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Aquapharm Appoints Business Development Director

Oban, Scotland – 1st December 2009: Aquapharm Biodiscovery Ltd, a leading marine biotechnology company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jon Williams as Business Development Director. Jon’s primary focus will be to drive forward the commercialisation of scientifically validated, sustainably sourced functional ingredients and industrial biotechnology products derived from Aquapharm’s collection of marine micro-organisms.

Jon will apply his unique blend of expertise in business development, natural product exploitation and microbial fermentation to seek new commercial partners to engage in discovery and product development partnerships. These collaborations will support Aquapharm’s efforts to build a diversified portfolio of sustainably produced products for application in a wide range of high-value markets including personal care, nutrition and bio-production of specialty chemicals and API. 
Jon will also work with Aquapharm’s existing partners, including Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Croda International, to build on these alliances and seek further avenues for collaboration. 

Jon has gained an enviable business development track record from a range of progressively more senior management positions held at, respectively, Summit plc, Avecia and AEA Technology. Jon joins Aquapharm from Summit plc where, as Managing Director of Summit (Wales), he established and led a new business unit focused on the exploitation of botanically derived bio-active ingredients. Prior to Summit plc, Jon successfully developed and led the European Business Development team at Avecia Biologics, a microbial-derived biologics business based in the UK.

Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg, CEO of Aquapharm said “Jon’s considerable experience in the commercialisation of natural products will be invaluable as we build a portfolio of bioactive ingredients and industrial biotechnology products derived from Aquapharm’s unique collection of marine micro-organisms. This appointment will catalyse our efforts to establish sustainable, diversified sources of revenue and act to support the longer-term development of novel pharmaceutical candidates.”

Commenting on his appointment, Jon added “I’m excited to be joining the Aquapharm team and particularly looking forward to applying my commercial expertise to support Aquapharm’s efforts to build its pipeline of revenue-generating products.”

Aquapharm Strengthens Management Team with the Appointment of Research Director

Oban, Scotland – 1st December 2009: Aquapharm Biodiscovery Ltd, a leading marine biotechnology company, is pleased to announce it has appointed Dr. Lloyd Payne as its Research Director. 

Lloyd has joined Aquapharm to drive forward the discovery and development of novel bioactives derived from the company’s unique collection of marine micro-organisms. To further increase the accessibility of this collection, Aquapharm is currently building one of the world’s largest marine derived compound libraries and Lloyd’s exceptional scientific leadership and vision will be integral to its successful delivery in 2010. Upon its completion, the compound library will accelerate Aquapharm’s discovery efforts, principally in the anti-microbial field, as well as acting as a source of additional revenue for the company through selected screening partnerships. 

Lloyd has an exemplary scientific track record leading discovery programmes from early hit validation through to candidate selection and early development. He joins Aquapharm from F2G Ltd where, as Chief Scientific Officer, he led several programmes and played a major role in the discovery and optimisation of a new class of antifungal agent with a new mechanism of action transforming it from a promising hit into a clinical drug candidate. Prior to F2G, Lloyd was a senior scientist at Millennium Pharmaceuticals responsible for the leadership of multidisciplinary drug discovery project teams based in the UK and the US. Lloyd has also held senior scientific and management positions within Cambridge Discovery Chemistry and NCE Discovery (latterly Domainex). 

Dr. Andrew Mearns Spragg, CEO of Aquapharm said “We are delighted to welcome Lloyd to Aquapharm to head up our research activities. He brings with him a wealth of experience in bioactive discovery and lead optimisation. Lloyd’s appointment further strengthens our management team as we endeavour to accelerate the discovery and development of scientifically validated marine bioactives derived from our unique collection of marine micro-organisms. I feel Lloyd’s appointment marks a step change in our discovery efforts and I’m excited to be working with him to drive Aquapharm’s candidates forward.”

Commenting on his appointment, Lloyd said “I’m looking forward to making a big contribution to realising the potential of Aquapharm’s marine microbe collection, particularly the delivery of one of the world’s largest marine-derived compound libraries in 2010 and working with the team to identify and develop high value bioactives for commercialisation.”

For more information please see www.aquapharm.co.uk