Press Releases
17 November
PolyTherics Strengthens Board with Non-Executive Director Appointment
PolyTherics Ltd., the biopharmaceuticals company commercialising technologies that prolong the half-life of proteins to optimise their therapeutic usefulness, is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Simon Best as a Non-Executive Director to the Board. A serial entrepreneur, he has built 3 substantial ventures as founding CEO between 1991 and 2005 - Zeneca Plant Science, Roslin BioMed and Ardana. Since 2005, he has developed a portfolio of Chair, Board and advisory roles with biotech companies and investors in Europe, the USA and India.
Professor Best's previous experience includes the position of Chairman of the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) from 2006-2007, the Vice-Chairman of BIO in the US from 1994-96 and a member of the Board and Chair of the Bioethics Committee from 1998-2005. He has been nominated for several awards, including Global Leader of Tomorrow by the WEF in 1999 and in 2000, as a Technology Pioneer of the Year. In September 1999, he was nominated as "Science and Technology Venturer of the Year" by the Financial Times and was awarded the London Business School Alumni Achievement Prize in June 2007.
Professor Best currently holds a Non-Executive Director position at Entelos Inc., which floated on AIM in 2006. He was a Director of Direvo Biotech AG in Germany prior to its acquisition by Bayer-Schering in September 2008. In total, Professor Best has been instrumental in raising over £130m from public, private and corporate investors over the past 15 years.
Prior to his career in the pharmaceutical industry, Simon received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of York in 1977 and an MBA from London Business School in 1985, where he was the first recipient of the Alan Patricof and Associates (APAX) Venture Capital prize. He has been honoured with a PhD from the University of York for his contributions to Music, Biotechnology and Medicine. In 2007 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) and in 2008 was awarded an OBE and made an Honorary Professor of Medicine by the University of Edinburgh.
Commenting on the appointment, Dr Keith Powell, CEO of PolyTherics said: "I am very pleased that Simon has agreed to join PolyTherics as a senior non-Executive Director. We look forward to sharing his advice and experience in building highly successful companies as PolyTherics expands its technology base and develops its own pipeline of products."
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17 November 2008
