Introduction

OBD is a public company, with a growing global shareholder base. The Board is mindful of the trust placed in it by institutional and retail investors, employees and other stakeholders.

The Directors are responsible for leading the Group and Company, including:
• setting its strategic aims
• ensuring sufficient financial and other resources are in place to enable it to meet its objectives
• reviewing management performance

The Group’s corporate governance activities exist to help the Board make robust, informed decisions and to manage risk. This forms a large part of the Chairman's role in leading the Board, assisted by the other non-executive and executive directors, the Company secretary and the Group’s professional advisors. Maintaining and developing the Group’s corporate governance practice is particularly important as the Group continues to expand.

Chair
Member
Chairman of the board
Financial expert
Board members Audit Remuneration Nomination

Matthew Wakefield LLB, MBA

Non-Executive Chairman

 

Audit
Remuneration
Nomination

Jon Burrows BSc, MSc, PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Nomination

Dr. Alexandre Akoulitchev MA, PhD, FRSM

Chief Scientific Officer

Paul Stockdale MA, FCA

Chief Financial Officer

Stephen Diggle MA

Non-Executive Director

Dr. David Holbrook MA, MB BS, MBA

Non-Executive Director

Audit
Remuneration
Nomination

Committee Terms of Reference

Matthew Wakefield LLB, MBA

Non-Executive Chairman

Matthew has spent 27 years in the City working in senior positions in both fund management and investment banking. He started his career as a fund manager at Legal and General Plc before moving into broking at Nomura Holdings, Inc. He joined Collins Stewart Hawkpoint Limited in 1992 and was Head of Sales and a member of the management committee. After 12 years, he left to work for two charities, The Besom Foundation and The 999 Club. In 2011, Matthew set up the broking partnership Baden Hill LLP, where he remains as a partner and shareholder. He has a degree in law and an MBA in finance.

Jon Burrows BSc, MSc, PhD

Jon Burrows BSc, MSc, PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Jon’s 25yr career in science and medicine has been built on increasing levels of responsibility in scientific leadership, business development, commercialization and executive management at both early-stage biotech and large multinational biomedical entities including Pharmacia/SUGEN, Rigel, Chiron, Novartis, Ventana, Roche, Expression Pathology and OncoPlex Diagnostics.

In his early career, Jon was in oncology drug development, where he became skilled at driving molecular diagnostics tied to drug development to advance precision medicine and advocate for personalized healthcare.

Most recently Jon was a Managing Partner at Oncology Partners (NYC), a consulting and clinical advisory firm he co-founded, focused on providing strategic counsel to development stage pharma, biotech, medical devices and diagnostic companies.

Previously Jon was president and CEO of OncoPlex Diagnostics, a pioneer in clinical proteomics for oncology. Under his leadership OncoPlex was transformed from a private, pre-revenue stage company into a thriving clinical diagnostics business with marketed products, which was ultimately acquired by NantOmics in May 2015.

Jon received his BSc (Hons) degree in Industrial Chemistry (color) from Leeds University in England. He subsequently completed an MSc in Physical Chemistry and a Ph.D in Cell & Molecular Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Before going into the Pharma Industry, he was a Postdoc and then the Alpha One Foundation Fellow in the lab of Dr David Perlmutter at the Children’s hospital at Washington University in St Louis.

Dr. Alexandre Akoulitchev MA, PhD, FRSM

Dr. Alexandre Akoulitchev MA, PhD, FRSM

Chief Scientific Officer

Alexandre was born in Ukraine, grew up in Georgia, and later studied mathematics, physics, chemistry, biochemistry, and biophysics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, all countries then being part of the USSR. In 1989, he was selected by the George Soros Foundation for the Oxford Scholarship, associated with St. Antony’s College, along with 20 top Soviet graduate students. He obtained his PhD in cell biology from University College, London (with the research-based at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund). He then spent six years at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-UMDNJ, NJ, as a research assistant funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Upon his return to England, he established his research laboratory at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford. He was a University Academic Fellow (Research Council UK) and a Senior Fellow of Exeter College, sponsored by Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust, and The Medical Research Council. Alexandre is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Paul Stockdale MA, FCA

Paul Stockdale MA, FCA

Chief Financial Officer

Paul joined the Company in September 2017 from e-Therapeutics plc, where he held the position of Financial Controller from 2012. Paul is a Chartered Accountant and was a Senior Manager at Deloitte, where he worked from 1996 until 2004. Following this, he worked in finance and operations management in the charitable and automotive sectors. He read Natural Sciences at St John's College, University of Cambridge.

Stephen Diggle MA

Stephen Diggle MA

Non-Executive Director

Stephen is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vulpes Investment Management, and co-founder and former managing partner of Artradis Fund Management, one of the largest hedge fund groups in Asia. Stephen has been involved in equity capital markets for nearly 30 years, leading trading teams across a number of institutions including Salomon Brothers and Lehman Brothers, and has considerable experience investing in and supporting life science businesses through the Vulpes Life Sciences Fund. Stephen holds an MA from the University of Oxford.

Dr. David Holbrook MA, MB BS, MBA

Dr. David Holbrook MA, MB BS, MBA

Non-Executive Director

Dr. David Holbrook is a proven leader in business development and healthcare investing, with over 30 years’ experience in the life sciences sector. David, a qualified physician and MBA graduate from Harvard Business School, has worked for a variety of companies, charities and academic institutions including: GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge. In addition to his non-executive directorship at OBD, David will continue in his roles as Head of Seed Funds at LifeArc, Senior Independent Director at Worldwide Healthcare Trust plc and Chairman of The Liver Group Charity. David brings a wealth of healthcare investment expertise as a former General Partner and Head of Healthcare Investing at MTI Ventures LLP, and Director, Life Sciences at the Cambridge University Seed Fund.

The Board has adopted the principles of the 2018 Quoted Companies Alliance Corporate Governance Code (the "QCA Code") to support the Company's ongoing development and operation of its governance activities. These principles focus on the pursuit of medium to long-term value for a diverse shareholder base, without stifling the Group’s entrepreneurial spirit. The Corporate Governance Statement sets out how the Group currently applies each of the QCA Code’s ten principles, and the reasons for any current departures from compliance.