Technology, Abingworth

NDr John Shields has 13 years of operational experience in life science companies. He joined Abingworth in 2001 from Cantab Pharmaceuticals where he was Senior Vice-President, Research. He had a strong role in business development and played a significant part in the in-licensing of new products and technologies to the firm. Prior to Cantab, he was at the Glaxo Institute for Molecular Biology in Geneva, Switzerland. From 1982 to 1988, he held research positions at the Institute of Child Health, the University of London, UK. John has a PhD in Immunology from the University of Glasgow. He has published more than 30 papers in peer-reviewed journals including Science. At Abingworth, John is involved with scientific evaluation of new and existing investments and works closely with UK universities and early-stage companies.

Crispin Simon

Group Chief Executive, Biocompatibles International plc

Crispin Simon joined Biocompatibles in June 1998 as Group CEO. After graduating from Lincoln College, Oxford, Crispin joined NM Rothschild as an investment manager and then a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Between 1987 and 1998, he gained general management experience at senior executive level with Rexam plc (then Bowater) and with Smith & Nephew plc as Director of Business Development and ultimately as President of the Endoscopy Division, based in Boston, USA. Crispin is also a non-executive director of Imperial College NHS Trust.

Biocompatibles International plc is a leading medical technology company in the field of drug-device combination products, operating through three businesses. The International Division conducts the marketing of Biocompatibles’ approved products – Biocompatibles’ Drug-Eluting Bead products which are used in the treatment of primary and secondary liver cancers and BrachySciences’ radiation-delivering seeds which are used in the treatment of prostate cancer.

The Drug Delivery Division and CellMed are engaged in new product development and licensing. The Drug Delivery Division is developing new products for oncology and other indications, based on the company’s core drug delivery technologies. CellMed is developing a Bead product for cosmetic dermatology and a Drug-Eluting Bead product for the treatment of stroke, based on proprietary stem cell technology.

Our strategic partners include Angiodynamics Inc, Medtronic Inc, Merz AG and Terumo Corporation.

Dr Iain Simpson

Principal Consultant - Head of Drug Delivery, Sagentia

Sagentia is a world-leading company that creates, develops and delivers business opportunities, products and services. Established in 1986, our uncompromising commitment to innovation has led to the launch of new technologies, services and breakthrough products that have helped change the basis of competition for our clients.

Dr Simpson has 20 years experience in industrial R&D and technical consultancy. Much of the last 10 years spent in medical devices and particularly in drug delivery.

Dr Mark Treherne

Chief Executive, Senexis Limited

Mark obtained his PhD in receptor neuropharmacology from Cambridge University with funding from Merck. He then went on to complete a post-doc on diabetes, before holding a Faculty position at the Biozentrum in Basel. Mark now has 25 years of experience in the discovery of novel treatments for diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Mark was formerly at Pfizer in the UK, where he was responsible for research into neurodegenerative diseases. On leaving Pfizer in 1997, Mark set up Cambridge Drug Discovery as Chief Executive, which was sold to BioFocus in 2001 for £28 million. Mark has now been involved in raising over £100 million for various biotechnology companies and joined Senexis in 2002.

Professor Nick Wareham

Director of MRC Epidemiology Unit and Co-Director, Institute of Metabolic Science.

Nick Wareham is the Director of the MRC Epidemiology Unit and co-Director of the Institute of Metabolic Science. His principal research interests are the aetiology and prevention of obesity and diabetes. He also leads the Aetiology of Diabetes Programme.

Nick qualified from St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School, London, and trained in epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London. He then worked at Harvard University, Boston, USA before joining the University of Cambridge where he became a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in Clinical Science. Now he is a Professor and an Honorary Consultant at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. He is also the Clinical Lead for the Eastern England Diabetes Local Research Network.

Dr Louise Wood

Deputy Director, Head of NHS Research Infrastructure and Industry R&D Relations,
Research and Development Directorate, Department of Health

Dr Louise Wood is Head of Innovation and Industry R & D Relations in the Research and Development Directorate of the Department of Health and a member of the Directorate’s Senior Management Team. She is Co-Chair of the Ministerial Industry Strategy Group (MISG) Clinical Research Working Group and chairs the UKCRC Industry Road Map Group. She also chairs the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Medical Devices Clinical Research Group.

Louise is also Chair of the NIHR IS Programme Board and a member of the NHS CFH Research Capability Programme External Reference Group and the Royal College of Physicians Working Party on Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry. Louise joined the Department of Health in January 2005 from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency where she held a variety of posts, most recently as Director of the General Practice Research Database Division and member of the Agency’s Executive Board.

 

Company Presentations

Dr Niall Armes

Chief Executive Officer & Founder, TwistDx

Niall Armes is a founder of TwistDx and serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer as well as a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining TwistDx Limited on a full-time basis, Dr Armes was a Research Fellow at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Fund, now known as the Gurdon Institute, in Cambridge (UK) where he worked with the Institute’s Director Professor Jim C Smith. Prior to that, Dr Armes worked as a Research Fellow at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in London.

An expert in molecular biology and protein biochemist, he received his BSc (Hons) in Genetics from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and working in the laboratory of Dr Mike Fried, he received his PhD from the Imperial Cancer Research Institute in London.

His research has involved the analysis of genome structure, including theoretical work on how genome dynamics and life cycle influence evolution rates. Further postdoctoral work involved the application of sophisticated protein purification techniques and mass spectrometry analysis to understanding cell signalling, an area of research with important implications for cancer biology.

