About Amphista

Alessio is Chair of Chemical and Structural Biology at the School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee. Alessio and his team have made significant contributions to the TPD field, including solving the first crystal structure of a PROTAC ternary complex. Initially in collaboration with the Crews Lab, they pioneered the structure-guided design of drug-like ligands for the von Hippel-Lindau E3 ligase, jump-starting the PROTAC field as a new therapeutic modality.

Satish Jindal, PhD, is BioMotiv’s CEO. Most recently, Dr. Jindal served as CEO of Allied-Bristol Life Sciences (ABLS). Prior to ABLS, he served as a Vice President at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). Dr. Jindal has extensive experience in founding and building biotechnology companies. He also served as Vice President and Site Head at Schering-Plough Research Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Jindal completed his postdoctoral work at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT and McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from Punjab University in India.

Nicki has over 25 years’ experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology R&D in a variety of senior scientific and leadership roles. She was previously VP and Global Head of External Drug Discovery at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and prior to that, Senior Director, Business Development for GSK’s Centre of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (CEEDD). Nicki’s Biotech experience includes her role as Chair of the Board for Nanna Therapeutics Ltd, founding CEO of VirionHealth and Head of Drug Discovery at Syntaxin Ltd. She holds a PhD in Cell Biology from University College London.

Ian was one of the pioneers of the application of targeted protein degradation to drug discovery as Head of the Protein Degradation Discovery Performance Unit at GSK and through collaboration from 2012 with Prof Craig Crews (Yale). Ian built a team which demonstrated the viability of the VHL-recruiting PROTAC strategy and advanced a portfolio of projects from early proof of degradation through to clinic-enabling studies. During a successful career in pharma at Merck & GSK, Ian has contributed to and led a range of discovery projects across many therapy areas from target validation through to lead optimisation and clinical entry. When at GSK Ian also built and led the Fragment-based Drug Design chemistry team as well as other discovery technology areas including chemical biology and compound collection design and acquisition. More recently, Ian was SVP Drug Discovery at AI biotech BenevolentAI with responsibility for leadership and advancement of a portfolio of drug discovery projects across several therapeutic areas working closely with machine learning experts to develop novel AI-led methods for target identification and chemical optimisation.

Ian holds an MA and D.Phil. in Chemistry from the University of Oxford where we was also Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemistry

After gaining a BSc and PhD from the University of Edinburgh, she pursued a career in clinical research with GSK and ILEX Oncology Inc before moving into a Business Development role in the higher education sector. Gaining experience in IP management, contract negotiation and account management, she was the founder of EDYN Creative Ltd which provides services to universities and industry in commercialising early stage innovations.

After graduating from Loughborough University in 1997, Julia joined PricewaterhouseCoopers and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2001. For the last twelve years, as the founder and Managing Director of Archangel Accounting Ltd, Julia has provided tailor-made support to many companies, including those with venture capital backing, privately owned businesses and charities. In addition to Amphista Therapeutics Limited, other significant biotech sector clients include Healx Limited, AMO Pharma Limited, Ventus Medical Limited, Exvastat Limited, Encipher Biotherapeutics Limited, Pheno Therapeutics Limited, Curve Therapeutics Limited and Circadian Therapeutics Limited.

Raj joined Advent in 2005 bringing over 20 years of experience in biomedical research and as an entrepreneur and investor. After gaining an MA and DPhil from Oxford University, he pursued a successful academic career in molecular medicine before co-founding Oxford GlycoSciences (IPO on LSE and NASDAQ). Following its sale to UCB-Celltech, he became Chairman of Galapagos nv, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Novartis Venture Fund and a founding Director of Celldex Therapeutics. Since joining Advent, he has been involved with those portfolio Companies primarily engaged in the discovery of new medicines, including Avila, EUSA and Thiakis.