BioLeaders

Carolyn Porter BioLeader Interview - Carolyn Porter (April 2020) Following my PhD in Immunology, I spent some time as an academic researcher in Oxford and then I joined EY in corporate finance from which I learnt the nuts and bolts of valuations and fund raising; alongside an MBA from Warwick. This prepared me for a business development career in pharma and biotech (Chiron Vaccines and Novartis Vaccines) where I was involved in both in and out licensing and M&A transactions. My experience of fundraising and evaluating and executing complex licensing deals was attractive to the technology transfer and spin-out world [...]

Peter Leyland BioLeaders Interview - Peter Leyland (April 2020) Following my early career in agriculture working in the less developed world, I did an MBA with a leading business school which opened the door to a successful and rewarding global corporate career with Baxter Healthcare. In 2005 I transitioned the wide array of leadership and commercial skills I had developed in a blue-chip culture into the world of early stage, investor backed life science companies. Whilst the more entrepreneurial environments require the capacity to formulate and execute quick decisions and manage risk, other skills are relevant to both; building sustainable [...]

Edward Hodgkin BioLeaders Interview - Edward Hodgkin (March 2020) Partner at Syncona, age 56, 2 daughters, lives in North London; MA & DPhil in Chemistry from Oxford; Hobbies: Golf, skiing, running, creative writing, bridge. An entrepreneur with 30 years’ experience in big pharma, biotech and healthcare investing. Strong operating background, including general management, board-level participation, broad global deal-making experience, and drug development across multiple therapy areas. Strong scientific background & extensive industry experience in drug and cell therapy discovery & development. Key milestones in your career journey to date? After 10 years in research jobs, I made the jump to [...]

Eva-Lotta Allan BioLeaders Interview - Eva-Lotta Allan (March 2020) Following my departure from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, I have spent most of my career in the biotech world (over 30 years). I have lived and worked in Sweden, USA, Spain and Belgium and I have lived in England for the last 30 years. My career includes companies such as Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Ablynx and Immunocore, where I believe I made a difference, before transforming myself, in 2018, into a serial biotech board director (Chair and NED). I am currently on the Board of Targovax, Crescendo Biologics, C4X Discovery and Aleta [...]

Tim Sparey BioLeaders Interview - Tim Sparey (February 2020)   CEO of Novintum; lives in North London; education: PhD in Chemistry; Hobbies: sports, wine and eating out. I am a medicinal chemist by background, with 25 years spent in large pharma and biotech has helped build companies in multiple disease areas including cancer, CNS, inflammation and ophthalmology. My track record of licensing, fundraising and exits, in private and public companies, has included Proximagen (CBO), Q Chip (CEO), Midatech (CBO) and Novintum Bioscience (CEO & co-founder). I also advise and chair several companies in the areas of AI/machine learning, automation technologies [...]

Martin Hunt BioLeaders Interview – Martin Hunt (February 2020) I have 30 years’ experience in the life science industry has spanned executive and NED roles in multi-nationals, SMEs and public companies. During 15 years in international Medtech companies, I had senior roles in sectors including ophthalmic surgery, wound management and chronic care. I joined Tissue Science Laboratories (TSL) as Chief Executive in 1999 and led the company from angel funding as a start-up, to a listing on the AiM market in 2001 through to trade sale to Covidien in 2008. Since then, I have pursued a portfolio career, including [...]

Keith Thompson BioLeaders Interview – Keith Thompson (January 2020) I am the CEO of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, which I started in 2012 and from which will be retiring in April 2020. At various times MD of Bioscot Scotland’s first Biotech company, VP of NASDAQ listed Serologicals, National Director of SNBTS, several industry/association Boards including BIA, ARM, IPFA, EBA; age 62; married to Helen for 40 years with 2 grown up children; Born near Liverpool but lived most of adult life in (and travelled the world from) Edinburgh moving to London to set up the Catapult; education: [...]

Kevin Lin BioLeaders Interview – Kevin Lin (December 2019) CEO, TusPark UK; lives in Cambridge; education: Master of Public Management, Hobbies: collecting traditional Chinese furniture. Key milestones in your career journey to date? Joined the financial sector in China; initially as a management trainee with a commercial bank; followed by a Trust Company where I learnt how to identify and fund successful investments; these experiences gave me great oversight of the complexity of the financial sector; and prepared me well for TusPark, which is all about value creation. Who has had the greatest influence over your career? My current boss [...]

Kate Bingham BioLeaders Interview – Kate Bingham (November 2019) Managing Partner at SV Health Investors; married to Jesse Norman, Minister for Tax (as at the time of writing), 3 grown up children; most demanding hobby- mountain bike bog snorkelling! Key milestones in your career journey to date? I’ve somehow managed to be in the right place at the right time; significantly, talked myself into an intern role at Vertex in 1990 which inspired my passion for the sector; and the opportunity to help launch the new life science practice for SV (then Schroder Ventures) in the early 90s [...]

Mark Treherne BioLeaders Interview – Mark Treherne (November 2019) Mark has over 25 years’ experience in the discovery of novel treatments for diseases with unmet medical need. he formerly worked at Pfizer where he was responsible for research into neurodegenerative diseases. Mark then set up Cambridge Drug Discovery as Chief Executive, which was sold to BioFocus (now part of Charles River). Since then, Mark has worked with many early-stage biotechnology companies from foundation through to trade sale.‎ More recently, he was Chief Executive of the Life Sciences Organisation of UK Trade & Investment, which helped UK-based Life Sciences companies [...]