Board of Directors
PsiOxus Therapeutics has a highly experienced management team.
Chairman: Dr Michael Moore
Dr Michael Moore holds PhD and DSc degrees from the University of Nottingham. His academic research career was based largely at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research and Manchester University and he retains a post as Professor Associate in the Department of Cancer Genetics and Pharmacogenomics in the Brunel Institute. Michael became Chief Scientific Officer and director of Xenova Group in 1994. He facilitated the divestment of the Group's drug discovery division to Terragen (subsequently part of Cubist) in 1998 and played a major role in the acquisition and integration of Cantab Pharmaceuticals in 2000. In 2003, Dr Moore became Chief Executive Officer of Piramed Limited, a private UK-based biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development molecules for cancer therapy. Piramed had a major collaboration with Genentech before being acquired by Roche in an all-share transaction in 2008. Dr Moore is Chairman of Trillium Therapeutics Inc, a private Toronto-based biologics company; Asterion Limited, a Sheffield-based biologics company; and of Oxford BioTherapeutics a private Oxford based antibody company.
Chief Executive Officer: Dr John Beadle
Dr John Beadle was Entrepreneur in Residence at Imperial College London, where he helped to establish Myotec Therapeutics as a spin-out business. He became CEO of Myotec in late 2008, rapidly securing seed financing followed by a £5.6 million series A funding round from Imperial Innovations and Invesco Perpetual in early 2010. During this time, John was also Executive Chairman and CEO of Hybrid Biosystems, securing further seed financing for this Oxford based start-up. In 2010, John's leadership of these two private companies led to their combination to form PsiOxus Therapeutics Ltd. John was previously the co-founder of the vaccine company PowderMed. In 2004 he helped to raise £20 million from leading UK and US Venture Capital Funds and was then Chief Medical Officer and board director leading to the trade sale of PowderMed to Pfizer for over US$300 million in 2006. John has previously held roles at PowderJect, Pfizer and Glaxo SmithKline where he was most recently VP of Global Medical Operations. John was trained in Medicine at the University of Witwatersrand and received his MBA with distinction from the London Business School.
Non Executive Director: Dr Paolo Paoletti
Dr. Paolo Paoletti, M.D. is the first, appointed president of GSK Oncology. In his role, Dr.Paoletti champions an organisation of more that 800 professionals around the world dedicated to fighting the causes and impacts of cancer. As the leader of the newly formed business unit, Dr. Paoletti has P&L accountability for the overall oncology business within GSK and oversees all the activities from early drug discovery through clinical development, launch and life cycle management. Under Dr. Paoletti's leadership, GSK Oncology has achieved an almost unprecedented level of success in bringing forth important advances to cancer care with US and EU approvals for Arranon/Atriance; Tykerb/Tyverb; Promacta/Revolade; Arzerra and Votrient. Dr. Paoletti's team continues to reshape the direction of cancer research by moving into innovative areas such as cancer stem cell research, epigenetics and cancer metabolism. Prior to joining GSK, Dr. Paoletti was the Vice President, Clincal Development for Lilly Oncology, where his team secured indications for Gemzar and Alimta. Dr. Paoletti holds a medical degree from the University of Pisa, Italy, and completed postgraduate studies to receive certification in Pulmonary Diseases and Nuclear Medicine.
Non Executive Director: Charles Swingland
Charles Swingland brings 30 years of corporate legal experience to PsiOxus. He was Executive Director, General Counsel and Company Secretary at PowderJect Pharmaceuticals Plc from 1996 to 2003. At PowderJect Charles was responsible for all legal, intellectual property and compliance matters and managed the legal aspects of several major acquisitions and fundraisings, including the eventual sale of the company to Chiron for $1 billion. In 2004, he joined Zeneus Pharma as a Director and General Counsel, where he oversaw the company's transactions, including the in-licensing of several products and its sale to Cephalon Inc. Charles subsequently established Circassia with Steve Harris in 2007, where he is Deputy Chairman and General Council. Before joining industry, Charles practised as a corporate lawyer in the City of London for over 15 years.
Non Executive Director: Maina Bhaman
Maina Bhaman is Director of Healthcare Investments at Imperial Innovations and to date has led all of the investment rounds into Myotec Therapeutics. She has over ten years' start-up experience gained through working at biotechnology ventures in both the US and UK. Previously Maina was a Senior Scientist on the Oncology R&D team at Celltech (previously Oxford Glyco Sciences) where she was responsible for the successful management of several drug discovery projects. Maina's experience includes Chimeric Therapies, a cell therapy start-up based in Philadelphia and GeneMedicine, a gene therapy company based in Houston. Maina has a BSc from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the Imperial Business School. Maina has led a number of investments in Imperial Innovations' healthcare portfolio. She was previously was on the board of The Acrobot Co Ltd and is currently also a director of Cell Medica Ltd, Molecular Vision Ltd and IXICO Ltd.
Non Executive Director: Phil L'Huillier
Dr Phil L'Huillier is the Director of Business Management at Cancer Research Technology Ltd. He has 15 years' experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals sector in R&D, IP management, licensing and corporate development. Prior to joining Cancer Research Technology, Phil headed the licensing division at BioFocus Discovery Ltd, an AIM-listed integrated early stage drug discovery company. Prior to BioFocus, Phil was CSO and more recently CEO of ProBio Inc, a US specialty IP commercialisation company involved in international licensing and partnering in the Life Sciences sectors, prior to its trade sale to Pharming Group NV. Phil holds an MBA, and a PhD in cellular and molecular biology and in addition to board roles with Cancer Research Technology Ltd and Psioxus Therapeutics, he is Chairman of Senectus Therapeutics Ltd.
Company Secretary and Finance Director: Theodora Harold
Theo Harold is a chartered accountant with significant experience as Finance Director and Company Secretary with early stage and growing companies in the biotech sector. She has a background in both industry and corporate finance with 14 years of experience in SMEs in the biotech and hi-tech sectors and has held roles with Cytomyx Holdings plc, RioTech Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hybrid Biosystems Ltd and Myotec Therapeutics Ltd. Prior to this, Theo trained with PricewaterhouseCoopers and read Classics at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Non Executive Director: Mark Payton
As an Investment Executive at Mercia Technology Seed Fund, Mark Payton has led each investment round into Hybrid Biosystems. He has many years' experience in small to medium sized life science companies. Mark was previously at the Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford and then played leading roles within Isis Innovation Ltd, the technology transfer arm of the University of Oxford. He was VP Corporate Development at Oxxon Therapeutics Inc leading to its trade sale to Oxford BioMedica Plc. Mark has led investments, and sits on the boards (as a director or observer) of the following Mercia Fund Management portfolio companies: Celentyx Ltd, Intelligent Orthopaedics Ltd, nanoTherics Ltd and Warwick Effect Polymers Ltd. Mark's first degree was in Human Biology from Oxford. He has a PhD from King's College (University of London) in molecular immunology, and an MBA from Warwick Business School.