CEO to step down at listed biotech business
Biotech business Animalcare has seen a strong start to 2018, as it announces its current CEO will step down.
The York-based listed firm this morning issued a trading update for the six months ending June 30. Total Group revenue for the period increased 6.4%, from £44.8m to £47.8m. Its pharmaceutical segment revenues increased by 6.7% from £33.1m to £35.4m. It said this was primarily driven by a stronger product mix.
The firm, which acquired Ecuphar in 13 July 2017, said its current CEO, Chris Cardon, would step down to chief strategy officer from October 1.
Jenny Winter will become the new CEO, who joins with over twenty years’ experience working in big pharma in various senior management and commercial roles for AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.
As Chief Strategy Officer, Chris will continue to lead the Company’s international strategic vision and acquisition strategy and be part of Winter’s leadership team.
Winter has also been CEO of the charity Barretstown, transforming it into a successful leading children’s charity. Her work at the charity resulted in her being asked by Barretstown board member Dermot Gleeson, Chairman of Allied Irish Bank, to join the Board of the bank as a Non-Executive Director, a role she held from 2004 to 2010.
Jan Boone, Chairman of Animalcare Group plc, said: “We are excited to welcome Jenny Winter, whose strong and varied international experience make her ideally placed to continue to realise the full benefits of the recent reverse merger and continue to implement our clear strategy for growth in the attractive animal health market.
“The Board would like to thank Chris for his significant achievements as Chief Executive, overseeing the transformational merger with Ecuphar and the transition of Animalcare to an international animal health business. His extensive experience will continue to be invaluable to the Company in his new role and will be vital in the Company’s plans for growth.”
Winter added: “I am delighted to be joining Animalcare at a very exciting time for the Company. My focus will be on accelerating the strong foundation for growth that has been already laid by the Board and management team, focusing on consolidation, product development and maximising the potential of the Group’s unique and highly compelling animal health portfolio.”
Cardon said: “I am proud to have led Animalcare through a very significant period of development for the business. I am pleased to hand over the reins of the Company to Jenny to allow me to focus on the strategic vision for the business and I am confident that she is the right candidate to lead Animalcare in its next stage of its growth and development. I look forward to working with her closely to ensure the continued success of the Group and to drive sustained growth of the business.”
Animalcare said: “The Company remains focused on creating a strong platform for future growth and driving long-term shareholder value. Delivering integration and reorganisation to unlock scale benefits and structure the business for future growth remains a core focus, and good progress is being made, most notably during the Period with the restructuring of the UK commercial team, as well as with the Groups upgrade and integration of its IT systems. We continue to expect commercial and efficiency synergies from the merger with Ecuphar to be delivered over the course of late 2018 and full year 2019.
“As part of our growth strategy, Animalcare has been focused on expanding markets for our own products in new territories and launching new in-licensed products. Several of these new launches that were due to take place in the first half of 2018 have been subject to delays by distribution partners. We are still confident in the ability to launch these products in the second half of 2018 or early 2019. “
