Glythera, the next generation antibody drug conjugate (ADC) development company, announced the appointment of Dr Mike Owen to the Board as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect.
Owen brings more than 15 years of experience in the development and commercialisation of biopharmaceuticals.
Dr Mike Owen said: “I am pleased to be joining the Board of Glythera and look forward to working with the Board and management team as the Company moves its pipeline products towards the clinic.
The enhanced safety and efficacy of Glythera’s PermaLink-based ADCs has the potential to significantly advance treatment and improve patient outcomes.
Owen was previously Senior Vice President and global Head of Research of the Biopharmaceuticals R&D Unit at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and was responsible for initiating and rapidly growing GSK's robust pre-clinical and clinical therapeutic antibody pipeline through in-house development and acquisitions.
Since leaving GSK in 2010, he has taken on a number of Executive and Non-Executive roles in the biotech sector. His most recent executive appointment was at Kymab where he served as the Chief Scientific Officer from its formation as a spin-out from the Sanger Institute using a mouse-model to develop a range of antibody-based therapeutics.
Owen is currently a Director at Avacta, Blink Biomedical SAS, GammaDelta Therapeutics, Ossianix, ReNeuron and Zealand Pharma A/S. He is also an advisor to Abingworth LLP and the CRT Pioneer Fund.
He holds a BA degree from Oxford University and a PhD from Cambridge University. He is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Dr Sam Williams, Chairman of Glythera, said: “We are delighted to welcome Mike to the Board of Glythera at this exciting time in the Company’s development. His experience in advancing scientific discoveries from the lab to commercialisation will be invaluable in helping us fully exploit our unique ADC platform, both in the development of our proprietary product pipeline and building strategic partnerships with large pharma.”
