Cytomos has made three c-suite appointments as it gears up for the next stage of growth.
The Edinburgh-based life science company has hired David Rigterink as its new chief executive, Dr Lindsay Fraser joins as chief scientific officer and Gordon Sharp has been promoted to interim chief technology officer.
Prior to joining Cytomos, Rigterink led business development for biopharma start-up Single Use Support, which attracted investment from Danaher Life Sciences Group in 2020. Having first entered the bioprocess industry in 2008, his core expertise lies in sales, marketing and services to the biopharmaceutical markets.
Rigterink spent more than a decade in leadership positions with Sartorius Stedim Biotech, including assignments in Japan, North Europe, Ireland and the UK.
Fraser was formerly head of technical services at Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Service, and brings extensive knowledge in the field of regenerative medicine and cellular therapy, having previously held roles at the SNBTS, Milteny Biotech, and Roslin CT.
She is now being tasked with building a portfolio of strategic partnerships with biologics industry thought leaders to win trial and adoption of the company’s process analytical technology.
Sharp has been promoted to interim CTO, to lead Cytomos' instrument design programme and strengthen its intellectual property portfolio in collaborations with industrial and academic partners. Having joined as a principal design engineer in 2016, he brings more than 30 years’ experience in the microelectronic and instrumentation industries.
The appointments come on the back of a £1.6m funding round to progress the development and qualification of its novel cell analysis platform, Cytomos Dielectric Spectroscopy (CDS). The round was led by existing investor Archangels, with participation from Scottish Enterprise and Old College Capital.
The newly-appointed executive team should now help with the next stage growth, which includes development of the CDS platform, the conceptual design of in-line chip sensors, relocation to a larger headquarters with office and laboratory space, and the attraction of investment partners en-route to Series A fundraising.
Dr Alan Raymond, chairman at Cytomos, said: “The appointments of David, Lindsay and Gordon add considerable experience and expertise to our first-class team of biopharma professionals.
“With our new executive team and funding in place, Cytomos is well positioned to accelerate its pace of growth and advance the development of our novel process analytical technology platform.”
Rigterink said: “The opportunity to lead such a talented team at such a critical stage in the company’s development is a huge privilege.
“Through the development of our CDS technology platform, Cytomos has a powerful tool which will help the scientific community to bring novel therapies to market faster and radically reduce costs by making game-changing decisions earlier.”
Cytomos has developed CDS to address the unmet needs of the biopharma industry, providing a low-cost, portable and scalable alternative.
The solution aims to give real-time access to unbiased data points in a label-free and scalable format, delivering results faster, simplifying the logistics of testing and reducing costs.
Cytomos has made progress over the last year in developing its technology platform and has successfully tested its prototype devices in the field, enabling understanding of performance criteria and areas of development focus required to meet user needs, secured the key patent in the US, appointed an experienced board and secured early-stage funding.
Don't miss the latest headlines with our twice-daily newsletter - sign up here for free.
