PEOPLE

People

Management Team

Peter Davis, Ph. D., Chief Executive Officer


Peter Davis has over 20 years’ CEO experience in innovative biotech. After research in taxane synthesis in the USA he moved to Roche to lead a team making groundbreaking efforts in protein kinase research, producing the worlds first selective inhibitors. In 1991 he moved to head a medicinal chemistry department at Celltech (now UCB) and to integrate chemistry into their leading antibody and molecular biology research. In 1998 Peter joined Angiogene Pharamaceticals as CEO, and discovered, out-licensed and developed anticancer agents with partners including AstraZeneca and Medicinova. In 2016 Peter cofounded and became CEO of FasT Biopharma.

David Blakey, Ph.D.,  Chief Scientific Officer


David Blakey has over 30 years of drug development expertise in both big Pharma and small Biotech. He has a degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University and a PhD from London University. In 1987 he joined AstraZeneca where he championed the company’s move into therapeutic antibodies. He led a team that identified 36 therapeutic targets over 3 years and progressed a pipeline of fully human antibodies including the PDL-1 antibody drug durvalumab/Imfinzi. He was appointed Chief Scientist in 2008 recognising his efforts in the antibody space. In 2015, David joined MiNA Therapeutics as their CSO and led research on their small activating RNA oligonucleotide platform working in a number of therapeutic areas, including establishing collaborations in the ophthalmology space. In 2022 David left MiNA and is now working as CSO for FasT Biopharma and as an independent consultant in the antibody and oligonucleotide space.

Anderson Ryan, Ph. D, Head of SAB


Anderson (Andy) Ryan is a science leader with experience of strategic and operational delivery at all key stages of drug development. He has a degree in Genetics and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Nottingham. After joining AstraZeneca in 2000, he worked as a Translational Scientist supporting the preclinical and clinical development of 10 Discovery projects from pre-IND to Phase III, including successful NDA/MAA regulatory submissions in US and EU. In 2010, he joined the University of Oxford as Associate Professor and MRC Senior Group Leader, establishing novel preclinical and translational mouse models of disease to guide the clinical development of innovative first-in-class therapeutics. In 2021, he became Head of Translational Science at the Medicines Discovery Catapult leading research teams applying leading edge technologies across a broad range of disease models including oncology, CNS/neuroscience and inflammatory disease. In March 2022 he took up the role of Head of the Scientific Advisory Board at FasT Biopharma.

Non-Executive Director

David (Dai) Chaplin Ph.D.


Dai Chaplin is a seasoned pharmaceutical executive with over 20 years of senior management experience in large pharma and biotech with a particular focus on research and clinical development in the oncology and ophthalmology space. His past roles included Head of Oncology at Aventis (now Sanofi) and both CEO and CSO positions at publicly listed biotechnology companies in the US, including Oxigene and Mateon. He has also served on the Boards of a number of UK and US based biotech companies with interests in both the cancer and ophthalmology space.