By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – Avacta Group PLC (LON:AVCT) has announced the appointment of Dr Fiona McLaughlin as Chief Scientific Officer of its Therapeutics Division, effective immediately.
Dr McLaughlin is an experienced oncology drug developer with over 25 years’ experience in research and translational drug development in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, having led teams from early research through to clinical development.
Dr McLaughlin has worked for various companies in the industry, including GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) and BTG plc (now part of Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX)).
Other roles include Head of Biology at TopoTarget, where she was responsible for the pre-clinical development of belinostat which gained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
Dr McLaughlin’s most recent position was at Algeta (acquired by Bayer (DE:BAYGN)) where she was Vice-President of New Opportunities.
“I am delighted to join Avacta's Therapeutics Division at this pivotal time, as the company transitions to become a clinical stage development organisation,” said Dr McLaughlin. “I look forward to the opportunity of driving the strategic leadership of the company's therapeutics research and am excited by the potential of the pre|CISION™ and Affimer® platforms, to develop first and best-in-class oncology therapeutics, to ultimately provide patients with important new treatment options.”
Speaking about the appointment of Dr McLaughlin, Avacta Group CEO Dr Alastair Smith, said: “She brings a huge amount of experience, deep insight and strong leadership that will be major assets to Avacta in driving forward both the Affimer® and pre|CISION™ clinical and preclinical pipelines.”
At 09:17BST, shares in Avacta Group were trading higher by 1.9% at 136.75 pence per share.