Event Speakers

Speakers

Andy Sutton - CompanDx
Charmian Wells
Ching Ching Leow - MedImmune
Chris Torrance - Horizon Discovery
Davide Danovi - UCL Cancer Institute
Declan Jones - GSK CEEDD
Gill Gregory - Gregory Fryer Associates
Graham Lappin - Xceleron
Hazel Jones - MedImmune
John Reader - Sareum
Jonathan Kearsey - Leads To Development
Mike Fisher - BioNano Consulting
Simon Cook - The Babraham Institute
Simon Kerry - Karus Therapeutics 

Stephen Megit - Immunocore Ltd
Steve Bates - Genzyme

Session Chairs

 

 

 

Dr Hazel Jones

Senior Scientist, Oncology MedImmune
Dr Hazel Jones has 15 years experience of oncology drug development, currently focusing on developing biologics at MedImmune (previously Cambridge Antibody Technology and now the global biologics business for AstraZeneca). 

Prior to this she investigated small molecule inhibitors for multidrug resistance at Xenova using xenograft models; and used PK data to demonstrate activity of a novel photosensitiser for photodynamic therapy, identifying a vascular and direct tumour effect in a syngeneic tumour model. 

Hazel's main area of expertise is developing tumour models; using them to provide robust pharmacology packages (with evidence of efficacy, mechanism of action and patient identification) to drive projects towards the clinic. The research interests in Cambridge are now focussed on projects that address the relationship between the tumour and the host; focusing on the failings of the adaptive immune response and consequent immunosuppression. This requires syngeneic tumour models (characterised for immune cell infiltration) and further complex models, such as orthotopic and genetically engineered mouse models.  Overall she has in-depth knowledge of oncology models (both tumour and pharmacodynamic models) and their application to the drug discovery process in small biotech and now big pharma.  These support a wide range of activities from target identification, candidate nomination through to translational research.

Jonathan Kearsey

Co-founder and Managing Director of Leads To Development (L2D).
Jonathan is highly experienced in the design and execution of translational research within the biopharmaceutical sector, with a particular focus on oncology; having taken a number of therapeutics from research into clinical development. Prior to launching L2D he held Director of Research positions in two international biotechnology companies (ExonHit Therapeutics and Diatos), which has provided him with a strong scientific and business insight into the “developability” of therapeutics, together with experience in business development, intellectual property management and due diligence. 

Leads To Development Profile
Leads To Development (L2D) provides early stage drug development expertise to the biopharmaceutical industry and academia.  As a multi-disciplinary team we offer consultancy and operational project management services covering all aspects of development programmes. This includes:
• Project review, gap analysis and strategic planning.
• Management, monitoring and coordination of all development activities.
• Writing of the regulatory dossiers for clinical trial applications.
• Scientific and business strategic support.
• Securing early stage financing.
We are committed to advancing lead therapeutic agents into clinical trials in the most optimal and cost effective manner so that investment risk is minimised and the likelihood of product success is maximised.

Keith Blundy

Chief Executive Officer, Cancer Research Technology

Keith joined CRT in 1998, became COO in 2004 and was appointed CEO in 2007.  Since then he has overseen the expansion of the CRT Discovery Labs to 85 staff and subsequent initiation of risk sharing discovery alliances with AstraZeneca and Cephalon, the establishment of CRT Inc in Boston (USA) as a business development arm of CRT and the further globalisation of CRT’s cancer IP development and commercialisation through becoming a partner of Cancer Therapeutics Pty in Melbourne, Australia.

After completing a PhD at the John Innes Institute and a post doctoral Fulbright scholarship in the US on the regulation of plant gene expression, he spent 10 years managing and commercialising agricultural biotechnology programmes before transitioning to healthcare through business development.

Keith has a BSc and PhD in genetics and an MBA from the London Business School.  He was formerly a director of KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Chroma Therapeutics Ltd and currently is on the board of Cytosystems Ltd and Cancer Therapeutics Pty.

