Arcis Biotechnology, the nucleic acid sample preparation solution provider, announced it has appointed Professor Steve Howell as Non-Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors.
Daresbury, UK, 24 July 2019: Arcis Biotechnology (“Arcis”), the nucleic acid sample preparation solution provider, today announced it has appointed Professor Steve Howell as Non-Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors. Steve takes over the position from Paul Foulger, who was serving as Chairman on an interim basis on behalf of the Board.
Professor Howell has over 20 years’ life science commercialisation experience, supporting companies’ development and profitability. He founded Innova Partnerships in 2006, where he has been instrumental in creating over a dozen life science start-ups and raised in excess of £100m in financing. Steve oversaw the exit of Innova Biosciences in 2016-2017 to SYGNIS AG, Innova Partnerships’ second exit. He has held positions at Unilever plc, and was previously Director of Business Development at Alere Inc. and Research Director at Unipath Ltd. In 2015 he was made Visiting Professor of Commercial Innovation at King’s College, London.
Professor Steve Howell, Non-Executive Chairman, Arcis Biotechnology, commented: “The Arcis sample preparation technology has enormous potential across many application areas, including diagnostics and genetic understanding. I am excited to be joining the team as we build the business to bring products to market that will have real and positive impact on patient quality of life.”
Paul Foulger, Non-Executive Director, Arcis Biotechnology, said: “We have an exciting opportunity to build a world-leading and highly valuable biotech based on Arcis’ current technology platform and future ambitions. Steve’s considerable experience, expertise and network will make a significant contribution to achieving that goal and delivering maximum value to shareholders.”
Peter Whitehurst, CEO, Arcis Biotechnology, said: “I would like to thank Paul for his time as interim Chairman, and for working with the Executive Directors to bring Steve in for the next exciting phase of development at Arcis.”
The appointment of Professor Howell as Non-Executive Chairman follows the Company’s recent announcements of strategic distribution and licensing agreements, with Opentrons and Mirnax Biosens respectively. These agreements extend the reach of Arcis’ sample preparation and preservation technology in two areas of the life sciences industry – high throughput sample prep with robotics, and the development of early disease diagnostics.
ENDS
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About Arcis Biotechnology (www.arcisbio.com)
Based at Sci-Tech Daresbury, one of the UK’s premier science parks, Arcis Biotechnology is focused on providing fast and convenient nucleic acid sample prep solutions. Obtaining genetic material from biological samples is a critical step which is often a time consuming and inefficient process. In less than three minutes, and with no prior sample preparation, the Arcis Sample Prep range of products allow users to quickly and conveniently go from cellular material to downstream nucleic acid investigation without the need for traditional isolation or purification. The process requires no laboratory equipment, and as little as 30µl of sample as starting material.
The Arcis technology, including two CE marked in vitro diagnostic products, can be used on many different samples containing DNA and RNA, including whole blood, plasma, urine, buccal swabs, and soil and plant extracts, and is particularly effective at isolating pathogens for detection.
