Aberdeen, UK – 7 February 2014 – NovaBiotics Ltd, the Aberdeen-based, clinical-stage biotechnology company (“NovaBiotics” or the “Company”), today announced that it was awarded the Life Science Business Leadership Award at the Scottish Enterprise Life Sciences Annual Dinner last night at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
The Life Science Business Leadership Award is presented to the business leader or management team who has significantly advanced their company in the previous year, with factors such as financing, partnerships, collaborations, achievement of milestones and growth being taken into consideration.
NovaBiotics’ CEO, Dr Deborah O’Neil, won the award for her leadership and vision which has been instrumental in the growth of NovaBiotics. After 11 years of work and three years of contract development, Deborah and her team secured an exclusive agreement with Taro Pharmaceuticals to licence and co-develop the Company’s lead product Novexatin® in August 2013, which is among the largest deals reached in the Scottish life science arena in recent years. NovaBiotics’ unique and ambitious strategy has also been recognised.
Dr O’Neil said: “I am proud of what NovaBiotics has achieved thus far and the Life Science Business Leadership Award reflects this. Our deal with Taro Pharmaceuticals is a huge success for the company and demonstrates industry confidence in our approach. By sticking to our business model and focusing on the results that our research was producing, we have created a solid foundation for our products and vision. Through all of this, we have been very fortunate to have been supported by organisations like the Scottish Enterprise, funding bodies, excellent, sector-specific mentors and a very talented team.”
The awards ceremony, hosted by Scottish Enterprise, recognises the success and achievements of Scotland’s internationally renowned life sciences sector in areas including innovation, investment, community engagement and collaboration. Scottish Enterprise identifies and exploits opportunities for Scotland’s economic growth by supporting Scottish companies to compete, helping to build globally competitive sectors, attracting new investment and creating a world-class business environment.
Julia Brown, Director of Life and Chemical Sciences, Scottish Enterprise, said: “Congratulations to Dr O’Neil and to NovaBiotics. This is a fantastic achievement and the company’s continued success, including its international outlook, is very much testament to the innovation, drive and vision that Dr O’Neil demonstrates on a daily basis.”
About NovaBiotics
NovaBiotics is developing novel peptide antifungal and antibacterial therapeutics that have the ability to treat a range of poorly served and clinically challenging infections. The mechanism of action of NovaBiotics’ drug candidates minimises or negates the chance of drug resistance developing in the target microbes/infections which they have been designed to treat. NovaBiotics’ antifungal and antibacterials are not toxic to human cells at therapeutic doses unlike many conventional antimicrobial medications. NovaBiotics’ lead clinical programme is Novexatin®. In addition to Novexatin®, the Company is developing Lynovex®, for cystic fibrosis (CF) an antibacterial compound that also breaks down excess mucus produced in the airways of CF patients that is expected to enter a Phase IIa study in Q1 2014; Novamycin®, a peptide antifungal agent against Candida and Aspergillus; Novarifyn®, a peptide antibacterial for difficult to treat multi-drug resistant Gram-negative and Gram-positive infections, including MRSA. Further information is available at www.novabiotics.co.uk.
Issued for and on behalf of Novabiotics by Instinctif Partners.
For more information please contact:
NovaBiotics:
Dr. Deborah O’Neil - CEO & CSO
deborah@novabiotics.co.uk
Bryan Bodek - Chairman
bryan@novabiotics.co.uk
+44 (0) 1224 711377
For media enquiries:
Instinctif Partners:
Melanie Toyne Sewell/Stefanie Bacher/Gemma Howe
novabiotics@instinctif.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7457 2020
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