Last checked at 6 Feb 2012 07:00
Celgene Executive Dr Rajesh Chopra joins the Board of e-Therapeutics
Oxford and Newcastle, UK, 6 February 2012 - Drug discovery and development company e-Therapeutics plc (AIM: ETX) announces that Dr Rajesh Chopra has joined the Company's Board as a Non-Executive Director.
A clinician and scientist by training, Dr Chopra has since 2009 been Vice President of Translational and Early Drug Development at Celgene Corporation. He leads a group of around 100 people working to integrate drug discovery and clinical development at Celgene sites in San Diego and San Francisco, CA, Summit, NJ, and Seville, Spain.
Dr Chopra has extensive experience of all phases of drug development, in drug portfolio management including acquisition of new assets, and of dealing with regulators and government agencies. Before joining Celgene, he spent five years at AstraZeneca in the US and the UK, culminating in the role of Medical Science Director, Senior Principal Scientist and Disease Area Team Leader for blood cancers. He also has a distinguished track record as a clinician, academic and scientist in the UK, including seven years as Clinical Director of the Department of Haematological Oncology at the Christie Hospital, Manchester.
Dr Chopra holds a BSc and an MBBS from University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, University of London and a PhD from the University of London. He is a Fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists in the UK.
Professor Oliver James, Chairman of e-Therapeutics, said: "Rajesh's appointment represents a further significant strengthening of our Board. He brings highly relevant senior-level experience gained in world-leading pharma and biotech companies and substantial expertise in oncology. His input will be of great value as we advance our clinical programmes and bring more new drugs through into development from our discovery operation."
Commenting on his appointment, Dr Chopra said: "e-Therapeutics is the world leader in network pharmacology, which is turning out to be a fascinating, highly distinctive and influential approach to drug discovery. I'm delighted to be joining the Board of e-Therapeutics as the Company advances multiple products from this platform into clinical trials."
Dr Chopra, aged 50, currently has no shares in the Company. There are no additional disclosures required pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule Two to the AIM Rules for Companies with respect to Dr Chopra's appointment.
-Ends-
About e-Therapeutics
e-Therapeutics is an AIM-listed biotechnology company with a proprietary platform in network pharmacology, an innovative new approach to drug discovery based on advances in network science and chemical biology. The Company's discovery activity is focused in cancer and degenerative diseases of the nervous system and its development effort on four clinical candidates spanning cancer, psychiatric disorders and infectious diseases. e-Therapeutics is based at sites in Oxford and Newcastle, UK. For more information about the Company please visit www.etherapeutics.co.uk.
Contacts:
e-Therapeutics plc
Malcolm Young / Daniel Elger
Tel: +44 (0) 7909 915 068
www.etherapeutics.co.uk
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited
Andrew Burnett / Fred Walsh
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7459 3600
www.panmure.com
College Hill
Melanie Toyne Sewell/Jayne Crook
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7457 2020
Email: e-therapeutics@collegehill.com
CommStrat Group (US)
Ted Agne
Tel: (+1) 781 631 3117
Email: edagne@comstratgroup.com
Copyright Business Wire 2012