Chief Business Officer
Head of LifeArc Ventures

LifeArc is a leading independent medical research charity that rebranded since its formation as the MRC-T over 25 years ago. LifeArc’s expertise has helped bring a number of new innovations to market including major commercialised antibody treatments such as Keytruda® (pembrolizumab). The success of Keytruda® has resulted in the receipt of nearly £1billion for monetising a portion of its royalty rights, funds which LifeArc have sought to effectively deploy to increase the impact that they deliver. As LifeArc undergoes transformative change, Melanie Lee, CEO, sought to appoint several experienced executives from the life sciences sector to support its long-term vision to be a leading and inspiring global charity focused on major translational advice, science and funding.

As part of a strategic relationship, PIR International partnered with LifeArc to appoint several important roles within the independent medical research charity. Namely LifeArc sought to hire a Chief Business Officer and a Head of LifeArc Ventures. As a result of a thorough search exercise, identifying and presenting a broad selection of highly experienced profiles, LifeArc appointed Dr Jason Slingsby as Chief Business Officer and Clare Terlouw as Head of LifeArc Ventures.

On PIR’s involvement in his appointment, Dr Jason Slingsby comments: “Sally Hope at PIR International was really great to work with during the CBO recruitment process at LifeArc. She provided clear feedback during the process, helped build trust and understanding between me and the organisation to see if the fit was a good one. I’d like to thank her for her professionalism during the process.”

On PIR’s involvement in her appointment, Clare Terlouw comments: “LifeArc has an important role to play in translational funding in the UK and I am pleased to be joining the team to develop and lead LifeArc’s strategy for life sciences investments. It’s an exciting opportunity to enhance funding into promising UK research. Many thanks to the team at PIR who were very professional and easy to work with, and fully integrated into what LifeArc was aiming to undertake. I would highly recommend them in future.”

Melanie Lee, Chief Executive Officer of LifeArc, comments, “We chose to work with PIR on our most recent senior level searches and they were successful in helping us to secure the right talent. The team at PIR were knowledgeable about our industry and were thoughtful and thorough in gathering information about the role and our organisation before they began the search. They also managed this in a professional way working as partner to LifeArc. We’ve been very happy with PIR and would not hesitate to work with them again.”

Melanie Lee, Chief Executive Officer, LifeArc

Melanie Lee