Cambridge, UK, November 2004.  Senexis Limited announced today the appointment of Dr Chris Moyses as Non-Executive Chairman and Dr David Scopes as Chief Scientific Officer of the Company.  Both directors have joined Senexis’ Board to develop and expand the Company’s growing pipeline of novel compounds for the treatment of ageing-related diseases, such as type II diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Diseases, which have all be linked to a common pathogenic process called “amyloidosis”.

Dr Moyses was most recently Chief Medical Officer and Development Director of Oxford GlycoSciences plc (OGS) and as a Board Director of OGS had first-hand involvement in raising £170 million as a secondary offering in 2000. He obtained his BA in Physiological Sciences at Oxford and his MB/BChir at Cambridge University, becoming a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1983.  He obtained his DM at Oxford three years later and became an FFPM in 1999.  Prior to joining OGS, Dr Moyses worked for Searle, ICI before becoming Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at Amylin. 

Dr Scopes was formerly Vice President of Drug Discovery at OGS, where he co-led a portfolio of discovery and development programmes. He joined OGS in 1996 as Director of Chemistry after leaving GlaxoWellcome, where he was Head of Medicinal Chemistry in France.  Dr Scopes obtained his BSc, MSc and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Manchester, carrying out postdoctoral research at Syntex in Palo Alto and at the University of Illinois, before joining Glaxo in 1976.

"We are delighted that Chris and David have decided to join Senexis at this exciting time in our development," said Mark Treherne, Senexis’ Chief Executive. "They both have a wealth of complementary experience and expertise in amyloidosis, neuroscience and diabetes research and development. We look forward to benefiting from their substantial expertise and leadership as Senexis raises further funds to progress its products into clinical development".

Commenting on his move to Senexis, Dr Moyses said, "Senexis is entering an exciting and important phase of its evolution into clinical development and I am delighted to help Senexis with its fund raising”. Dr Scopes added, “with the strength of its technology and discovery programmes I am confident that the Company will continue to make significant progress in its development of drugs to treat amyloidosis, an area with substantial unmet market demand. Senexis has already discovered some highly potent and selective inhibitors of amyloidosis that are active in models of memory and learning".

Drs Moyses and Scopes join a management team which includes Dr Mark Treherne (Chief Executive) and Dr Kelvin Stott (Founder Director). The company is backed by BTG International Limited and The Wellcome Trust Limited. Dr Paul McCubbin is BTG’s nominated director on the Board.

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For further information, please contact:
Senexis Limited
Mark Treherne, Chief Executive                               Tel: +44 (0) 1223 496160
 

About Senexis

Senexis is a drug development company, dedicated to the discovery of effective treatments and diagnoses of at least 20 incurable, ageing-related diseases, such as type II diabetes and Alzheimer's dementia. These diseases are now widely believed to be caused by a common and fundamental pathogenic mechanism called “amyloidosis”, in which various proteins or peptides stick together to form toxic “soluble oligomers”.  Senexis has discovered a highly potent and selective series of compounds for the potential treatment of these ageing-related diseases resulting from amyloidosis. Senexis has recently relocated its operations to Cambridge from Manchester, where the Company was established with £1.4m seed funding from BTG International Limited and The Wellcome Trust Limited in November 2002.  Prior to relocation, the Company was awarded Northwest Biotech Start-up of the Year 2003. Further information on Senexis can be found at www.senexis.com.