Board of Directors

Iain Ross joined as our Chairman in April 2019 and serves as Chair of our Nomination Committee. Mr. Ross previously served as our Chairman between 2004 and 2010.

Iain Ross has over 40 years’ experience in the international life sciences and technology sectors and has held significant roles in multi-national companies including Sandoz, Hoffman La Roche, Reed Business Publishing and Celltech Group plc. He has completed multiple financing transactions, and has over 30 years’ experience in cross- border management as a chairman and CEO. He has led and participated in seven Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and has direct experience of M&A transactions in Europe, the USA and the Pacific Rim. Currently he is non-executive chairman of Kazia Therapeutics Limited (ASX and Nasdaq) and formerly at Redx Pharma plc (LSE), and was responsible for leading the turnaround of both these companies before appointing new management. In addition he is a non-executive director of Palla Pharma Limited (ASX) and advises a number of private companies in the biotechnology sector. He is a qualified Chartered Director and former Vice Chairman of the Council of Royal Holloway, London University.

Appointed
April 2019

Areas of Expertise
Corporate Strategy, M&A, Business Development and Governance

Current External Roles
Kazia Therapeutics Limited, Palla Pharma Limited

Mark Rothera joined as our President, CEO and Board member in September 2020.

Mr. Rothera brings more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with a strong record of commercial and operational leadership, including driving the successful build of multiple biotech companies from the R&D stage to commercialization. During his career, he has focused on bringing novel therapies to patients and has launched seven orphan drugs globally. Prior to joining Silence, Mr. Rothera served as CEO of Orchard Therapeutics, where he oversaw its transformation from a small U.K.-based, privately held company with two clinical-stage programs into a leading global Nasdaq-listed gene therapy company with seven clinical-stage programs and fully integrated capabilities. Prior to that, Mr. Rothera served as Chief Commercial Officer of PTC Therapeutics, where he helped lead the company’s transition from a private, U.S.-based R&D biotech to a Nasdaq-listed company with a global commercial footprint. His previous roles include serving as head of the EMEA region for Shire Human Genetics and commercial director for the EMEA region for Chiron/PathoGenesis. Mr. Rothera currently serves on the board of Genpharm.

Mr. Rothera received an M.A. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an M.B.A. from the European Institute for Business Administration (INSEAD).

Appointed
September 2020

Areas of Expertise
Leadership, Global Commercialisation, Strategy, Business Development, Biotech Build

Current External Roles
Genpharm

Giles Campion, M.D. joined as our Head of R&D and Chief Medical Officer in June 2019 and was appointed as an Executive Director in May 2020.

Dr. Campion is an expert in translational medicine and a highly experienced biotech and pharmaceutical professional across many therapeutic areas, most recently in orphan neuromuscular disorders. He has held senior global research and development roles in several large pharmaceutical, diagnostics and biotech companies, including responsibilities at the board level. Dr. Campion served as chief medical officer for Albumedix Ltd from January 2017 to July 2018. He previously served as group vice president, neuromuscular franchise at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., or BioMarin, from February 2015 to March 2016, following BioMarin’s acquisition of Prosensa Holding N.V., or Prosensa. Dr. Campion served as chief medical officer and senior vice president of research and development at Prosensa from 2009 until its acquisition by BioMarin. Dr. Campion has also served as medical adviser to MyoTherix Inc and is a co-founder of PepGen Ltd. Dr. Campion holds bachelor’s and doctorate degrees in medicine from the University of Bristol and is listed on the General Medical Council (UK) Specialist Register (Rheumatology).

Appointed
May 2020

Areas of Expertise
Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Rare Disease Development, Translational Medicine

Current External Roles
Co-founder of PepGen Ltd

Dave Lemus joined as our Non-Executive Director in June 2018. He also serves as Chair of our Audit and Risk Committee.

Mr. Lemus is currently the chief executive officer of Ironshore Pharmaceuticals Inc. and also serves on the board of directors of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. and Biohealth Innovation, Inc. Previously, Mr Lemus had stepped down from Medigene AG’s board of directors to serve as the company’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer and, preceding this position, served as chief executive officer of Sigma Tau Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to this, he was chief financial officer and executive VP of MorphoSys AG for more than 13 years, taking the company public in Germany’s first biotechnology initial public offering. Mr Lemus received an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a B.S. from the University of Maryland. Mr Lemus is a Certified Public Accountant in the USA.

Appointed
June 2018

Areas of Expertise
Drug Commercialisation, Strategic Partnerships, Financing and Transactions

Current External Roles
CEO Ironshore Pharmaceuticals Inc, non-executive director of Sorrento Therapeutics Inc., non-executive director of BioHealth Innovation, Inc.

