Auralis Limited Appoints Dr Clive Dix as
Non-Executive Chairman
5th August 2008
Specialist pharmaceutical company, Auralis Limited, has moved to further strengthen its management team with the appointment as Non-Executive Chairman of Dr Clive Dix, previously the Chief Executive Officer of PowderMed Ltd, the Oxford-based vaccines company.
Auralis, based in Daresbury, Cheshire, has recently launched a Diamorphine Hydrochloride Injection product to satisfy an unmet medical need in pain relief, and the new appointment comes as the company embarks on a significant period of growth.
Clive has more than 23 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, encompassing business leadership, project management and drug development. He has an in-depth understanding of all facets of the drug discovery and development process, having led projects and portfolios from conception through to market in a range of therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, respiratory, inflammatory, infectious diseases and vaccines.
In 2004, he led the spin-out of PowderMed from Chiron Vaccines, a business unit of Chiron Corporation, backed by £20 million in venture capital from a syndicate of leading life science investors. Clive oversaw the sale of PowderMed to Pfizer Inc in December 2006.
Prior to running PowderMed, Clive was Senior Vice President, Research and Development and a Board member of PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc, the world-leading independent vaccines company that was acquired by Chiron for £550 million in 2003. Clive worked at PowderJect and Chiron from 2001 until 2004. Previous to this he was Glaxo Wellcome’s UK Research Director, where his role included co-chairing the management group that oversaw all of the company’s research projects worldwide.
Commenting on this announcement, Dr Clive Dix said: “I am delighted to be taking up the post of Non-Executive Chairman of Auralis. I strongly believe that specialist pharmaceutical companies such as Auralis which are innovative and agile have an increasingly important role in addressing unmet needs. Auralis’ management, with its proven track record, is helping to meet that need. I am looking forward to working with the Auralis team.”
Andy Sneddon, Director of Auralis, said: “Clive’s skills are ideally suited to Auralis’ business model of delivering a clearly defined product development programme aimed at ensuring the availability and appropriate presentation of important medicinal products which will address unmet medical needs. His experience in fundraising and building shareholder value through corporate growth and strategic development is perfectly aligned with Auralis’ goal of becoming a significant specialist pharmaceutical company over the coming years.
“Clive’s experience in drug development, his proven ability to identify programmes of value to the pharmaceutical industry and his track record in building significant life science businesses will be invaluable to Auralis. We are very pleased that Clive is joining our Board. This news, along with our distribution agreement with Actavis in relation to our recently approved Diamorphine Hydrochloride Injection demonstrates Auralis’ continued corporate development.”
For further information, please contact:
Auralis
Andy Sneddon +44 (0)1925 607071
About Auralis
Auralis is an innovative and agile specialist Pharmaceutical company with strong development, technical and commercial capabilities. We have a specific focus on ensuring the availability and appropriate presentation of important medicinal products which will address unmet medical needs.
We have a proven track record of successfully taking complex products from conception to commercialisation. Supported by an established network of global partners Auralis has a highly scalable operation and the ability to leverage class leading solutions.
Complementing our current commercial products we have a strong development pipeline, specifically in the areas of Critical Care, Paediatrics and Addiction.
For more information, please visit our website at www.auralis.co.uk