Dr Tim Brears

Chief Executive Officer, Xention Ltd

Xention is a Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company specialising in the discovery and development of ion channel-modulating drugs. The Company has potential breakthrough drugs for atrial fibrillation overactive bladder in clinical development as well as preclinical research programmes focused on other ion channel targets in atrial fibrillation and autoimmune disease.

Dr Tim Brears is the Chief Executive Officer of Xention and he was also a Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Gendaq Ltd., a spin-out of the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and after the acquisition of Gendaq by Sangamo BioSciences, Inc, became Vice President for Business Development at Sangamo. From 1993 to 1999 he was Director of Licensing/Business Development at Novartis Inc. (formerly Ciba-Geigy Corporation) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Using its expertise in both discovery and clinical development, Xention aims to develop a portfolio of products that will address areas of substantial unmet medical need in rapidly evolving fields of medicine.

Dr Hans Fliri

Chief Executive Officer, Selcia Ltd

Selcia has two operating divisions, Selcia Discovery, which specialises in fragment-based drug discovery using a new powerful screening technology platform (Cefrag) based on capillary electrophoresis and Selcia Radiolabelling, a recognised international leader in carbon-14 custom radiosynthesis.

Edward Hodgkin

Chief Executive Officer, Biotica Technology Ltd

Edward Hodgkin has been CEO of Biotica since August 2007. He has 20 years of experience in biotech and big pharma companies in both research and business roles, including 12 years spent in the United States. Since he joined the Company, Biotica has implemented a significant collaboration agreement with GlaxoSmithKline focused on development of anti-inflammatory erythromycin macrolides.

Prior to Biotica, Ed was a founder and Chief Business Officer of BrainCells, Inc. (San Diego, CA), a biopharmaceutical company, where he played a key role in financing the company and establishing the company’s neurogenesis platform and product pipeline through partnership and in-licensing. The Company closed a $17.7M Series A round in July 2005, and, in August 2006, announced the in-licensing of a clinical-stage compound from Mitsubishi Pharma, BC-540, which is now in Phase II clinical trial for treatment of depression. Under Ed’s leadership, BrainCells also implemented license & collaboration agreements with Lundbeck, Organon and Taisho.

Previously, Ed was Vice President, Business Development & Marketing at Tripos (St. Louis, MO), a NASDAQ-listed pharmaceutical research services company, where he was a key player in Tripos’ $100M compound library deal with Pfizer in January 2002. He held a series of research positions with Wyeth (Princeton, NJ) and British Biotech (Oxford), where he was involved in a wide variety of drug discovery programs, many of which proceeded to clinical development. He gained his MA and DPhil in Chemistry at Oxford University, and carried out post-doctoral research at Washington University Medical School in St. Louis.

Dr Rob Howes

R&D Director, Horizon Discovery

Horizon Discovery (Horizon) is striving to provide researchers with the gold-standard tools that will accelerate the search for new and effective ‘targeted’ or ‘personalised’ medicines. Central to realizing this ambition is the deployment of a proprietary gene-engineering technology called GENESIS that enables any endogenous gene in a human cell-line to be altered quickly, reliably and without introducing unwanted and confounding genotypes and/or phenotypes. Using GENESIS, a wide panel of genetically-defined and patient-relevant X-MAN (Mutant And Normal) cell models have been developed and these are fast being adopted by academic and industry leaders to find and tailor the ‘right drugs’ to the ‘right patients’ based upon the unique genetic mutations that define their disease.

X-MAN cell-lines are now being used to rationalise every aspect of drug discovery pipelines; from the identification of more patient-relevant drug targets, to the design of shorter and less-costly clinical trials based upon the most likely patients most to respond to a given drug.

Dr Abel Ureta-Vidal

Managing Director, Eagle Genomics

Eagle Genomics is a bioinformatics software and services company specialising in the provision of open-source solutions to handle 'omics data management, analysis and visualization.Our team of high calibre developers and researchers is drawn from both industry and academia withover 30 years combined experience in bioinformatics and software development. So we have a unique expertise in accessing, as well as integrating, open-source bioinformatics platforms into solutions that our clients tell us are reliable, easy-to-use and cost-effective. Eagle Genomics is extremely flexible in the ways it works with its customers. Whether you are a large pharmaceutical or a academic research group, a CRO or a biotech startup, we can provide you what you need to make the most of your investment in open-source bioinformatics.

Dr Madhuri Warren, MA PhD, MBBChir, FRCPath.

Managing Director and Founder, Pathology Diagnostics Ltd

Madhuri has a nineteen year background in clinical academic medicine, with a specialization in medical histopathology, and a ten year background in basic science, including molecular biology, genetics and comparative pathology. She is a graduate of Clare College, University of Cambridge, a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, and a member of European and US pathologists’ organisations. She has collaborated on and published several scientific papers in high ranking peer-reviewed journals in the field of cancer research, including the molecular biology of inherited breast cancer and genetic analysis of human cancer models. She has also established and run an academic comparative pathology research laboratory.

In 2008, Madhuri founded Pathology Diagnostics Ltd.  The company evaluates how medicines work on their target tissues, helping scientists develop novel drugs and clinical tests for patients. Services range from expert diagnostic analysis, tissue laboratory processing and immunohistochemistry at all stages of drug development from early discovery to clinical trials, and including antibody validation and biomarker development.  Our mission is: “To be the one of the foremost tissue diagnostics companies in the field, dedicated to the advancement of targeted therapeutics and clinical diagnostics”.