ROQAF
Roquefort Therapeutics plc

Ajan is an experienced biotechnology CEO with a track record in drug development, biotech transactions and commercialisation. Over 20 years, he has served as the Global Head of Emerging Technologies for Roche Group (SWX: ROG), Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Novacyt S.A (LON: NCYT) and CEO of Celixir Ltd. With Prof. Sir Martin Evans, Ajan founded Celixir, and developed a novel cardiac cellular medicine which completed pre-clinical development and won FDA, MHRA and EU regulatory trial approvals. Celixir completed a licensing for the Japan market only with Daiichi Sankyo, a Japanese Big Pharma company which included a £ 2.5 million upfront payment and an £ 5 million equity investment which valued Celixir at £ 220M. Ajan is an alumni of Harvard Business School (AMP) and is recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship. He is also a graduate of the University of Oxford (MSc Experimental Therapeutics), Kellogg Business School (MBA) Northwestern University and University of London (BDS). He has represented England at the Hockey Masters World Cup and European Championships.

Sir Martin was the first scientist to identify embryonic stem cells, which can be adapted for a wide variety of medical purposes. His discoveries are now being applied in virtually all areas of biomedicine - from basic research to the development of new therapies. In 2007, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine, the most prestigious honour in world science, for these "ground-breaking discoveries concerning embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals."

Stephen is a Fellow Chartered Accountant with 30 years of financial and corporate experience gained in public practice, the resource sector and investment banking. Stephen has a proven track record in working with growth companies with extensive experience in IPOs, secondary listings, corporate finance, fundraising, investor relations and financial and management reporting. Stephen is currently non-executive director of EnergyPathways Ltd.

Dr Stein is a serial entrepreneur & founder of Doctor Care Anywhere, acquired by Synergix and Map of Medicine Ltd (the Map) licensed by NHS and acquired by Hearst. He is a healthcare business leader and strategic adviser including as the founding CEO of Valo Therapeutics and OxStem Ltd, University of Oxford spin-out. Dr Stein is a medical doctor (Honours) and biochemist (First Class Honours) from the University of Cape Town (1988) and from the University of Oxford (Rhodes Scholar) with a doctorate in Physiological Sciences (Immunology).

Jean has over 25 years experience in executive roles in the biotech industry. During this time, Jean acted for Ferring Pharmaceuticals, as one of the Executive Board Members who built the company from a US$700 million to US$2 billion in revenue. Jean has a significant track record in corporate development having led multiple successful M&A, divestment and licensing deals throughout her career. Additionally, she has co-founded and led biopharma start-ups including Trizell and Amzell, resulting in multiple products having successful phase 2 and 3 clinical studies. Trizell in particular received several multi-billion dollar offers for its lead oncology gene therapy product, Adstiladrin, which is now in the registration phase. Jean is currently CEO and Co-Founder of ReproNovo, a women's health and reproductive medicine company focussing on R&D and manufacturing with potential products entering phase 2 and phase 1. Additionally, Jean is a Non Executive Board member of an AIM listed life sciences company, Ondine Biomedical Inc., a company focused on photodisinfection-based therapies to prevent and treat a broad spectrum of infections, including those caused by drug-resistant pathogens.

Dr Sinclair has over 15 years pharma and medtech industry experience in translational medicine, clinical development, medical affairs and safety, vigilance and real-world evidence. Dr Sinclair is currently Chief Safety Officer at Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC and Executive Director at Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute (RGHI), and previously held senior positions at DePuy Synthes, Johnson and Johnson, and Merck Inc. Dr Sinclair holds a MB Chair and PhD (University of Cambridge).

Darrin is a renowned scientist, entrepreneur, angel investor and enterprise champion who has started, grown, or invested in over 40 start-up life science, technology and social enterprises, raising US$600 million in business financing and closing US$700 million in commercial deals. He was CEO of Horizon Discovery Group plc for 11 years, during which he led the company from start-up through a US$113 million IPO, and rapid scale-up powered by multiple acquisitions of US peer companies to become a global market leader in gene editing and gene modulation technologies. He was awarded a lifetime Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion in 2016 for his work in promoting enterprise across the UK and appointed OBE in 2018 for his services to business and enterprise in the healthcare sector.

Ajan is an experienced biotechnology CEO with a track record in drug development, biotech transactions and commercialisation. Over 20 years, he has served as the Global Head of Emerging Technologies for Roche Group (SWX: ROG), Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Novacyt S.A (LON: NCYT) and CEO of Celixir Ltd. With Prof. Sir Martin Evans, Ajan founded Celixir, and developed a novel cardiac cellular medicine which completed pre-clinical development and won FDA, MHRA and EU regulatory trial approvals. Celixir completed a licensing for the Japan market only with Daiichi Sankyo, a Japanese Big Pharma company which included a £ 2.5 million upfront payment and an £ 5 million equity investment which valued Celixir at £ 220M. Ajan is an alumni of Harvard Business School (AMP) and is recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship. He is also a graduate of the University of Oxford (MSc Experimental Therapeutics), Kellogg Business School (MBA) Northwestern University and University of London (BDS). He has represented England at the Hockey Masters World Cup and European Championships.