19th Nov 2007 07:02
Stem Cell Sciences plc19 November 2007 Press Release STEM CELL SCIENCES APPOINTS ALASTAIR RIDDELL AS CEO FOUNDER PETER MOUNTFORD ASSUMES CTO ROLE 19th November 2007 Stem Cell Sciences plc (SCS, AIM:STEM, ASX: STC), the global biotechnologycompany focused on the commercialisation of stem cells and stem celltechnologies in research and cell-based therapies, announces today theappointment of Dr Alastair James Riddell, aged 58, as Chief Executive Officer(CEO). Dr Riddell brings to SCS extensive experience in the biotech industry,with more than 10 years experience at Board level in building companies, raisingfinancing and negotiating deals for both public and private companies. Hereplaces the Company's founder, Dr Peter Mountford, who has taken the role ofChief Technology Officer as well as retaining his Executive Directorship. Most recently, Dr Riddell was Non-Executive Chairman of Surface Therapeuticsuntil overseeing the company's acquisition by Serentis in September 2007. As CEOof Paradigm Therapeutics, Dr Riddell, with his senior team, completed majorcorporate licensing agreements with Johnson & Johnson and Takeda, as well asleading the negotiations for Takeda's acquisition of the company in March 2007.From 1998 to 2005, Dr Riddell was CEO of Pharmagene taking the company throughseveral rounds of VC financing and an eventual IPO on the LSE. Previous toPharmagene, Dr Riddell held senior management positions at Caremark, AmershamInternational, Centocor, Celltech, Xoma Europe and Lederle. Dr Riddell startedhis medical career in the Royal Army Medical Corps and the Royal BerkshireHospital. "SCS is in a pivotal stage of its corporate development and has made greatprogress in developing and commercialising its innovative stem celltechnologies. As a demonstrated successful leader, with extensive expertise indriving the growth of biotech companies, the Board believes that Dr Riddell isthe appropriate person to lead the company to the next stage in itsdevelopment," noted David Dodd, Non-Executive Chairman of SCS. "We would alsolike to recognise Dr Mountford, whose vision and determination has helped growSCS to the global stem cell player it is today. In his new role, we look forwardto capitalising on his recognised knowledge of the sector to fuel the future SCSproduct pipeline." In his role as Chief Technology Officer based in Melbourne, Australia, DrMountford will capitalise on his experience and expertise for sourcing andlicensing innovative stem cell technologies. This will involve leveraging newbusiness opportunities from the technology platform and expanding the company'snetwork of academic collaborators. Commenting on his new role, Dr. Riddell stated, "Stem Cell Sciences has anexcellent record in establishing valuable intellectual property in this excitingfield and my task is to translate that position into commercial success in thenear term and therapeutic success in the long term. The company has made apromising start in the drug discovery applications of its technology with itsinitial deals. I look forward to working with the company in building on theseearly successes and creating significant shareholder value in the future." - Ends - For further information, please contact: Stem Cell Sciences plc (United Kingdom) +44 131 662 9829Alastair Riddell, CEO Halsin Partners (United Kingdom) +44 20 7084 5955Mike Sinclair Talk Biotech (Australia) +61 4 2220 6036Fay Weston Stem Cell Sciences llc (USA) +1 678 641 4029David Dodd, Chairman of SCS plc Notes to Editors Stem Cell Sciences plc (SCS, AIM: STEM, ASX: STC) is a global biotechnologycompany providing the biological infrastructure of cells and cell culture mediato the burgeoning stem cell research market. Stem Cell Sciences' core objective is to develop safe and effective cell-basedtherapies for currently incurable diseases. SCS retains all rights to itstechnology for therapeutic use and is targeting cell-based therapies forneurodegenerative disease and injury. Revenues from Stem Cell Sciences' research business are delivered via anintegrated network of business teams and regional offices in Edinburgh andCambridge (UK), Melbourne (Australia) and San Francisco (USA). This global reachprovides the Company with the direct access to markets through experiencedpersonnel and local business networks needed to drive SCS's business growth ineach region. The key challenge for the successful application of stem cells in both researchand clinical applications is the reproducible supply of pure, fullycharacterized stem cells and stem cell-derived specialised cells such as nervesand muscle. This represents a significant technological challenge that willrequire access to multiple technologies and a globally integrated stem cellinitiative. To access cutting edge technologies on a rapid and on-going basis, Stem CellSciences has built an exceptional network of highly interactive collaborationswith academic centres of excellence in the stem cell field. These collaborationshave been the source of our founding technologies and continue to provide anexpanding pipeline of products and intellectual property that are central to theCompany's strategy and success. To facilitate research and technology transfer with its major collaboratingacademic institutions, Stem Cell Sciences' business and scientific teams areusually co-located on site or adjacent to the centre of excellence inindependent company facilities. The Company's key collaborating institutesinclude the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research (University ofCambridge), the Institute of Stem Cell Research (University of Edinburgh), RIKENCentre for Developmental Biology (Kobe) and the Australian Stem Cell Centre(Melbourne). Academic and commercial use of stem cells in basic research and drug discoveryprovides the Company with immediate and growing revenue streams and offsets thecost of technology development for full scale cell production of SCS cell-basedtherapeutics. For further information on the company please visit: www.stemcellsciences.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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