Paul joins PredictImmune having spent over 20 years in a number of successful executive positions in the United States.
To date, PredictImmune has raised £4.7m Series A equity funding for the commercial development of laboratory services and diagnostic kits for routine use in clinical gastroenterology, and an additional £4.3m investment from the Wellcome Trust to support a prospective multi-centre clinical trial of a prognostic biomarker product for treatment guidance in Crohn’s disease.
Paul commented of his appointment: “This is an exciting time for PredictImmune and I’m honoured to have been appointed to lead the company as it enters the commercialisation phase of its expansion. I look forward to working with the highly qualified and experienced team at PredictImmune to implement the global commercialisation of its unique and revolutionary products to market and increase the company’s potential long-term value.”
Immune-mediated diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, vasculitis and Lupus are common, chronic and incurable, andthere is currently no way of knowing whether a patient is likely to experience a severe, relapsing form of the disease. PredictImmune’s innovative prognostic products will identify patients who may benefit from state-of-the-art (biologics) anti-inflammatory drugs.
Andrew Sandham, Executive Chairman of PredictImmune commented: “Paul has more than 25 years of global leadership experience in disruptive life science and diagnostics companies and has a proven track record in transforming organisations while driving commercial success and growth. I’m delighted to welcome Paul to the team and look forward to working with him to bring our ground-breaking products to market.”
Paul began his career as an analytical chemist at Smithkline French & Beckman Research, a predecessor company of GlaxoSmithKline. Throughout his executive career, he has held leadership positions with Transgenomic, ZyGEM Corp., Life Technologies, Guava Technologies, and Cellomics, generating more than $60m in funding, creating global partnerships and increasing shareholder returns.
Paul takes up his new position with immediate effect and will be based at PredictImmune’s UK headquarters at The Babraham Research Campus.
About PredictImmune
PredictImmune aims to develop and commercialise a series of biomarker tests to guide physicians in the treatment of patients with immune-mediated disease, through prediction of long term clinical prognosis. The first such test, for inflammatory bowel diseases, was discovered and developed in the laboratory of Professor Kenneth Smith, Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with gastroenterologists at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and other UK NHS hospital trusts. His group has published on the underlying biology of the prognostic biomarkers that comprise the test, which also have relevance in other inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including vasculitis and Lupus (SLE), where clinical research and development is ongoing in the Smith laboratory. Independent market research indicates that physicians, patients and payers will recognise the value of personalised treatment guidance in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The company is currently progressing its Crohn’s Disease prognostic test towards CE mark registration within the European regulatory process and is engaging with payers to model potential health-economic impact. www.predictimmune.co.uk