REG - Roquefort Theraptcs. - Board and Management Appointments

Roquefort TherapeuticsAnnouncement

16/09/2022 07:16

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RNS Number : 6697Z  Roquefort Therapeutics PLC  16 September 2022

16 September 2022

 

Roquefort Therapeutics plc

("Roquefort Therapeutics" or the "Company")

 

Board and Management Appointments

 

Roquefort Therapeutics (LSE:ROQ,OTCQB:ROQAF), the Main Market listed biotech
company focused on developing first in class drugs in the high value and high
growth oncology segment, is pleased to announce that further to the completion
of its acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Oncogeni Limited
("Oncogeni") as announced earlier today the following board appointments:

 

·    Trevor Ajanthan (Ajan) Reginald as Executive Director and Chief
Executive Officer;

·    Professor Sir Martin Evans as Executive Director and Group Chief
Scientific Officer; and

·    Dr Darrin Disley as Non-Executive Director.

 

In addition, Roquefort Therapeutics is pleased to announce the appointment of
Professor Armand Keating FRCPC, MD as an independent Chief Medical Advisor (as
a non-board position).

 

Further, as previously announced, Mark Freeman has today resigned as a
Non-Executive director of the Company.

 

Commenting on the appointments, Stephen West, Executive Chairman, said:

"I would like to welcome Ajan Reginald, Professor Sir Martin Evans and Dr
Darrin Disley to the Board of Roquefort Therapeutics, and Professor Armand
Keating as our new Chief Medical Officer. We are building a world class team
with a proven track record in drug development who will help drive innovation
and ultimately value in our exciting portfolio of oncology drugs. Sir Martin
Evans is a pioneer in stem cells and DNA research and his experience will be
incredibly valuable as Group Chief Scientific Officer throughout our
preclinical studies. Ajan Reginald's experience in commercialisation both
within big pharma and in biotech will be invaluable as CEO as we look to
achieve value in this high growth segment of life sciences.  Dr Darrin Disley
is a great addition as Non-Executive Director, and his expertise in
fundraising and value creation is incredibly complementary to our existing
Board of Directors. Professor Keating is a renowned expert in anti-cancer cell
therapy, a key area of Roquefort Therapeutics' research and is a welcome
addition as Chief Medical Officer.  Finally, I would like to thank Mark
Freeman for his valuable contribution since joining the Board of the Company
in October 2021, and we wish Mark all the best with his other endeavours."

 

Commenting on his appointment, Roquefort Therapeutics CEO Ajan Reginald said:
"I am very excited to be appointed as CEO of Roquefort Therapeutics. The
acquisition of Oncogeni by Roquefort Therapeutics creates a material cancer
biotech company with a portfolio of four innovative pre-clinical programs,
which provides stakeholders with great upside potential. We believe we can
realise value for shareholders in a number of ways, including our internal
drug development, licensing deals or via an outright sale of the clinical
program.  I look forward to working with the combined Oncogeni and Roquefort
Therapeutics teams to progress these programs over the coming months."

 

FURTHER DETAILS ON APPOINTMENTS:

 

Ajan Reginald, Chief Executive Officer

Ajan is an experienced biotechnology CEO with a track record in drug
development, biotech transactions and commercialisation. Over 20 years, he has
served as the Global Head of Emerging Technologies for Roche Group (SWX: ROG),
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Novacyt S.A (LON:
NCYT) and CEO of Celixir Ltd.

 

With Prof. Sir Martin Evans, Ajan founded Celixir PLC, and developed a novel
cardiac cellular medicine which completed pre-clinical development and won
FDA, MHRA and EU regulatory trial approvals. Celixir completed a licensing
deal for its lead program in the Japanese market with Daiichi Sankyo, a
Japanese pharmaceutical company which included a £12.5M upfront payment and a
£5M equity investment which valued Celixir at ~£220 million.

 

Ajan is a graduate of the University of Oxford (MSc Experimental
Therapeutics), Kellogg Business School (MBA) Northwestern University and
University of London (BDS). He is also a recipient of the Fulbright
Scholarship and an alumni of Harvard Business School (AMP), and has
represented England at the Hockey Masters World Cup and European
Championships.

 

The following information is disclosed in relation to Trevor Ajanthan (Ajan)
Reginald, aged 50:

  Current directorships and/or partnerships:   Former directorships and/or partnerships (within the last five years):
 Celixir Limited                               Cell Therapy Tendoncel Limited

 Celixir Innovations Limited                   Cell Therapy Diabetes Limited

 Oncogeni Ltd                                  Cell Therapy Skincel Limited

 Orthogeni Ltd                                 Heartcel CABG Limited

 Desktop Genetics Ltd                          Innately Limited

 SIRNA Limited                                 Kardiacare Limited

 Cell Therapy Limited                          Lifescitech Limited

                                               Myocardion Ltd

                                               Cell Therapy Oncology Limited

                                               Bioreactor Corporation Limited

 

Professor Sir Martin Evans, Nobel Laureate, Group Chief Scientific Officer

Sir Martin was the first scientist to identify embryonic stem cells, which can
be adapted for a wide variety of medical purposes. His discoveries are now
being applied in virtually all areas of biomedicine - from basic research to
the development of new therapies. In 2007, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Medicine, the most prestigious honour in world science, for these
"ground-breaking discoveries concerning embryonic stem cells and DNA
recombination in mammals."

