City briefs: ITM Power and Avacta
Energy storage and clean fuel company, ITM Power, has confirmed senior appointments resulting from its programme to maintain and strengthen its market leadership position in PEM electrolysis equipment manufacture.
As noted in the Sheffield-based company’s Trading Update in June, a recruitment process to build a management team that is appropriate for the significant growth of the business is continuing.
Helen Baker has been appointed company secretary. She is an experienced chartered secretary and chartered governance professional with a background in the secretariats of large listed international groups, most recently with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners.
In the course of her career, she has been involved in all aspects of company secretarial work including supporting company boards and their committees, providing governance advice, ensuring listed company compliance, global entity management, production of the annual report and share plans administration.
Martin Clay has joined ITM Power in the newly created role of operations director.
He was previously managing director at Kostal UK Ltd, a key supplier of electro-mechanical switch gear for the automotive industry and has been responsible for the business’s rapid and significant growth.
Prior to his MD role he was the quality executive manager for 13 years and production quality manager for two years at Kostal.
Neil Dwane has been appointed capital markets adviser.
He was formerly the global strategist for AllianzGI for five years, responsible for AllianzGI’s house view, as well as the Biannual Investment Forums and the development of investment thought leadership content.
From 2002 to 2016, he was the CIO for the European Equity business, based in Frankfurt, overseeing teams in London, Paris and Frankfurt.
Justin Scarborough has joined the IR team as investor relations and financial analyst.
He arrives from AirX where he was head of strategy and investor relations. He has significant experience in critical analytical workstreams around strategy, budgeting, research, fundraising as well as expertise in shareholder relations.
Barry Cunliffe has re-joined the company as project risk manager.
He was previously the finance director of ITM Power plc from 2009 to 2014 and during that time completed two equity funding rounds. Since leaving the company, he has been the group finance director for a group of manufacturing and engineering companies in Sheffield.
Sharon Poulter has been appointed head of marketing. She joins the company after working in a number of highly competitive FMCG markets, delivering innovative marketing strategies and approaches.
She was attracted to ITM Power by the chance to work within a business that has a clear approach to sustainability and whose products contribute to climate change mitigation.
Finally, Dr Rosemary Gault joins as head of grant partnership funding, bringing significant experience from her time working with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing and the European Commission where she held responsibilities for research, grant writing, bid development and analysis.
She has a BSc in Astrophysics and a PhD in Rapid Prototyping.
Graham Cooley, ITM Power’s CEO, said: “We are very pleased to welcome all of our new team members.
“We have been delighted by the quality of the applicants wishing to work with us and this high quality is reflected in the outstanding individuals whose appointments we have announced today.”
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Wetherby-based Avacta Group, which develops cancer therapies and diagnostics based on its Affimer® and pre|CISION™ platforms, has made new appointments to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
The SAB provides the Therapeutics Division with scientific and clinical advice to support its drug development decision making and pipeline strategy.
The three new members of the SAB are Professor James Spicer, Professor Krishnan Komanduri and Dr Stéphane Champiat.
Spicer is professor of experimental cancer medicine at King’s College London and consultant in medical oncology at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospitals, London.
He has established and runs a Phase 1 clinical trials programme in solid tumour oncology at Guy’s Hospital, where the portfolio of studies includes novel immunotherapies discovered and developed at King’s as well as many externally sponsored studies.
Komanduri is chief of the Division of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and associate chief medical officer for clinical innovation, at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miami.
He is also a professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology and a physician-scientist with a laboratory focusing on T-cell immunology in cancer.
He serves on the United Health Care Oncology Advisory Committee and is a past chair of the American Society of Hematology Scientific Committee on Host Defense.
Komanduri is the current chair of the ASTCT Cellular Therapy Committee and chair-elect of the Government Relations Committee.
Champiat is a physician at the Gustave Roussy Cancer Center in Paris, where he focuses on the development of cancer therapeutics, in particular, new immunotherapies.
He has been principal investigator or co-investigator of more than 50 Phase I clinical trials run by many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
He is particularly involved in the coordination of the immunotherapy toxicity management program and the development of the intra-tumoral immunotherapy strategy at Gustave Roussy.
Dr Alastair Smith, chief executive officer of Avacta Group, said: “We are pleased, and honoured, to welcome three world-leading oncologists to Avacta’s Therapeutics Division’s Scientific Advisory Board, under the continuing chairmanship of Dr Mike Owen.
“The wealth of knowledge these individuals will bring, both scientific and clinical, as well as their strategic and commercial insight, will be a major benefit to us as we expand our preclinical programmes and take the next drug candidates into the clinic.”
