board of directors

Clare Terlouw CHAIR

Clare Terlouw is Head of LifeArc Ventures, responsible for LifeArc’s venture investments across the life science sector, which include a portfolio of direct and indirect investments.  She is the head of the investment team and a member of the investment committee. LifeArc’s venture strategy is focused on a seed to Series A investment strategy with the ability to further fund portfolio companies into later rounds of funding.

Clare was previously at Syncona Investment Management Ltd, a FTSE250 healthcare investment trust which builds and invests in life sciences companies, where she was Head of Corporate Development. She has 15 years of biotech financing experience as an investment banker in the City of London with significant expertise in funding for innovative life sciences companies in the private and public markets.

Clare is also board member of the BIA, a NED of Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, and a director of several venture backed companies.

MIKE WESTBY Chief EXECUTIVE Officer / DIRECTOR

Mike is a Senior Executive with over 20 years R&D Pharma and Biotech Industry experience, including at Roche and Pfizer. He led the Anti-Infectives Research Group at Pfizer’s Sandwich R&D site and played a key role in progressing novel compounds through clinical trials, including maraviroc (Selzentry) a first-in-class HIV entry inhibitor.

As founder and CEO of three start-up Biotechs, Mike has successfully raised >£40m in dilutive and non-dilutive funds and has held Exec and Non-Exec Board positions in a number of early-stage companies, including Centauri Therapeutics Ltd, where he is retained as part-time CSO. Mike trained in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Durham, obtained his PhD at Warwick University and studied immunology and microbiology as a post-doctoral research fellow at St George’s Hospital Medical School, London. He is the co-author of more than 50 manuscripts and patents.

DR RIP BALLOU NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dr Ripley Ballou is a senior R&D leader with a wealth of experience in vaccines and infectious diseases. His experience includes research, technical and clinical development, quality and regulatory activities involved in taking vaccines and monoclonal antibodies targeting infectious diseases, from discovery through to the clinic. He also has experience of start-up companies including being instrumental in the launch of Univax Corporation which was developing a monoclonal antibody programme against sepsis targets.

Dr Ballou currently serves as a Senior Scientific Advisor to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) where he works on monoclonal antibody programs targeting HIV. He was previously Vice President and Head at GSK Global Vaccines, based in Maryland, US where he led programs developing vaccines for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Dengue, Ebola and Cytomegalovirus (CMV). Prior to that he was Vice President and Head, Clinical Research and Translational Science, Vaccine Discovery and Development at GSK Vaccines in Rixensart, Belgium. He has also served as Deputy Director for Vaccines, Infectious Diseases Development, Global Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and as a Vice President, Clinical Development at MedImmune where he worked on early and late-stage vaccine and monoclonal antibody programs. Dr Ballou received his MD from Emory University School of Medicine, trained in Medicine and Infectious Disease at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre and began his research career in vaccine development at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research where he led a team that, with GSK, co-developed a malaria vaccine that was recently recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for widespread use in sub-Saharan Africa.

DR JACQUES CHOLAT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dr Jacques Cholat has long been inspired by the combined aspects of public health and commercial considerations in the infectious disease/vaccines arena. While working at Merck & Co he was instrumental in securing the roll out of several life saving vaccination programs, to the lowest income countries of the world: Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Rotavirus and Ebola vaccination in Africa.

Dr Cholat was previously President of Merck Vaccines and before that Vice President of the company’s Global Commercial Vaccines. Prior to joining Merck, he was Vice President Commercial Operations International for Sanofi Pasteur and Vice President Commercial Operations Asia Pacific for Aventis. He gained his MD at Genoble University’s Medical School.