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Oliver has a wealth of experience in the management and commercial advancement of life science companies. He has worked for over 30 years with several global pharmaceutical and medical device companies including Schering AG, Hoffman la Roche, Intavent-Orthofix and Photo Therapeutics, a Cancer Research UK company and he has extensive experience advising a number of other early stage biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. Since 2002 Oliver has worked as a life sciences analyst in the City, working alongside corporate finance, investor relations and sales teams on a wide range of transactions including IPOs, secondary issues and M & As. He is a director and investment manager of offshore fund, Sarum Investment (SICAV) plc, which is exclusively focused on the oncology sector.

A member of the management team, Richard has particular responsibility for initiation and coordination of the company’s research programmes and will also manage biochemical research. Professor Richard Knox was the leader of the Molecular Pharmacology team in the CRC Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London. He is a world expert on the mechanisms of prodrug activation particularly by nitroreductase enzymes. Richard discovered the mechanism of action of the prodrug CB 1954 (tretazicar), invented the gene therapy applications of this and related prodrug and discovered the latent nitroreductase activity of the human enzyme NQO2. These applications are currently in clinical trial. Prior to this he pioneered the measurement of platinum-induced damage on the DNA of cancer patients and the use of molecular biological techniques to probe DNA repair mechanisms and was the first to use such methods with clinically used alkylating and platinating agents. He was part of the programme at the ICR that developed Carboplatin, which was awarded the Queens Award for Technological Achievement. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Greenwich and has extensive collaborations within the scientific community. Richard has published almost a 100 full publications including books and is a named inventor on over a dozen patents.

Qualified as a Medical Secretary in 1984 and subsequently worked at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford before moving to work for the FD of an Oxford printing company. From this position she was headhunted to help manage and administer a newly formed translation company. In 1994 she left to set up the offices and run the accounting function of a US pharmaceutical company and during this period of employment studied with the Institute of Chartered Secretaries, qualifying and becoming an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries in 2002. She assisted with the start up and was a founder shareholder of Kymed which subsequently merged with Enzacta to form Enact Pharma plc. Following the acquisition by Protherics and subsequent management buy-out she helped the Morvus directors found and set up Morvus where she is now Company Secretary and Financial Controller.