Board of directors
David Dodd - Chairman
David Dodd was appointed non-executive Chairman of Stem Cell Sciences plc, effective January 1, 2007. His experience includes significant management and corporate development experience in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining the Stem Cell Sciences Group, he was President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of NASDAQ quoted Serologicals Corporation until it was acquired by Millipore Corporation on 14 July 2006. During David’s six years of leadership, the value of Serologicals Corporation increased from $85 million to $1.4 billion, establishing industry leadership positions in several high-growth markets. From August 1995 until June 2000, David served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc. and as a member of the Management Board for the Pharmaceutical Sector for Solvay S.A. D avid was also Chairman of the Board of Unimed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a subsidiary of Solvay Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Solvay, he served in a number of management and executive positions with major life science corporations, including Wyeth, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Abbott Laboratories. David recently was awarded the 2005 GBP Biomedical Industry Growth Award for his efforts in promoting Georgia’s life sciences industry. In addition, David received the 2005 Oglethorpe Award from the Atlanta Chapter of the British American Business Group, in recognition of his ongoing leadership in fostering business relationships between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. David is also currently serving on the board of directors of Stheno Corporation as non-executive director, a private life sciences instrument company; as Chairman of the Board of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; and, as Immediate Past-Chair, the Georgia Biomedical Partnership, the biotechnology trade association in the State of Georgia. David holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from Georgia State University and completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.
Dr Alastair J. Riddell - Chief Executive Officer
Dr Alastair Riddell was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Stem Cell Sciences in November 2007. As a long standing bioentrepreneur with more than 24 years’ experience in the industry, Alastair spent considerable time, at Board level, building companies, raising money and negotiating corporate deals. From 2006 to 2007 he held the position of Non Executive Chairman at Surface Therapeutics prior to its sale to Serentis in September 2007. From 2005, he was Chief Executive Officer of Paradigm Therapeutics where he achieved a successful trade sale to Takeda Pharmaceutical Corporation in March 2007. Prior to Paradigm, Alastair was Chief Executive Officer of Pharmagene for seven years, during which time he successfully listed the company on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. He has also held senior positions with Celltech, Centocor and Amersham International in clinical development before moving to sales and marketing. Alastair began his professional career as a medical doctor with six years’ experience in a variety of hospital specialties and in general practice. He is an active Board member of the BIA, a position he has held from 2000 to 2006 and recently re-elected to serve for the 2008 term.
Peter Mountford Ph D - Non-Executive Director
Dr Peter Mountford took over the role as Chief Technology Officer after stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of Stem Cell Sciences in November 2007. Peter resigned from his executive role in the company in February 2008 when the position of Chief Technology Officer was made redundant and has continued as a non executive director since. A co-founder of Stem Cell Sciences, Peter was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 1999. He has been instrumental in the development and globalisation of Stem Cell Sciences. Peter has a PhD in cellular and molecular biology (University of Melbourne), and completed a post-doctoral research fellowship, sponsored by the Royal Society (London), with Professor Austin Smith, at the University of Edinburgh. Peter is a Director of all the companies within the SCS Group, as well as the private company Secure Sciences Pty Ltd.
Michael Dexter Ph D - Non-Executive Director
Dr Michael Dexter held the position of Chairman of Stem Cell Sciences from 2003-2006.Michael spent the five years prior to joining Stem Cell Sciences as Director (Chief Executive Officer) of The Wellcome Trust, managing an organisation of over 600 staff and a charitable investment fund investing approximately £600 million per annum into biomedical research. During his time at The Wellcome Trust, Michael oversaw one of the biggest advances in biomedical research when it was announced that the human genome had been sequenced – giving scientists a detailed map of the body’s make-up for the first time. Prior to joining The Wellcome Trust he was Director of Research at The Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Christie Hospital, NHS Trust, Manchester. Michael is a fellow of the Royal Society (London), was appointed Professor of Experimental Oncology at the University of Manchester, is an honorary Fellow at the Royal College of Physicians, and a founding fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He is currently Chairman of the International Centre for Life, Newcastle and the Cockroft Institute for Accelerator Sciences in Daresbury, Cheshire. He was previously a Director of Catalyst Biomedica Ltd, the translational business arm of The Wellcome Trust. Michael has over 360 publications on his scientific work.
Les Webb - Non-Executive Director
Les Webb was appointed Director of Stem Cell Sciences Holdings in 2003. Les previously practiced as a solicitor of the Supreme Courts of Victoria and High Court of Australia (1976- 1986). In 1986 he was admitted to the Bar in New South Wales and Victoria and has continued his practice as a Barrister as well as establishing ITV Consulting Pty Limited, a corporate advisory and investment consulting business. He is also Chairman of Stem Cell Sciences Australia, and a Non-Executive Director of pharmaceutical company Generic Health Limited and health insurance company iSelect. He previously sat on the Board of ASX listed Gradipore Ltd (now Life Therapeutics).
Harry Karelis - Non-Executive Director
Harry Karelis was appointed a Director of Stem Cell Sciences Holdings in 2003. Harry is also the founder and Managing Director of Titan BioVentures Management Pty Ltd. Titan is the investment manager of BioTech Capital Ltd, one of the largest life-science focused private equity funds in Australia. Harry has led investments in drug discovery, regenerative medicine, medical devices and several other technology platform areas. He is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from the CFA Institute in the United States. Prior to establishing BioTech Capital Harry worked in the financial services industry with roles in financial analysis and funds management both in Australia and overseas. Harry is currently a Director of several private and public life-science companies including Phylogica Ltd, Continence Control Systems Pty Ltd, XRT Ltd, Gateway Capital Ltd and Biotech Capital Ltd. He previously sat on the Boards of Clinical Cell Culture Ltd, Biocomm Services Pty Ltd and Pacific Knowledge Systems Pty Ltd.
Giorgio Reggiani – Company Secretary & Finance Director
Giorgio Reggiani joined Stem Cell Sciences as Company Secretary and Finance Director in February 2008. He is a Chartered Management Accountant with nearly 20 years of senior financial and operational experience, gained mostly in hi-tech, high-growth companies. Giorgio completed his MBA at London Business School in 1992. Prior to joining Stem Cell Sciences he worked for Vidus, a scheduling software company which he helped to spin-out of British Telecom and establish as the leading field force scheduling company before selling to @Road inc and Mobile Systems International plc, a GSM network planning software company which was acquired by Marconi for $690m. Giorgio was a founding partner of Esprit Capital Partners LLP, a venture capital firm created as a result of Cazenove Private Equity merging with Prelude Ventures. Esprit is one of Europe’s largest venture capital investors in technology and healthcare and has over $500m of capital under management.