Board of Directors

Paul is a familiar face in the UK biotech arena, having been the Chairman of the UK BioIndustry Association’s Manufacturing Advisory Committee and is the current Chair of the OBN UK Ltd. He has over 40 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and life science field; he has worked for Beecham Pharmaceuticals & Genzyme Corporation, where he headed the UK operations. In 2000, he became CEO of UK based biosimilars’ organisation, GeneMedix (GMX) plc and successfully led a dual listing on the London and Singapore Stock Exchanges. Paul has acted as a NED to Goldshield Group plc & BioProducts Laboratories and oversaw the sale of both organisations to Private Equity Groups. He acted as interim CEO to NanoMab Technology Ltd with an exit to Radiopharm Theranostics. He has served as Managing Partner and board member of the global Executive Search Group, Horton International since 2011.

Jackie has over 35 years of experience of working in & knowledge of the global biotech & pharmaceutical industry, primarily in the commercial & strategy fields. Her company, Plexsus Consulting Services, has worked with start-up companies and larger biotech's, in multiple therapy areas, to identify and negotiate deals for the commercialisation of single assets or sale of companies. Jackie was Commercial Director for GeneMedix (GMX) plc, where she was part of the team who completed a dual float on the London and Singapore Stock Exchanges. She has worked for PA Consulting Group, Novo Nordisk A/S, Boehringer Ingelheim and Warner Lambert. Jackie has served on the Board of Imophoron Ltd, Carbometrics Ltd and CanImGuide Therapeutics AB.

As a translational researcher for the last 32 years and Professor at Universities of Bristol, Nottingham and Pretoria, Prof Bates has spun out three companies based on his discoveries, and as Founding Director of the University of Nottingham Centre for Cancer Sciences from 2017 to 2023 has run strategic initiatives that cross multiple disciplines. David co-founded Exonate Ltd (2013), a Cambridge based clinical stage company developing anti-angiogenic eye drops where he was the Chief Scientific Officer until 2022. He has acted as a scientific advisor to major pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Takeda and Alcon. His academic research has contributed to the development of therapeutics in vascular eye disease and in cancer through collaborations with Roche and Astra Zeneca. He has published more than 200 papers and is the inventor on 13 patents.

In a biopharma career spanning over twenty-five years, Dr. Lundemose brings extensive international experience in areas of management, business development, corporate development, M&A strategy, and execution, financing as well as R&D in key therapeutic areas including oncology, neuroscience, diabetes, obesity and anti-infectives. He is a serial entrepreneur and founder of several successful biotech companies, and has a broad international pharma, biotech and investor network. He is currently Chairman of the Board at Commit Biologics. Dr. Lundemose has been CEO of Mission Therapeutics since 2015 and was CEO of publicly listed Bionor Pharma, and owner and Managing Partner of BioTesch Advice & Consultancy. Previously he was co-founder and CEO of Prosidion, the UK spin-out of OSI Pharmaceuticals’ diabetes and obesity assets, which was subsequently reversed into OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. At OSI Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Lundemose held several senior management roles, most latterly as Executive Vice President Corporate Development & Strategy Officer, OSI, New York. Notably he was responsible for the acquisition of the DP-IV patent estate from Probiodrug generating 30 times return on investment. He was also involved in the sale of OSI Pharmaceuticals to Astellas Pharma for $4 billion. Dr. Lundemose has been involved in a total of six biotech exits/IPOs and has held Board positions on over 12 Biotech Companies. Dr. Lundemose is a qualified medical doctor and has a D.M.Sc and a Ph.D from the University of Aarhus, Denmark.

Tom Needham, MBA, is a Director and Head of the Biopharmaceuticals practice at Broadview Ventures. Tom shares responsibility for all aspects of Broadview’s investment activity, from identification and screening of new opportunities, through due diligence, negotiation of deal structure, and portfolio company board involvement. Tom has 30 years of experience in venture capital, business development, corporate strategy, and C-suite executive management responsibilities in public and private life science companies. Prior to joining Broadview Ventures, Tom was most recently Chief Business Officer at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: MACK) and Senior Vice President, Business Development at C4 Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CCCC). Prior to C4T, Tom spent 13 years as a venture capital investor, most recently as a Managing Director at Synthesis Capital, where he was involved in the management of two healthcare venture funds focused on investments in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical technology. Prior to Synthesis, Tom was a Principal at Advent International, a global private equity firm, as a member of the healthcare venture capital deal team in Boston. Earlier in his career, Tom held Vice President of Business Development positions at private and public biotech companies where he led the negotiation and closing of a number of strategic transactions, including R&D partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies, licensing and M&A transactions. Tom currently serves on the boards of Basking Biosciences, including serving as Chairman (2020 thru 2023), Antag Therapeutics and IsomAb, as well as holds board observer roles at Comanche Bio and HAYA Therapeutics. Previously, Tom served on the board at Renovacor (NYSE: RCOR, acquired by Rocket Pharma), including serving as Chairman (2019 thru 2021), and held board observer roles at NIDO Surgical (acquired), and Cardero Therapeutics (now Epirium Bio). Tom’s prior venture investment experience also includes working on Astex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ASTX, acquired by Otsuka), Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ENTA), MD Everywhere (acquired by Marlin Equity Partners), Sirion Therapeutics (trade sale to Alcon and Bausch & Lomb) and Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AEGR). Tom holds a B.A. from Bowdoin College and an MBA from Babson College’s F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.

Hannah Tapsell Chapman is an investor at Mercia Ventures, one of the UK’s most active venture capital firms. Hannah joined Mercia Ventures in September 2022 and focuses on high-growth business in the Midlands. Bringing with her over a decade of experience working with early-stage companies, Hannah’s role includes the origination, evaluation and negotiation of new deals as well as portfolio company board involvement. Hannah currently serves on the boards of various Mercia Ventures portfolio businesses, including NuVision, IsomAb, 6 Bit Education and ImmuONE. Prior to joining Mercia Ventures, Hannah worked in the venture building team at the Ministry of Defence, advising founders on commercialising their innovations and raising investment. She started her career at the London Stock Exchange Group where she spent seven years working across Capital Markets. Hannah holds a BSc from the University of Nottingham.

Laura is a Principal at SCVC, the official VC arm of Science Creates, where she invests in early-stage deep tech companies. She serves as Investor Director on the board of SCVC portfolio companies including Isomab and Bitrobius Genetics. Laura has broad experience across the life sciences. She is a Biochemist with seven years research experience across industry and university settings, holding Masters and Doctoral degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford. Her research experience includes three years at TCR T-cell therapy biotech Adaptimmune. Prior to joining SCVC in 2021, Laura worked at BBSRC-UKRI developing funding programmes to support the commercialisation of academic research.