Sosei Heptares Confirms Senior Leadership Changes to Drive the Company Through the Next Stage of its Evolution
- New team focused on expanding its GPCR-focused structure-based drug design platform and enhancing translational medicine capabilities
- ‘Venture-like’ capital allocation approach to focus pipeline development through to Phase 1b/2a clinical proof of concept in patients, and optimize value generation
- Mid-term global expansion plans include drug discovery technology investments, licensing late-stage products for Japan, and strategic acquisitions
- Mr. Chris Cargill appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer
- Dr. Matt Barnes appointed President of Heptares Therapeutics Ltd., and Head of UK R&D
TOKYO and CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, March 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sosei Group Corporation (“the Company”; TSE: 4565) today confirms that a series of Executive Management changes have been approved at the Company’s 32nd Shareholders’ Meeting today and are effective immediately (see biographies at the end).
- Mr. Chris Cargill, formerly the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, is appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Mr. Shinichi Tamura who has been appointed as Chairman of the Board.
- Dr. Matt Barnes is appointed as President of Heptares Therapeutics Ltd. and Head of UK R&D, based at the Company’s R&D centre of excellence in Cambridge, UK.
- Mr. Hironoshin Nomura, formerly Senior Vice President, IR & Corporate Strategy, is appointed as Chief Financial Officer.
- Mr. Kieran Johnson, formerly Senior Vice President, Group Financial Controller, is appointed as Chief Accounting Officer.
- Mr. Kazuhiko Yoshizumi is re-appointed as Chief Compliance Officer, and Mr. Tadayoshi Yasui is re-appointed as President of Sosei Co. Ltd, Japan.
Chris Cargill, President and CEO of Sosei Heptares, commented: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead the Company into its next phase of growth. Our new leadership team, and the Company as a whole, is excited and motivated by the significant opportunity ahead of us.
“The next stage of our growth is focused on leveraging our global leadership position in GPCR-focused drug discovery to rapidly build and advance exciting new programs through our internal pipeline to the ‘sweet spot’ for R&D investment, which we view as the Phase 1b/2a clinical proof-of-concept stage in patients. This stage represents a key data inflection point that we would expect to trigger high value partnering deals and fund continued expansion.
“To do this, we aim to build on the strength of the existing team and SBDD platform at our world-class R&D facility in Cambridge, UK, and establish a rigorous and truly best-in-class discovery and translational medicine capability that applies cutting-edge technologies and expertise alongside a ‘venture-like’ capital allocation approach to optimize decision-making and value generation from our programs.
“We have started making progress towards this goal through the addition of expertise internally and through the collaborations we have entered with innovative technology companies, such as InveniAI, Verily and others. This has already yielded novel targets and new ways of exploring and exploiting our powerful platform.
“In the near term, we expect to secure complementary world-class translational medicine capabilities to ‘turbo charge’ our discovery and early development strategy, accelerating the progress of much needed medicines for patients, and building a global drug discovery and translational medicine powerhouse.”
“In addition to driving this growth from our existing R&D business in the UK, we will continue to diligently seek out global expansion opportunities in the areas of drug discovery technology investments, licensing of late-stage products for Japanese patients, and strategic acquisitions.”
Shinichi Tamura, Chairman of Sosei Heptares, said: “I would like to congratulate Chris, Matt, Hironoshin and Kieran on their well-deserved promotions. These are truly exciting times for Sosei Heptares and I am confident that the new executive team, working with our world-class discovery and development team, will successfully drive the Company through the next stage of its evolution.
“On behalf of the Board, I would like to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to Malcolm Weir and Tim Tasker who have retired from day-to-day operations but will remain close to the Company as consultants. Both have made a tremendous contribution over the years to Sosei Heptares, and their counsel and extensive knowledge and experience will be valuable to support the future development of the Company.”
Biographies
Chris Cargill, Representative Executive Officer, President and Chief Executive Officer
Chris joined Sosei Heptares in 2017 as Head of Investor Relations and Communications and was appointed as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer in November 2018. Prior to this, he gained over a decade’s worth of experience in the global financial services sector and brings an extensive range of healthcare knowledge, financial acumen and market perspective from his previous advisory roles. Chris began his career in the Corporate Finance division of KPMG before spending over eight years in Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan, primarily focused on the UK healthcare sector. Chris received a Bachelor of Business (Banking & Finance) and a Bachelor of Laws from Monash University in Australia.
Dr. Matt Barnes, Executive Officer, President of Heptares Therapeutics Ltd., and Head of UK R&D
Matt joined Sosei Heptares in 2016 as Head of Molecular Pharmacology and subsequently Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery and Head of R&D Portfolio Management. Matt has over 20 years’ experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry and previously held positions of increasing seniority at Takeda in Cambridge, UK and at Celltech Ltd (now UCB). He has a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Pharmacology from Newcastle University in the UK.
Hironoshin Nomura, Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer
Hironoshin joined Sosei Heptares in 2020 as Senior Vice President, IR & Corporate Strategy from Mizuho Securities in Tokyo, Japan. He spent over five years at Mizuho and was one of the most experienced and respected research analysts in Japan with a focus on the Japanese biotechnology sector. Previously, Hironoshin spent over five years as a healthcare consultant at the Mitsubishi Research Institute. He received a Master’s degree in Pharmacy from Tohoku University in Japan.
Kieran Johnson, Executive Officer, Chief Accounting Officer
Kieran joined Sosei Heptares in 2017 as Senior Vice President, Group Financial Controller following over 13 years spent in senior financial management, corporate development and compliance roles at GSK in the UK. Before that, he set up a financial consultancy practice following 10 years at KPMG, from which he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
About Sosei Heptares
We are an international biopharmaceutical group focused on the discovery and early development of new medicines originating from our proprietary GPCR-targeted StaR® technology and structure-based drug design platform capabilities. We are advancing a broad and deep pipeline of novel medicines across multiple therapeutic areas, including neurology, immunology, gastroenterology, and inflammatory diseases.
We have established partnerships with some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies and multiple emerging biotechnology companies, including AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Biohaven, Genentech (Roche), GSK, Neurocrine Biosciences, Novartis, Pfizer, Takeda and Verily. Sosei Heptares is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan with corporate and R&D facilities in Cambridge, UK.
“Sosei Heptares” is the corporate brand and trademark of Sosei Group Corporation, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker: 4565). Sosei, Heptares, the logo and StaR® are trademarks of Sosei Group companies.
For more information, please visit https://soseiheptares.com/
LinkedIn: @soseiheptaresco | Twitter: @soseiheptaresco | YouTube: @soseiheptaresco
Enquiries:
Sosei Heptares – Media and Investor Relations
Hironoshin Nomura, SVP Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy
+81 (0)3 6679 2178 | Hironoshin.Nomura@SoseiHeptares.com
Shinichiro Nishishita, VP Investor Relations, Head of Regulatory Disclosures
+81 (0)3 5210 3399 | IR@SoseiHeptares.com
Citigate Dewe Rogerson (for Japanese Media)
Yas Fukuda
+81 (0)3 4360 9234 | Yas.Fukuda@citigatedewerogerson.com
MEDiSTRAVA Consulting (for International Media)
Mark Swallow, David Dible, Eleanor Perkin
+44 (0)203 928 6900| SoseiHeptares@medistrava.com
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the discovery, development, and commercialization of products. Various risks may cause Sosei Group Corporation’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including: adverse results in clinical development programs; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialize products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialization activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
