Syntaxin Appoints CMO & Head of Cell Biology
Richard Jones has over 25 years of global pharmaceutical industry experience with an extensive background in all stages of drug development and regulatory affairs. He has held senior development roles at Johnson & Johnson and Hoffman La Roche and most recently served as Senior Vice President, Experimental Medicine, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at Aspreva Pharmaceuticals.
Prior to joining Syntaxin, Nicola Thompson worked at GSK as Head of Allergic Mechanism and Target Discovery. Nicola has 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has a successful track record in drug discovery, primarily focused on respiratory and inflammatory diseases. Nicola was Allergy Champion for GSK’s respiratory disease area and a core member of the senior management Asthma/Rhinitis Disease Expert Team.
Patrick Doyle, CEO of Syntaxin, said: “Richard and Nicola are both highly respected figures in the pharmaceutical industry and I am delighted to welcome them to Syntaxin. Having recently completed a Series B fundraising of £16m, we are well positioned to broaden our expertise in respiratory, endocrine and gastric disorders, a key focus of our novel proprietary pipeline. Richard and Nicola will both provide a significant contribution to our efforts in building an innovative biopharmaceutical company addressing unmet medical needs in chronic diseases.”
Enquiries:
Syntaxin Ltd Tel: +44 (0)1235 552112 Patrick Doyle, Chief Executive
Financial Dynamics Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 3113 Julia Phillips Emma Thompson
About Syntaxin (www.syntaxin.com)
Syntaxin Ltd is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery and development of new medicines derived from bacterial toxins to treat chronic diseases. The Company was created in 2005 as a spin out from the UK Health Protection Agency, with funding from Abingworth Management Ltd.
The Company’s product pipeline is based on exploiting the potent pharmacological properties of a family of microbial proteins, known as exotoxins. The best known are the botulinum toxins, which cause a prolonged block to neurotransmission by cholinergic nerves. By changing the cell-targeting specificity of these molecules, Syntaxin is developing novel biologics that selectively control aberrant secretion from specific cell types involved in pain, neuromuscular, respiratory and metabolic diseases. These engineered proteins are typically potent and long acting, which are necessary properties for the treatment of chronic disease.
Syntaxin’s core technology is based on decades of research at the Health Protection Agency, Porton Down which has provided the company with a dominant intellectual property portfolio.