Derbyshire biotech company N4 Pharma has appointed Dr Alastair Smith as an independent Non-Executive Director.
Alastair was the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group, an AIM-listed biotech company established as a spin-out from Leeds University in 2005 and listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market in 2006.
Over his tenure, Avacta grew into one of the leading AIM biotech companies comprising two divisions: a clinical stage oncology drug company and a diagnostics business.
Alastair joins the company’s remuneration and audit committees.
Nigel Theobald, Chief Executive Officer, N4 Pharma, said: “We are delighted to welcome Alastair to the Board of N4 Pharma. His experience in having founded and grown a start-up to become one of the UK’s leading life science businesses will be invaluable in supporting the commercialisation of Nuvec® and advancing our pipeline of innovative therapies.”
The news comes as David Templeton retires as a Director of the company.
Nigel added: “On behalf of my fellow Directors and everyone involved with N4 Pharma, I would like to thank David for all he has contributed over his years with the Company. Whilst he will be sorely missed, his work on dual loading of Nuvec® and its potential for oral delivery has left us with a true point of difference and a clear path towards Phase 1 clinical trials. We wish him all the best for the future.”
Alastair Smith said: “I am delighted to be joining the Board of N4 Pharma. I see strong parallels between N4 Pharma and Avacta; both building a pipeline of therapies that are strongly differentiated by a proprietary platform technology and offer additional opportunities for early commercialisation through licensing.”