Mike Fisher PhD

Business Development Director of Bio Nano Consulting
Mike is a medicinal chemist with 14 years postdoctoral experience in research, project management and consulting within the biotech, pharma and medtech sectors. He is the Business Development Director of Bio Nano Consulting, a joint venture of UCL and Imperial College that uses nanotechnology to solve biotech problems. Mike is also the Theme Manager for Life Science & Healthcare for the NanoKTN, an advisor to Barrack Hill Partners, an executive search and HR consulting firm based in Boston and Florida, and the European Producer of BiotechNation/TechNation on US National Public Radio.

Speakers
 

Andy Sutton

CEO, CompanDx
Dr Sutton has an extensive background in biotechnology, diagnostics and cancer therapeutics. Dr Sutton started his career with Amersham International (GE Healthcare), moving to senior scientific position with Delta Biotechnology before spinning out and co founding Andaris Ltd, a drug delivery and diagnostic imaging company.

Dr Sutton has an extensive background in biotechnology, diagnostics and cancer therapeutics. Dr Sutton started his career with Amersham International (GE Healthcare), moving to senior scientific position with Delta Biotechnology before spinning out and co founding Andaris Ltd, a drug delivery and diagnostic imaging company.

Dr Sutton has also held senior licensing, business development and IP portfolio management positions at CRCT, Pharming and Onyvax. Dr Sutton has a significant portfolio of patents to his name. Dr Sutton successfully led and participated in raising over £18 million for companies he has founded or worked for and is highly experienced in due diligence, technology exploitation and company start up. 

Austin Smith

Medical Director, Theradex 

Dr Austin Smith is a Medical Oncologist with over 18 years' clinical experience in adult and paediatric experimental and developmental oncology. He is a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and completed his postgraduate training in St Bartholomew and the Royal Marsden hospital. As Medical Director at Theradex (Europe) Ltd. Dr Smith has a vital role in providing medical oncology advice to the Early Development Team at Theradex as well as to clients.

Theradex is a niche oncology CRO which has been proving complete oncology clinical services to industry for almost three decades. Theradex has significant experience in the development of a broad range of oncology compounds and can add value to pharma and biotech companies by guiding them through the complexities of oncology drug development.


 

Charmian Wells  

Regulatory Affairs Practitioner
A biochemist, with 19 years experience in regulatory affairs and strategies for the development of biologics and small molecules, Charmian has established and led industry functions and teams in the lean organisations of SMEs and the global matrix structures of Pharma. 

This practical experience includes that at Sequus Pharmaceuticals Inc.,/Alza Corporation obtaining clinical trial authorisations to enable a phase III clinical programme to extend the indication for pegylated liposomal doxorubicin hydrochloride and market authorisations for Amphocil®/Amphotec®.  Whilst at Amgen, further hands on experience of the development of novel products based on advances in recombinant DNA and molecular biology was gained in the market authorisation of Kineret® and Neulasta®, and also leading the Company’s first European Orphan Drug Designation application.  Building on her knowledge and experience in global regulatory affairs, Charmian took on the role of Head of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Systems functions at Arakis/Sosei R & D Ltd and then at PanGenetics BV.  Recently, as a consultant to industry, Charmian has had opportunity to assist in progressing an application for market authorisation for an advanced therapy programme. 

Charmian is actively involved in regulatory policy and advocacy sitting on the BIA Regulatory Affairs Advisory Committee and the EuropaBio Clinical Trials Topic Group

 

Ching Ching Leow, Ph.D.

Scentist, MedImmune

Ching Ching Leow, Ph.D., joined MedImmune in 2006. As a scientist at MedImmune, she serves as scientific lead on oncology drug development teams. Her team conducts preclinical research and translational pharmacology in several areas of oncology research, including angiogenesis.  Prior to joining MedImmune, Dr. Leow completed her post-doctoral training at Genentech, where she worked on GEMM models for oncology.  She received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, where she studied the impact of the Notch pathway on breast cancer using transgenic and knockout mouse models and has authored numerous publications.

