Specac Announces Shannon Postma as New Managing Director
Specac Ltd announces that Shannon Postma has been appointed as its new Managing Director. Shannon joins the business as the previous MD David Smith assumes the new role of Commercial Director. David will remain on the Board of Directors and will focus his effort on driving commercial success in new application areas including in the diagnostics, analytics and life sciences markets.
Shannon is an Australian national who has led, grown and sold businesses with attributes similar to Specac. He was most recently General Manager of The Galloway Group, a diversifi ed group of Australian SMEs and is an experienced commercial and operational leader; both being focus areas for Specac over the next fi ve years as it becomes a larger, more sophisticated business.
Commenting on his appointment, Shannon said: “The entire team at Specac have every right to be proud of what they have achieved and the foundations they have built for a very exciting future. I am delighted to be joining this team and with Foresight Group’s on-going support I am looking forward to Specac’s journey in delivering its next stage of growth.”
Chris Wardle, Investor Director representing Specac investor Foresight Group added: “David and the team have done a fantastic job to get Specac to where it is today, with the business more than doubled in size since our investment. As we look to scale the business rapidly, Shannon’s experience in building effi cient sales teams and operational excellence will be key to our success. A signifi cant growth area for spectroscopy is the life sciences market and David’s focus here will no doubt yield great results for the group. We’d like to thank David for his contributions to date and are excited to continue to work together.”
David Smith said: “This is an historic day for Specac, and I’m delighted that we’ve made such progress as a team that we can attract an MD of the calibre of Shannon. I have no doubt he will help us to improve enormously as a business.”
More information online:
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Shannon Postma
Priorclave’s Joshua Walker Recognised with Gambica 2020 Young Talent Award
COVE Study reveals Phase 3 Results of Vaccine Selected by EC
Results of the Phase 3 trial of Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine (mRNA- 1273) released at the end of 2020 [1] have indicated that the 100 µg two-dose regime of the company’s vaccine given 28 days apart was well-tolerated and demonstrated vaccine effi cacy of 94.1% against COVID-19. The Phase 3 study, known as the COVE study, enrolled more than 30,000 participants aged over 18 in the US. It is being conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Offi ce of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
During November 2020, the European Commission approved an agreement to secure 80 million doses of Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate with the option to increase their purchase of mRNA-1273, from 80 million doses to a total of up to 160 million doses. Delivery of the vaccine could begin as early as the fi rst quarter 2021 if it is approved for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) human medicines committee (CHMP), which started a rolling review of mRNA-1273 on 17th November.
“We appreciate the confi dence the European Commission has demonstrated in our mRNA vaccine platform by including mRNA-
1273 in their portfolio of vaccines. We recognise that tackling this global pandemic will require a number of solutions and we are proud of the role Moderna has been able to play in this global effort,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Offi cer of Moderna. “We have scaled up our manufacturing capacity outside of the United States with our strategic partners, Lonza and Rovi, to be able to deliver approximately 500 million doses per year and possibly up to 1 billion doses per year beginning in 2021, if approved.”
The Phase 3 COVE study is ongoing and will continue to follow participants for two years. Additional data to be collected will include longer term safety follow-up, duration of protection against COVID-19, and effi cacy against asymptomatic SARS- CoV-2 infection. Moderna is also conducting a Phase 2/3 study of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents 12 to under 18 years of age. Additional studies are planned to evaluate the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine in pregnant women, children younger than 12 years, and those in special risk groups, such as the immunocompromised.
1. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine
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Joshua Walker, Export Manager at Priorclave.
Joshua Walker, Export Manager at Priorclave, has won the Gambica 2020 Young Talent of the Year award.
Josh joined Priorclave in 2018 with core responsibilities within the export department. As Export Manager, and quick to get to grips with steriliser technology, he very quickly made a signifi cant impact on the growth Priorclave export sales.
Earlier this year, Directors at Priorclave saw fi t to enter Joshua into the Gambica Young Talent Award category. The Young Talent Award is to recognise the rising stars in the industry. It is aimed at young people, 35 years and below, working in a GAMBICA member company who have shown exceptional talent, initiative, competence in their work and achieved beyond expectations at their work.
In November 2020 it was confi rmed that Joshua, age just 23, had won the title, the Gambica Young Talent Award.
The award would have been presented at the Gambica Annual Lunch event, end of November 2020. Unfortunately, due to COVID, this could not take place, so Josh received his award via courier. Somewhat of a surprise as he was unaware that he had even been entered and considered for the title.
More information online:
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Respiratory Diseases Portfolio Acquired for Development
Biopharmaceutical company Enterprise Therapeutics, a developer of therapies for respiratory disease, has announced that its TMEM16A potentiator portfolio has been fully acquired by Roche and will be developed by Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. The portfolio includes ETD002 which recently entered Phase 1 trials.
Enterprise’s shareholders received an upfront payment of £75 million and are eligible to receive additional contingent payments, to be made based on the achievement of certain predetermined milestones.
The TMEM16A portfolio is focused toward treating all people with cystic fi brosis (CF), with potential to benefi t people with other severe respiratory diseases characterised by excessive mucus congestion.
Dr John Ford, CEO, Enterprise Therapeutics, said: “Roche and Genentech have a proven track record of bringing new medicines to people with respiratory diseases, and have recognised the opportunity that our TMEM16A potentiator portfolio presents. I am very proud of the team at Enterprise for identifying and developing this innovative approach to treat patients, with ETD002 the fi rst of our compounds to reach clinical stage. TMEM16A potentiation has the potential to signifi cantly increase the quality of life for people living with cystic fi brosis, for many of whom existing therapies are not effective.”
Dr James Sabry, MD, PhD, Global Head of Pharma Partnering, Roche, John Ford
commented: “We are excited to add Enterprise’s TMEM16A potentiator program to our existing respiratory portfolio. We have deep capabilities in this area and look forward to a robust program focused on helping cystic fi brosis patients and patients suffering from other muco- obstructive disorders as quickly as possible.”
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