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 United Kingdom based COO’ operating in the Therapeutics space. If you think a COO’ 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.
Michael Skynner
Chief Operating Officer of Bicycle Therapeutics
Mike Skynner, Ph.D., is vice president of operations at Bicycle Therapeutics.He joined Bicycle Therapeutics from Pfizer where he led rare disease efforts in Europe and founded and ran the Pfizer Rare Disease Consortium (RDC). The RDC was an innovative agreement between Pfizer and 20 leading U.K. universities that created research partnerships between Pfizer, academic researchers and patient groups to develop new therapies for rare and orphan diseases using a new collaborative paradigm. As part of those activities he also established Pfizer’s Genetic Medicine Institute, a bespoke research unit in central London embedded within the U.K. gene therapy academic community. Previously, he established a discovery performance unit at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) focused on developing therapeutics targeting inflammatory kinases using an externalised and partnered model with leading European biotechnology companies. In his time at GSK he successfully advanced multiple molecules from screening into clinical trials. Prior to GSK he co-founded a successful biotech start-up company, Cambridge Biotechnology Ltd., (CBT), which specialised in developing small molecule and peptide therapeutics for inflammation and metabolic disease. CBT was sold to Swedish Orphan Biovitrum. Mike obtained his Ph.D. in biochemistry at Imperial College and is an author on over 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
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About Bicycle Therapeutics: Bicycle Therapeutics is developing a technology for the creation of new generation biotherapeutics.
Sherden Timmins
Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer of Camallergy
Sherden led the formation of Camallergy and spin-out from Cambridge University Hospitals following his MBA at the Cambridge Judge Business School. He designed the Cambridge Peanut Allergy Clinic, and led start-up funding rounds and early drug development in preparation for clinical trials. An engineering graduate from Imperial College London and a former management consultant at top-tier firms Booz & Co. (now Strategy&) and Accenture, Sherden has experience across a range of industries in strategy and managing complex and technical programmes.
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About Camallergy: Camallergy develops and provides new treatments for common food allergies.
Priya Mande
Chief Operating Officer of Psioxus Therapeutics
Priya Mande has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector. She was previously at PowderMed responsible for vaccine immunotherapeutic projects, collaboration with academic institutions and Joint Ventures with other Pharma companies targeting influenza, chronic viral diseases and cancer. Priya was also the Vaccine Research Project Leader for Influenza at Pfizer before becoming COO of Hybrid BioSystems in 2009. She has previously held various roles within Glaxo Wellcome and Glaxo SmithKline over a 12 year period where she was most recently senior Director of R&D Business Projects. Priya studied Biochemistry at Brunel University, received a MBA with distinction from the London Business School and has a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors. Priya has received several awards for project leadership including an international collaboration award at the 26th US Army Science Conference.
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About Psioxus Therapeutics: Psioxus Therapeutics is a cancer gene therapy company delivers medicines of value to patients with cancer.
Fiona du Monceau
COO of ExeVir Bio
Fiona du Monceau is the Chief Operating Officer of ExeVir Bio.
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About ExeVir Bio: ExeVir Bio is a Belgium-based company that develops single-domain antibody-based therapies that help patients ward off viral infections.
Cliff Holloway
COO of Benitec Ltd
Cliff brings over 25 years of life science industry experience to Scancell in the development and commercialisation of emerging technologies and therapeutic products including licensing, M&A, corporate financing and operations management. Most recently he was Chief Business and Operating Officer of Benitec Biopharma Ltd (ASX:BLT, NASDAQ:BNTC). Prior to his role at Benitec he held the position of Managing Director at Sienna Cancer Diagnostics Ltd (ASX:SDX), and also for therapeutic antibody development companies Immune System Therapeutics Ltd and Biosceptre International Ltd. He was formerly VP of Business Development at Arana Therapeutics Ltd, which was acquired by US-based Cephalon Inc (now Teva) in 2009, and he is currently a director of investment fund Newstar Ventures Pty Ltd. Cliff holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy and a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Nottingham.
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About Benitec Ltd, Newstar Ventures Pty Ltd., Scancell: Benitec Biopharma is using patented ‘gene-silencing’ technology to develop drugs for chronic and life-threatening human diseases.
Ian Abercrombie
Business Unit Director & Chief Operating Officer of NuCana BioMed
Ian Abercrombie has over 25 years experience in the biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry. Ian’s specific expertise includes the clinical development and commercialisation of anti-cancer medicines and companion diagnostics to enable therapies to be targeted to specific patient populations. Ian has wide biopharmaceutical and healthcare experience having initially served in the public health sector before working for Janssen Cilag, Ortho-Biotech, Bioenvision and Caris Life Sciences. Whilst at Bioenvision, Ian played a major role in developing and commercialising clofarabine, the first new drug to be approved specifically for childhood acute leukaemia in Europe for over thirty years.
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About Medannex Ltd, NuCana BioMed: NuCana BioMed, a biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes rationally designed medicines for significant unmet medical needs.
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.
Richard Mcconnell
Co-Founder & COO of Liopa
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About Anaeko, Liopa: Liopa’s LipRead deciphers speech from lip movements. It uses AI and deep learning for automated lip reading.