 

Chris Torrance, PhD

Chief Executive and Scientific Officer, Horizon Discovery Ltd.
Dr Torrance founded Horizon Discovery in 2007, based on the Company’s proprietary gene-engineering technology called GENESISTM, which enables the generation of accurate and genetically-defined human disease models that can be used to support the development of personalized medicines. Using GENESIS, Horizon Discovery has developed X-MAN™ (gene-X; Mutant And Normal) cell models, which are the world’s first source of patient-relevant human cell lines containing specific genomic alterations known to cause cancer and other genetic diseases. Based in Cambridge, UK, Horizon Discovery is now an established and profitable biotechnology company, working with the world’s leaders in R&D.

Dr Torrance has a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Technology from Sheffield Polytechnic; a PhD in Biochemistry from East Carolina University (U.S.A) and completed Post-Doctoral training with Professor Bert Vogelstein at the Johns Hopkins University (U.S.A), where he pioneered the use of X-MAN cancer models in high-throughput screening and drug discovery.  Prior to founding Horizon Discovery, Dr Torrance was Head of Oncology and Biology at the UK Biotechnology company Vernalis PLC (LSE: VER), where he was also responsible for progressing several novel kinase oncology programs.

Davide Danovi

Research Associate, UCL Cancer Institute
Davide Danovi obtained his medical degree and his PhD at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy. He then became an EMBO fellow and subsequently joined the laboratory of Prof. Austin Smith at the University of Cambridge where he has taken forward the pioneering work of Dr. Steve Pollard and joined the London Technology Network as a Business fellow consultant. At the UCL Cancer Institute in London he is now further developing a live image based chemical screening platform on glioma stem cells, cell lines mirroring the elusive tumour initiating cells to which drug screens should be directed.

Declan Jones, Ph.D.

Head of European CEEDD
Declan Jones joined ceedd in 2007 as a Director of Biology before becoming Head of the EU team in 2010 (based in Stevenage). Prior to this, he spent 14 years in roles with increasing responsibility in CNS drug discovery within GlaxoSmithKline, finishing as Director of In Vivo Neurobiology and also Disease Area Strategy Leader for Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorders. Dr. Jones has been involved with the ceedd alliance partners Targacept, Epix, Neurosearch, Prosensa and Chroma Therapeutics.

Gillian Gregory

Director, Head of Regulatory Services, Gregory Fryer Associates
Gillian Gregory graduated from the University of Leicester with an Honours degree in Biological Sciences and has over 30 years of experience in regulatory affairs.  She has worked in pharmaceutical companies, for example E Merck and Ethical Pharmaceuticals, and since 1992 has worked exclusively in consultancy as the Director and Managing Director of International Research Consultants, as the European Director of Regulatory Affairs for Kendle and since 2003 as a Director of Gregory Fryer Associates. Gillian has extensive experience in regulatory strategy, regulatory due diligence, clinical trial approvals, marketing authorisation applications, orphan drug procedures  and scientific advice procedures both in Europe and the USA.  She has worked with conventional molecules, biologicals and advanced therapies including gene therapies and cell therapies. 

John Reader

 

CSO and co-founder of Sareum Ltd

Dr John Reader, CSO and co-founder of Sareum Ltd, has 17 years experience within the industry, and was formerly Associate Director, Chemical Technologies at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, prior to which he worked at Cambridge Discovery Chemistry and Pharmacopeia Inc in the provision of high-throughput chemistry services to internal and external clients. He carried out post-doctoral studies at Columbia University, New York, and has a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry from Imperial College, London and a BSc in Applied Chemistry from the University of Salford. 


 

Graham Lappin

Chief Scientific Officer, Xceleron
Graham Lappin joined Xceleron in 2001 where he pioneered many applications of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), including human microdosing, intravenous tracers, combining AMS and positron emission tomography, drug-drug interactions and applications to biologics.  Previously, he was a Section Manager at Covance Laboratories, Harrogate, UK and before that with Zeneca’s Central Toxicology Laboratory, Alderley Edge, UK.  Graham is a Fellow of the Society of Biology and Royal Society of Chemistry in the UK and a member of ASCPT in the United States.   He has over 40 publications plus a textbook entitled Radiotracers in Drug Development (CRC Taylor Francis, 2006). Graham is on the Editorial Advisory Boards for Expert Opinion in Drug Metabolism and Toxicology and Bioanalysis. He sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Human Regenerate Map Project at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden and is a visiting professor of Drug Metabolism at the University of Lincoln, UK.  In addition to being Xceleron’s Chief Scientific Officer, Graham also has his own consulting business, Isometix Consulting, which offers services in metabolism and pharmacokinetics.

