Therapeutic antibody company focused on novel target identification for oncolgy and angiogenesis has announced the appointment of Simon Douglas as its new chief executive
The appointment of Simon Douglas further strengthens the board at Fusion Antibodies, following the appointment of John Cadogan as chairman in 2005.
Cadogan said: "Simon brings a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge from his fifteen years in the biotech industry and the combination of his scientific, managerial and entrepreneurial skills will be crucial for driving Fusion Antibodies forward".
Douglas was previously chief executive of DNA Research Innovations (DRI), a start up venture set up in 2000, acquired by Invitrogen in 2004, and prior to that chief executive of Tepnel Life Sciences.
He also has extensive experience at all levels of management having worked for Zeneca, ICI Diagnostics, and Amersham International in a range of commercial and technical roles.
He has a PhD in in-vivo diagnostics, an MPhil in immunology and a BSc in chemistry from the University of Southampton.
While at DRI, Douglas completed two rounds of venture capital financing and achieved a successful sale to Invitrogen for $65 million, a significant return for investors.
Cadogan was a founder investor and chairman of DRI until it was acquired by the Invitrogen in 2004.
Prior to this he was the first director general of research councils at the Office of Science and Technology, having previously held the Purdie chair of chemistry at St Andrews and the Forbes chair of organic chemistry at the University of Edinburgh.
He spent 12 years at BP, joining in 1979 as chief scientist for the BP Research Centre before becoming director of research in 1981.
Douglas added: "Fusion Antibodies is a very exciting company to be working for.
"In the short period since it was created it has made incredible progress, becoming the leading biopharma company in Northern Ireland.
"I hope to build on this success through the creation of strategic collaborations and increased investment".
Fusion Antibodies, a spin out from Queen's University, Belfast, is focused on the discovery, development and commercialisation of antibody-based therapeutics for cancer, as well as providing associated recombinant protein engineering services to the bioscience industry.
Fusion Antibodies currently has a pipeline of monoclonal antibodies in the fields of oncology and angiogenesis with a number entering the pre-clinical stage of development.
