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RNS Number : 1736P
Fusion Antibodies PLC
16 February 2021
Fusion Antibodies plc
("Fusion" or the "Company")
Appointment of new CEO and exercise of options
Fusion Antibodies plc (AIM: FAB), specialists in pre-clinical
antibody discovery, engineering and supply for both therapeutic
drug and diagnostic applications, announces the appointment of Dr
Richard Jones as Chief Executive Officer, replacing Dr Paul Kerr
who stands down from the Board with immediate effect in order to
pursue other opportunities. Paul will become a consultant to the
Company so that he can continue to support the Company going
forward.
Richard Jones is an accomplished life sciences executive with 25
years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry both in big pharma
and biotech companies as well as running a contract development and
manufacturing organisation ("CDMO"). He joins Fusion from BrYet
Limited, a biotech company focused on the discovery and development
of transtherapeutics nanotechnology for the treatment of metastatic
liver and lung cancers. As CEO of BrYet, Richard led the company's
transition from research group to a start-up biotechnology
company.
Previously, Richard was Senior Vice-President, Head of Europe
for NASDAQ listed Akcea Therapeutics, a US biotech company focused
on rare diseases. During his time in charge of the European
operations, Richard successfully built a business with over 100
staff across 16 countries, generating revenues of c. $25m. Before
this, Richard was CEO of Holostem Advanced Therapies S.r.l, a cell
and gene therapy developer/CDMO, where he led the transformation of
the business from an 'early stage' research-based company to a
fully-fledged development, commercial and production entity. Prior
to this, Richard was CEO of Akinion Pharmaceuticals AB, a Swedish
biotech focussed on the discovery and development of signal
transduction inhibitors for the treatment of acute myeloid
leukaemia (AML).
Richard previously served at Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline's
("GSK") Global Oncology division, for GSK's Rare Diseases unit, for
Genzyme's Global Oncology and Transplant business and as
International Franchise Director for Shire Pharmaceuticals. Richard
holds a PhD in Molecular Oncology and Signal Transduction.
Exercise of options and total voting rights
Concurrent with his stepping down from the Board, Paul Kerr is
exercising 125,000 options over ordinary shares of 4 pence each in
in the Company (the "Ordinary Shares") at an exercise price of 4
pence per option. Application will be made for the 125,000 new
Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission"),
which is expected to occur on 19 February 2021.
On Admission, the issued share capital of the Company will
consist of 25,562,025 Ordinary Shares, with one voting right per
share. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury.
Therefore, the total number of Ordinary Shares and voting rights in
the Company will be 25,562,025. The above figure may be used by
shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations
by which they will determine if they are required to notify their
interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of
the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency
Rules.
Simon Douglas, Chairman of Fusion Antibodies, commented: "I
would like to extend the Board's thanks to Paul for his
contribution to the business and his stewardship over the last 10
years, during which time we have established a strong position
supporting our customer base as they develop new antibody
therapeutics and achieved the significant milestone of becoming a
publicly traded company.
"Richard joins us at an exciting time as we focus on the
commercial roll out of OptiMAL, our Mammalian Antibody library and,
in particular, on opportunities to develop COVID-19 targets as well
as our oncology targets."
Richard Jones said: "I am delighted to be leading Fusion
Antibodies into the next phase of the Company's evolution, building
on the strong foundations and expanding its commercial success.
Fusion Antibodies has a world class and cutting edge antibody
discovery, development and supply technology platform built over
the last decade and validated through high profile collaborations.
Fusion Antibodies has the potential to generate significant
shareholder value from its exciting technology platforms and
services in rapidly growing therapeutic areas and in particular
OptiMal, which represents a key future growth driver for the
business. I believe that Fusion will play a significant global role
in the discovery and development of novel, effective antibody
therapeutics."
Enquiries:
Fusion Antibodies plc www.fusionantibodies.com
Simon Douglas, Chairman Via Walbrook PR
Allenby Capital Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 3328 5656
James Reeve / Asha Chotai (Corporate
Finance)
Tony Quirke (Sales and Corporate Broking)
Walbrook PR Tel: +44 (0)20 7933 8780 or fusion@walbrookpr.com
Anna Dunphy Mob: +44 (0)7876 741 001
Paul McManus Mob: +44 (0)7980 541 893
The following disclosures are made in accordance with the AIM
Rules for Companies:
Richard Anthony Jones, aged 48, is or has been a director or
partner of the following companies and partnerships in the past
five years:
Current directorships/partnerships:
Innovate Biopharma Consulting Ltd
Directorships and partnerships held within the last five
years:
BrYet Ltd
Akcea Therapeutics UK Ltd
Akcea Therapeutics Ireland Limited
Akcea Therapeutics Germany GmbH
Akcea Therapeutics France SAS
Akcea Therapeutics Italy Srl
Akcea Therapeutics Portugal
Akcea Therapeutics Spain SI
Akcea Therapeutics Sweden Filial
Holostem Advanced Therapeutics Srl,
Akinion Limited
Akinion Pharmaceuticals AB
Dr Jones does not hold any ordinary shares in the Company
Save for the information set out above, there are no further
disclosures to be made in accordance with Rule 17, Schedule 2(g) of
the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of the appointment of Dr
Jones.
About Fusion Antibodies plc
Fusion is a Belfast based contract research organisation ("CRO")
providing a range of antibody engineering services for the
development of antibodies for both therapeutic drug and diagnostic
applications.
The Company's ordinary shares were admitted to trading on AIM on
18 December 2017. Fusion provides a broad range of services in
antibody generation, development, production, characterisation and
optimisation. These services include antigen expression, antibody
production, purification and sequencing, antibody humanisation
using Fusion's proprietary CDRx(TM) platform and the production of
antibody generating stable cell lines to provide material for use
in clinical trials. Since 2012, the Company has successfully
sequenced and expressed over 250 antibodies and successfully
completed over 200 humanisation projects and has an international,
blue-chip client base, which has included eight of the top 10
global pharmaceutical companies by revenue.
The Company was established in 2001 as a spin out from Queen's
University Belfast. The Company's mission is to enable
pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies to develop innovative
products in a timely and cost-effective manner for the benefit of
the global healthcare industry. Fusion Antibodies provides a broad
range of services in antibody generation, development, production,
characterisation and optimisation.
Fusion Antibodies growth strategy is based on combining the
latest technological advances with cutting edge science to deliver
new platforms that will enable Pharma and Biotech companies get to
the clinic faster, with the optimal drug candidate and ultimately
speed up the drug development process.
The global monoclonal antibody therapeutics market was valued at
$135.4 billion in 2018 and is forecast to surpass $212.6 billion in
2022, an increase at a CAGR of 12.0 per cent. for the period 2018
to 2022. In 2017, seven of the world's ten top selling drugs were
antibody-based therapeutics with the combined annual sales of these
drugs exceeding $63.2 billion.
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