19 Nov 2015 07:00
Appointment of Dr Clive Dix as Executive Chairman and departure of Piers Morgan as CEO
19 November 2015 - C4X Discovery Holdings plc ("C4XD" or the "Company"), a leader in rational drug discovery and design, today announces the appointment of Dr Clive Dix as Executive Chairman.
Until today Dr Dix has served as non-executive Chairman of C4XD's Board of Directors. As Executive Chairman, Dr Dix will build upon the strong achievements C4XD has made to date in fulfilling its ambition to become one of the world's leading hubs for the discovery of novel drugs against critical therapeutic targets. Recent achievements include advances in its Orexin-1, IL-17, GPR142 and NRF-2 programmes and the signing of a collaboration with the Structural Genomics Consortium at Oxford University ('SGC').
Dr Dix is widely recognised as one of the leading figures in the UK biotechnology sector, combining track records as a serially successful entrepreneur and an experienced pharmaceutical R&D executive. Most recently, Dr Dix was CEO of Convergence Pharmaceuticals, which was sold to Biogen in January this year for $675m. Prior to that, Dr Dix enjoyed successful exits with PowderMed Limited, Auralis Limited and PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc, where he held the roles of CEO, Chairman and Head of R&D, respectively. Before his move into biotechnology, Dr Dix was UK Research Director for GlaxoWellcome. He currently serves as Chairman of Touchlight Genetics Ltd and Calchan Ltd, and was Chairman of the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) from 2008-2010.
As Executive Chairman Dr Dix will assume day-to-day operational responsibilities for C4XD from Piers Morgan, who steps down as CEO today to pursue opportunities outside the company. These changes to the Board take place with immediate effect.
Dr Clive Dix, Executive Chairman of C4XD, commented: "I am delighted to take up this executive role with C4XD. The Company has made excellent progress with the discovery of ground-breaking molecules in recent months, such as small molecules against IL-17 for inflammation and autoimmune diseases, and we are close to entering the clinic with our lead Orexin-1 programme for the treatment of addiction. Additional corporate developments such as the deal with the SGC at Oxford leave us well-placed to apply our technology to a range of unmet therapeutic needs. Now is the time to capitalise upon these developments and take C4XD to the next level as one of the world's leading hubs for the discovery of exciting new drug candidates against critical therapeutic targets. I look forward to helping the Company to achieve this goal. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Piers Morgan for his contributions as CEO of C4XD and wish him luck as he pursues new opportunities."
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For further information please contact:
C4X Discovery Holdings plc
Clive Dix, Executive Chairman 07801 865803
Zeus Capital
Dan Bate 0161 831 1512
Dominic Wilson 0203 829 5000
FTI Consulting
Matthew Cole 020 3727 1000
About C4XD
C4XD (C4X Discovery Holdings plc, AIM: C4XD) is a leader in rational drug discovery and design. C4XD uses proprietary NMR-based technology to measure the shapes of bioactive ligand molecules in order to provide valuable information for rational drug discovery and drug candidate optimisation, and can generate data faster and more reliably than current industry standard techniques. C4XD is developing its own pipeline and working in collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry towards its goal of becoming one of the world's leading hubs for the discovery of novel drugs against critical therapeutic targets. For additional information please go to: www.c4xdiscovery.com