Alistair Gray joined as our Senior Independent Non-Executive Director in November 2015.

Mr. Gray currently serves as non-executive director/chair of the Edrington Group’s Employee Benefit Trust and of the Scottish Enterprise’s Pension Trustee Board and Clyde Bergemann Pension Scheme. Mr Gray is also a founder and director of Renaissance & Company, a strategic management consultancy firm. Mr Gray previously held senior management positions with Unilever and John Wood Group plc, and he also chaired the Audit and Remuneration committees of AorTech International plc and Highland Distillers plc. Mr Gray entered strategic management consulting at Arthur Young (now EY) Management Consultants and PA Consulting Group, where he served as a director for over ten years. Mr Gray also served as a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and Institute of Consultants. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in Mathematics and Economics, following this with a management accounting qualification.

Appointed
November 2015

Areas of Expertise
Strategic management, organisation performance and governance

Current External Roles
Non-executive director/chair of the Edrington Group’s Employee Benefit Trust, Scottish Enterprise’s Pension Trustee Board and Clyde Bergemann Pension Scheme. Founder/director of Renaissance & Company. He is a member of the faculty of Strathclyde Business School and Visiting Professor at the University’s Design Manufacturing and Engineering Management department. He is also a Visiting Professor at Loughborough University London and the University of Stirling.

Michael H. Davidson, M.D., FACC, FNLA, joined as our Non-Executive Director in January 2021.

Dr. Davidson is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Lipid Clinic at the University of Chicago. He also serves as chief executive officer of NewAmsterdam Pharma. Dr. Davidson is a leading expert in the field of lipidology. He has conducted over 1,000 clinical trials, published more than 350 medical journal articles and written three books on lipidology.

His research background encompasses both pharmaceutical and nutritional clinical trials including extensive research on statins, novel lipid-lowering drugs, and omega-3 fatty acids. Dr. Davidson founded the Chicago Center for Clinical Research, which became the largest investigator site in the USA and was acquired by Pharmaceutical Product Development in 1996. Additionally, he founded Omthera Pharmaceuticals in 2008, which was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2013 for $440 miliion, and most recently, he was founding CEO/CSO of Corvidia Therapeutics, which was acquired by Novo Nordisk for up to $2.1bn in 2020. Dr. Davidson is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiology, and clinical lipidology. He was president (2010–2011) of the National Lipid Association, named as one of The Best Doctors in America for the past 15 years and ‘Father of the Year’ by the American Diabetes Association, 2010.

Appointed
January 2021

Areas of Expertise
Lipidology and Clinical Development

Current External Roles
NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V., Inositec AG, Sonogene LLC, Caladrius Biosciences, Inc and PHP Precision Med

James Ede-Golightly joined as our Non-Executive Chairman in April 2019. He also serves as Chair of our Remuneration Committee.

Mr. Ede-Golightly is currently chairman of Oxehealth Ltd, East Balkan Properties plc and Oxford Advanced Surfaces Ltd. Among other directorships, Mr Ede-Golightly is non-executive director of Sarossa plc and Serendipity Capital Ltd and has extensive experience as a non-executive director of AIM-quoted companies with international business interests. Mr Ede-Golightly was a founder of ORA Capital Partners in 2006, having previously worked as an analyst at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and Commerzbank. Mr Ede-Golightly is a CFA Charterholder and holds an M.A. degree in economics from Cambridge University. In 2012, he was awarded New Chartered Director of the Year by the Institute of Directors.

Appointed
April 2019

Areas of Expertise
Investment and Corporate Finance

Current External Roles
DeepMatter Group plc, Dunheved Limited, East Balkan Properties plc, Gulfsands Petroleum plc, Oxehealth Limited, Oxford Advanced Surfaces Limited, Sarossa plc, and Serendipity Capital Limited

Steven Romano, M.D., joined as our Non-Executive Director in July 2019.

Dr. Romano is a board-certified psychiatrist and pharmaceutical executive with 25 years of research and development experience across a wide range of therapeutic and disease areas. Dr. Romano currently serves as executive vice president and chief scientific officer at Mallinckrodt plc, where he has responsibility for research and development, and regulatory and medical affairs. Prior to joining Mallinckrodt, Dr. Romano spent 16 years at Pfizer, Inc. where he held a series of senior research and development and medical roles of increasing responsibility, culminating in his most recent position as SVP, Head, Global Medicines Development, Global Innovative Pharmaceuticals Business. Dr. Romano received his M.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a bachelor’s degree in biology and English literature.

Appointed
July 2019

Areas of Expertise
Research and development, regulatory, and medical affairs

Current External Roles
EVP and Chief Scientific Officer at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals