2 Dec 2021 07:00
C4X Discovery Holdings plc
("C4XD", "C4X Discovery" or the "Company")
Board Change
C4XD strengthens Board with the appointment of Dr Mario Polywka as Harry Finch steps down
2 December 2021 - C4X Discovery Holdings plc (AIM: C4XD), a pioneering Drug Discovery company, today announces the appointment of Dr Mario Polywka as a Non-Executive Director to the Board of Directors effective from 1 December 2021. Dr Polywka replaces Harry Finch, Non-Executive Director who has confirmed that he will be stepping down from the Board of Directors following the Annual General Meeting which is expected to be held in January 2022.
Mario joins C4XD with more than 20 years' experience in leadership roles across the biotech industry. Mario brings strong operational, commercial, strategic and drug discovery expertise to the Board. He was Chief Operating Officer of Evotec SE for 12 years, where he was involved with transactions worth more than $1.0 billion within Evotec and Oxford Asymmetry International, prior to becoming a Member of the Evotec Supervisory Board. In addition, he holds a number of Non-Executive Board Director positions in biotech companies including Exscientia, Forge, Blacksmith Medicines and Orbit Discovery. Mario studied chemistry at Oxford University, where he also completed a DPhil with Professor Steve Davies and a postdoc with the late Professor Sir Jack Baldwin. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and has published a number of papers in leading publications.
Eva-Lotta Allan, Chairman of C4X Discovery, said: "I'm delighted to welcome Mario to C4XD. With his highly successful career in biotech and his broad industry expertise, I am confident he will contribute significantly to the C4XD Board of Directors, and I look forward to working with Mario on the Board".
"I would very much like to take this opportunity to thank Harry on behalf of the Board for his guidance and deep commitment to C4XD for the last 11 years. He has been an invaluable source of support, not only to the Board, but also to the scientific and commercial teams throughout the Company's formative years and we wish him well with his new endeavour."
Dr Mario Polywka commented: "I am excited to be joining C4XD at this important time in the Company's growth. With two recent deals with leading pharmaceutical companies, C4XD has clearly demonstrated the strength of its science and its ability to commercialise it. The C4XD Board and team are entrepreneurial, have deep R&D expertise and are driven, and I am looking forward to working closely with them."
Additional Disclosures
The following information is disclosed pursuant to Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules of Companies.
Dr Mario Polywka (aged 58) holds, or has held, the following current and former directorships in the past five years:
Current Directorships | Former Directorships in the past five years |
Blacksmith Medicines Inc. | Aptuit (Oxford) Limited |
Evotec SE | Aptuit (Potters Bar) Limited |
Exscientia Plc | Cyprotex Discovery Limited |
Forge Therapeutics Inc. | Cyprotex Limited |
Obit Discovery Ltd | Euprotec Limited |
Orbit Discovery Group Ltd | Evotec (UK) Limited |
Exscientia AI Limited | |
Panion Limited | |
Pharminox Ltd | |
T-Cypher Bio Limited |
Save as set out above, no further information regarding Dr Mario Polywka is required to be disclosed pursuant to Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.
- Ends -
Contacts
C4X Discovery Holdings | |
Mo Noonan, Communications | +44 (0)787 6444977 |
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (NOMAD and Broker) | |
Freddy Crossley, Emma Earl (Corporate Finance) | +44 (0)20 7886 2500 |
Rupert Dearden (Corporate Broking) | |
C4X Discovery Media - Consilium Strategic Communications | |
Mary-Jane Elliott, Chris Gardner, Matthew Neal | +44 (0)203 709 5700 |
Notes to Editors:
About C4X Discovery
C4X Discovery ("C4XD") is a pioneering Drug Discovery company combining scientific expertise with cutting-edge Drug Discovery technologies to efficiently deliver world leading medicines, which are developed by our partners for the benefit of patients. We have a highly valuable and differentiated approach to Drug Discovery through our enhanced DNA-based target identification and candidate molecule design capabilities, generating small molecule drug candidates across multiple disease areas including inflammation, oncology, neurodegeneration and addictive disorders. Our commercially attractive portfolio ranges from early stage novel target opportunities to late stage Drug Discovery programmes ready for out-licensing to partners and we have two commercially partnered programmes with one candidate in clinical development.
We collaborate with leading pharmaceutical and life sciences companies to enrich our expertise and take our assets through pre-clinical and clinical development. Through early-stage revenue-generating licensing deals, we realise returns from our high value pre-clinical assets which are reinvested to maximise the value of our Drug Discovery portfolio.