 

Simon Cook, PhD 

Group Leader & Head of Laboratory of Signalling & Cell Fate, The Babraham Institute
Following his Biochemistry degree at Royal Holloway College, University of London (1983-86) Simon moved to Michael Wakelam’s lab in University of Glasgow (1987-91) to study phospholipid signlaling for his PhD. A chance meeting over a beer (several actually) led him to move in 1991 to Post-Doc with Frank McCormick at ONYX Pharmaceuticals in California where he developed an interest in the then emerging RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK1/2 pathway. He stayed on at ONYX as a Staff Scientist in the RAS Group, contributing to the discovery of Sorafenib (Nexavar®), and as Project Manager for the Inflammation Project. In 1997, he joined the laboratories Babraham Institute as a Group Leader and held a Senior Cancer Research Fellowship from Cancer Research UK (2000-06). His group studies the basic biology of the MAPK signalling pathways and translational research focuses on how tumour cells adapt to new pathway inhibitors of that are currently in clinical trials. His lab is funded by the Babraham Institute, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Cancer Research UK, the Association for International Cancer Research and AstraZeneca. He is currently Head of the Laboratory of Signalling & Cell Fate, serves as a Scientific Adviser for AICR and has published 70 scientific articles.

 

Steve Bates

Senior Director Government Affairs and Market Access Genzyme UK and Ireland

Steve is responsible for market access, government affairs and PR for the company’s portfolio in UK and Ireland. He is a member of the UK management team. Steve sits on Genzmye’s global and European policy, market access and HTA committees and product based workgroups.

Steve joined Genzyme in 2007 as its first director of government affairs in the UK, then initiated hired and developed the market access function from 2008 and was promoted to run market access for the Commonwealth cluster of Australia, Canada, South Africa, UK and Ireland through 2010. He has transformed Genzyme’s success with HTA agencies, enabling full market access in England for key products and been integral to successful launch planning and execution. 

Before joining Genzyme, Steve was a special advisor in the UK Government of Tony Blair in the Health, Defence, Home and Northern Ireland departments. He also ran the UK Labour Party press office from 2001-2005  and prior to that was a broadcast journalist for ITN and Dow Jones.
Steve completed the Accelerated Development Programme at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business this year. He is a Cambridge graduate.

Steven Harrison

Programme Manager, Immodulon Therapeutics Limited
Experienced project manager with almost 20 years in the bio-pharmaceutical industry developing both small molecule compounds and complex biologics, including immunotherapeutic vaccines in cancer, allergy, and bacterial/viral disorders.
Having trained as microbiologist, Steven worked for 7 years at the Health Protection Agency (formerly CAMR), managing external partners, across a diverse range of defence and health programs. Since then he has helped build & lead effective, high performing teams within several leading UK and overseas biotech companies, including YM Biosciences Inc., Sosei R & D Ltd. (formerly Arakis), NeuroTargets, SR Pharma, and more recently Immodulon Therapeutics, and Biocopea (PepTcell Group), co-ordinating and progressing product development through the value chain from discovery and research, pre-clinical and clinical testing, to registration.

 

Dr Stephen Megit

Senior Manager, Business Development, Immunocore Limited

Since gaining his PhD in molecular biology from Cardiff University Steve has been involved in the commercial development of both small molecules and biologics in the fields of oncology and autoimmune disease for a number of biotechnology companies.  Steve first became involved with Immunocore’s T Cell Receptor based technology when he joined Avidex Ltd, a forerunner of Immunocore in 2006; and has remained a proponent of its innovative approach ever since.