Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Edinburgh based Founder operating in the Biotechnology space. If you think a Founder is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Tariq Sethi
Co-Founder of Galecto
Professor Sethi is Head of Respiratory Medicine Kings Health Partners / Kings College London and was previously Professor of Respiratory and Lung Cancer Biology at the University of Edinburgh. He was educated at Cambridge and London Universities followed by junior hospital jobs in London. He gained a PhD at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund London and was subsequently appointed lecturer in Medicine at Edinburgh University. As an MRC Travelling Fellow, he worked at the Scripps Research Insitute California, returning to Edinburgh as a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Leave Fellow. His research interests are on the interaction between inflammation and lung cancer, focusing on the regulation of proliferation and apoptosis by growth factor and integrin mediated signalling. He is an author of numerous scientific papers and has edited books on lung cancer. Professor Sethi is also on the editorial board of THORAX.
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About AstraZeneca, Galecto, King’s College London: Galecto is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel treatments for fibrosis and cancer.
Kev Dhaliwal
Co Founder of Edinburgh Molecular Imaging
Dr Dhaliwal trained as an MRC Clinical Training Fellow working in both Professors Haslett and Bradley’s groups, and was responsible for catalyzing the interaction between the two groups. He has significant experience of animal models and human experimental clinical trials. He has established direct links to all of the current OMI providers of hardware and reagents and also Pharma. He currently is a member of the SAB for Mauna Kea and is also one of two UK clinicians on the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Strategic Advisory Team. He is the Chief Investigator on the group’s clinical trials and has forged links with the MHRA, technology consultancies and international networks in optical imaging.
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About Edinburgh Molecular Imaging, NHS Lothian, PROTEUS, University of Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh: Edinburgh Molecular Imaging is a developer of optical molecular imaging technology.
David Hay
Director and Co-Founder of Stemnovate
A Professor of Tissue Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, co-Founder and Director David Hay has earned a long-standing reputation for his work in stem cell biology and hepatocyte differentiation. David Hay believes that a trans-disciplinary approach is needed to solve the failings that currently exist in the cell microenvironment. David Hay is actively involved in the translation of stem cell derived hepatocytes into scalable manufacturing processes, by defining culture conditions and developing physiologically relevant models.
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About Stemnovate: Drug Screening and Safety Testing Platforms
Martin Tangney
Founder and President of Celtic Renewables
Internationally recognised expert in microbial biofuel production, particularly biobutanol. Professor Tangney is Director of the Biofuel Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier University, which conducted the innovative research to develop the fermentation technology being commercialised by Celtic Renewables. Martin advises the Scottish Government on biofuels, and represents the government on its MOU with India on Renewable Energy. Martin is a prominent international speaker in the biofuel area and regularly features in the media, and his international profile, domain expertise and connections will be hugely beneficial to Celtic Renewables Ltd.
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About Celtic Renewables: Celtic Renewables is a biofuel startup focused on the renewable energy and whisky sector.
Hugh Ilyine
Founder & Board Member of ProFactor Pharma
Hugh Ilyine has had an extensive international career in company leadership, operational and marketing roles over the last twenty years. He has undertaken CEO roles in companies active in developing, registering, manufacturing, marketing and distributing IP backed products in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. His previous experience includes Director, VP and COO at Stem Cell Sciences plc including a successful IPO on AIM in July 2005; establishing the Bio-Science Division of Bonlac Ltd in Melbourne, Australia and a 17 year international career with Rhone-Poulenc’s Agrochemical division including four years as Managing Director of the company’s JV in Indonesia, with supervisory management of Malaysian operations, followed by similar responsibilities for its Australian and New Zealand operations. During his career, he has led and closed a significant number of supply and licence agreements with small and large firms in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.
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About DestiNA Genomics: ProFactor Pharma provides commercialise and supply recombinant blood factors for the treatment of haemophilia.
Michael Leek
Chief Executive & Founder of TC BioPharm
Michael Leek is the Chief Executive and founder at TC BioPharm.
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About TC BioPharm, University of Aberdeen: TC BioPharm developing safer, cheaper, consistent and durable CAR-T drugs for hematological and solid tumors.
Angela Scott
Chief Operating Officer & Founder of TC BioPharm
Angela Scott is the Founder and Chief Operating Officer at TC BioPharm.
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About MIT Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, TC BioPharm: TC BioPharm developing safer, cheaper, consistent and durable CAR-T drugs for hematological and solid tumors.
Andrew Hall-Ponselè
Founder and Director of Operations of Biotangents
Andy designed the Leapfrog Assembly™ technology upon which Biotangents was founded and led the successful project to apply it to the biosynthesis of high-value terpenoids. He now leads operations at Biotangents and is part of an ambitious team that has secured and fulfilled multiple contracts to perform DNA manipulation work for industrial and academic customers. Andy has been involved in synthetic biology since 2008 when, as a student under Professor Chris French, he led the University of Edinburgh iGEM team to a gold medal. He holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford, where he used metabolic engineering approaches to provide new insights into the control of metabolism in plants. On his return to Edinburgh, Andy worked as a Senior Scientist in a University of Edinburgh-based start-up, delivering collaborative projects as varied as synthetic promoter design and polysaccharide biosynthesis.
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About Biotangents: Biotangents develop pen-side diagnostic devices to detect infectious diseases in livestock quickly.
Lina Gasiūnaitė
Founder and Director of Science of Biotangents
As the Director of Science at Biotangents, Lina is leading delivery of Moduleic Sensing™ for the diagnosis of infectious diseases in livestock. Lina completed her undergraduate studies in Molecular Biology at Vilnius University and holds an MSc in Biotechnology from the University of Edinburgh. As part of her dissertation, she incorporated standardisation into a proprietary combinatorial DNA assembly technology, making it compatible with the widely used BioBrick™ standard. Lina also acted as an advisor to the University of Edinburgh’s 2013 gold medal-winning iGEM team. After graduation, Lina continued to work in DNA manipulation and metabolic engineering of bacteria, delivering varied projects with local SMEs and multinational partners.
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About Biotangents: Biotangents develop pen-side diagnostic devices to detect infectious diseases in livestock quickly.
