Avacta appoints Tony Gardiner as chief financial officer
pharmafile | December 16, 2015 | Appointment | Medical Communications | Avacta Group
Avacta Group, the developer of Affimer biotherapeutics and research reagents, has appointed Tony Gardiner as group chief financial officer. Gardiner will join the Group on January 4 2016.
As announced on July 7 2015, Tim Sykes, who has held the part-time role of chief financial officer since IPO, informed the board he wished to step down from this role to pursue other business interests. Following Sykes’ departure, Craig Slater, chief operating officer, will serve as interim chief financial officer with immediate effect until Gardiner joins.
Between 2007 and 2011, Gardiner was the chief financial officer of AIM listed Fusion IP plc, an IP commercialisation company, which was subsequently acquired by IP Group plc in 2014. Here, he played a key role in supporting the chief executive officer in growing the business and oversaw all finance activities as well as directly supporting life sciences and health technology companies in Fusion’s portfolio.
Gardiner joins Avacta from AHR an international architecture and building consultancy practice where he has held the role of finance director since 2011. During his time at AHR, he oversaw the financial and legal demerger of the practice from Aedas, an international design practice and, following this, the financial restructuring of the practice.
Gardiner has also held senior finance roles within Eversheds LLP, KCOM Group Plc, Eldon Electric Ltd and Hickson International Plc.
Dr Alastair Smith, chief executive of Avacta, comments: “We are delighted that Tony will be joining Avacta at such an important time in our development. Tony’s wealth of experience, in particular his time as chief financial officer of Fusion IP plc, a role in which he was involved with numerous health technology and life sciences businesses, will be of great value to the Group. We look forward to working with him as part of the senior leadership team as we continue to progress the development and commercialisation of our Affimer platform to create value for our shareholders.
”We would once again like to thank Tim for his contribution to the Group over the years and wish him well for the future. We would also like to thank Craig for serving as chief financial officer in this short interim period.”
Commenting on his appointment, Tony Gardiner says: “Avacta’s Affimer technology is very compelling and has great potential as a therapeutic platform and in the form of innovative research tools. I am impressed with the Company and its plans, and I look forward to working with the leadership team to build the business and to help it reach its full potential.