 

Sir Martin has published more than 120 scientific papers. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society in 1993 and is a founder Fellow of the Academy of
Medical Sciences. He was awarded the Walter Cottman Fellowship and the William
Bate Hardy Prizes in 2003 and in 2001 was awarded the Albert Lasker Medal for
Basic Medical Research in the US. In 2002 he was awarded an honorary doctorate
from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, regarded as one of the
world's foremost centres for medical and scientific training. He has also
received honorary doctorate awards from the University of Bath, University of
Buckinghamshire, University College London, University of Wales and the
University of Athens. Sir Martin gained his BA in Biochemistry from Christ
College, University of Cambridge in 1963. He received an MA in 1966 and a DSc
in 1966. In 1969 he was awarded a PhD from University College, London. He
joined the Cardiff University School of Biosciences in 1999. He was knighted
in 2004 for his services to medical science and in 2009 was awarded the Gold
Medal of the Royal Society of Medicine in recognition of his valuable
contribution to medicine. In 2009 he also received the Baly Medal from the
Royal College of Physicians and the Copley Medal, the Royal Society's oldest
award, joining an eminent list of previous recipients including Albert
Einstein.

 

The following information is disclosed in relation to Professor Sir Martin
Evans, aged 81:

  Current directorships and/or partnerships:   Former directorships and/or partnerships (within the last five years):
 Celixir Limited                               Cell Therapy Limited

 Oncogeni Ltd                                  MJIP Ltd

 Sun Force Ltd                                 Moyclare Limited

 

Dr Darrin M Disley, Non-Executive Director

Darrin is a renowned scientist, entrepreneur, angel investor and enterprise
champion who has started, grown, or invested in over 40 start-up life science,
technology and social enterprises, raising US$600 million in business
financing and closing US$700 million in commercial deals. He was CEO of
Horizon Discovery Group plc for 11 years, during which he led the company from
start-up through a US$113 million IPO, and rapid scale-up powered by multiple
acquisitions of US peer companies to become a global market leader in gene
editing and gene modulation technologies. He was awarded a lifetime Queen's
Award for Enterprise Promotion in 2016 for his work in promoting enterprise
across the UK and appointed OBE in 2018 for his services to business and
enterprise in the healthcare sector.

 

The following information is disclosed in relation to Dr Darrin Disley, aged
55:

  Current directorships and/or partnerships:     Former directorships and/or partnerships (within the last five years):
 Mogrify Limited                                 Horizon Discovery Group Limited

 Celixir Limited                                 Horizon Discovery Limited

 Oncogeni Ltd                                    Horizon Discovery Biosciences Limited

 Odyssey Technical Consulting Services Limited   Horizon Diagnostics Limited

                                                 Avvinity Therapeutics Limited

                                                 Bioindustry Association

                                                 Synthetx Limited

                                                 Geospock Limited

                                                 Cambridge Science Centre

                                                 Dharmacon Inc

                                                 CombinatoRx

                                                 Sage Labs Inc

 

Professor Armand Keating FRCPC, MD, Independent Chief Medical Advisor

Armand is an internationally recognised leader in blood and marrow
transplantation and cell therapy. He is a Professor of Medicine and of
Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. He is a past President of
the American Society of Hematology and a past President of the American
Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. He has served in a number of
advisory roles at the US National Institutes of Health and more recently for
the New Organ Alliance and NASA. He held the position of Chief, Medical
Services at Princess Margaret Hospital for a decade and was the Division
Director of Hematology at the University of Toronto. His research and clinical
interests focus on cell-based tissue regeneration, anti-cancer cell therapy,
and blood and marrow transplantation. He has conducted laboratory,
translational and clinical research in these areas, particularly on the
biology and clinical application of mesenchymal stromal cells and NK cells.

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the UK version of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 which is part of UK law by
virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended ("MAR"). Upon
the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service,
this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

-Ends-

 

Enquiries:
 Roquefort Therapeutics plc
 Stephen West (Chairman) / Ajan Reginald (CEO)  +44 (0)20 3290 9339

 Hybridan LLP (Joint Broker)

 Claire Louise Noyce                            +44 (0)203 764 2341

 Optiva Securities Limited (Joint Broker)
 Christian Dennis                               +44 (0)20 3411 1881

 Buchanan (Public Relations)

 Ben Romney / Jamie Hooper / George Beale       +44 (0)20 7466 5000

 

 

LEI: ‎254900P4SISIWOR9RH34

 

About Roquefort Therapeutics

Roquefort Therapeutics (LSE:ROQ, OTCQB:ROQAF) is a Main Market listed biotech
company developing first in class drugs in the high value and high growth
oncology segment prior to partnering or selling to big pharma.

 

Since listing in March 2021, Roquefort Therapeutics has successfully acquired
Lyramid Pty Limited, a leader in the development of medicines for a new
therapeutic target, Midkine (a human growth factor associated with cancer
progression), and most recently acquired Oncogeni Ltd, founded by Nobel
Laureate Professor Sir Martin Evans, which has developed two families of
innovative cell and RNA oncology medicines.

 

Roquefort Therapeutics' portfolio consists of four fully funded, novel
patent-protected pre-clinical anti-cancer medicines.  The highly
complementary profile of four best-in-class medicines consists of:

·    Midkine antibodies with significant in vivo efficacy and toxicology
studies;

·    Midkine RNA therapeutics with novel anti-cancer gene editing action;

·    MK cell therapy with direct and NK-mediated anti-cancer action; and

·    siRNA targeting novel STAT-6 target in solid tumours showing
significant in vivo efficacy.

 

For further information on Roquefort Therapeutics, please visit
www.roquefortplc.com (http://www.roquefortplc.com) and @RoquefortTherap on
Twitter.

 

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