Board of Directors

It takes clear, alert leadership to direct companies operating in the highly competitive high-risk biotech sector. For a company of our size, we believe we possess some of the most able and best-qualified directors in the UK.

The Vernalis board comprises a set of individuals with strong, complementary skills and experience in the management and growth of successful drug development companies. Current board members are as follows:

Peter Fellner, Non-Executive Chairman

Peter Fellner was appointed as Chairman in April 2003. He was chairman of Celltech Group plc until its acquisition in mid-2004, having previously served as its Chief Executive Officer from 1990 to 2003.  Before Celltech he was Chief Executive Officer of Roche UK, from 1986 to 1990. Dr Fellner is also Chairman of the medical technology companies Consort Medical plc and Optos plc, and of the biotechnology company, Biotie Therapies Corp.  He is Vice-Chairman of the US biotechnology company Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. In addition, he is a director of the global biopharmaceutical company, UCB S.A. and serves as a member of the recently established Novo A/S Advisory Group. He was previously Chairman of Acambis plc and of Premier Research Group plc, until each was acquired during 2008.

Ian Garland, Chief Executive Officer

Ian Garland was appointed as Chief Executive Officer on 29 December 2008. From May 2007 until September 2008, he was CEO of Acambis plc. During this period he oversaw a series of important advances culminating in Acambis’ acquisition by Sanofi-Aventis in September 2008 for £280 million. From 2004 to 2007, he served as CFO of Arrow Therapeutics Ltd, a privately held company engaged in the discovery and development of new anti-viral agents until its acquisition by AstraZeneca plc for US$150 million in February 2007. Prior to this he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Celltech Pharmaceuticals Inc., with a turnover of around US$300 million which encompassed the US operations of Celltech Group plc. From 1988 to 1995, he worked at KPMG, specialising in the pharmaceutical sector, following qualification as a Chartered Accountant.

David Mackney, Chief Financial Officer

David Mackney was appointed as Chief Financial Officer on 2 February 2009. From February 2008 until January 2009, he was Interim CFO at Acambis plc, working to successfully secure the US biodefence contract, the secondary financing and the acquisition of Acambis by Sanofi-Aventis in September 2008. Prior to Acambis he was CFO for a private equity-backed technology company. From January 2002 to May 2005, he served as Group Financial Controller at Shire plc and, from September 1996 to December 2001, he worked as a senior manager in audit and then in transaction services at Arthur Andersen. He is a Chartered Accountant

Carol Ferguson, Non-executive Director

Carol Ferguson was appointed as a non‑executive director on 1 September 2003, having joined the Board of Vernalis Group plc as a non-executive director in May 2002. Vernalis Group plc was acquired by Vernalis plc (then called British Biotech plc) in September 2003. She is a former partner and lead oil analyst at stockbrokers Wood Mackenzie and was Finance Director of a textiles company. She is currently non-executive director of a number of companies including Black Rock Greater Europe Investment Trust, Monks Investment Trust, Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust plc, and Invesco Asia Investment Trust plc. She is also a director of the Chartered Accountants Compensation Scheme. She is a graduate of St Andrew’s University and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Allan Baxter, Non-executive Director

Allan Baxter was appointed as a non‑executive director on 19 May 2004 and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee on 21 July 2011. He was SVP Drug Discovery and subsequently SVP Medicines Development for GSK from 2001-2010. He is chairman of Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, the UK’s first open innovation science park and represents GSK on the board of Convergence Pharmaceuticals. He is a non-executive director of Human Genome Sciences Inc. and of Autifony Therapeutics. He serves as chief strategy officer for Ascletis , a newly registered speciality biopharmaceutical company, registered in Hangzhou, China.

Nigel Sheail, Non-executive Director

Nigel Sheail was appointed as a Non-executive director on 3 August 2011. He is Head of Business Development and Licensing for Bayer Healthcare.  Prior to this he was head of Group M&A at Roche and head of licensing for their Pharma division. Mr Sheail has been responsible for a broad range of deals from research and technology collaborations through to commercial product opportunities. Academically trained as a molecular biologist, he is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has held a number of functions within the Pharmaceutical industry both with Roche and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Mr Sheail has also worked as the global controller for research and was finance director responsible for the establishment of Roche’s operations in China which included five joint venture operating companies and a holding company. Mr Sheail was the founding treasurer of the Swiss Pharma Licensing Group.

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