John Dawson to retire from Oxford Biomedica

John Dawson to retire from Oxford Biomedica

Oxford, UK – 17 January 2022: Oxford Biomedica plc (LSE:OXB) (“Oxford Biomedica” or “the Group” or “the Company”) a leading gene and cell therapy company, today announces that, after more than 13 years of service, John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer, has signalled to the Board his intention to retire from the Company. Accordingly, the Board has initiated a formal search for a successor.

Dr. Roch Doliveux, Chairman of Oxford Biomedica, commented: “John has provided more than 13 years of dedicated service and leadership to Oxford Biomedica and, on behalf of the Board and all of our staff, we thank him wholeheartedly. His successful career with the Company was underlined very recently by a much-deserved CBE awarded for services to UK Life Science. Under his leadership, together with the strong senior executive team, Oxford Biomedica has grown into an industry leader in lentiviral vectors, delivered multiple partnerships and successfully manufactured life-saving COVID-19 vaccine, all due to the expertise and robustness of the Company’s management team. We have commenced a formal process to appoint a successor who will lead the Group through its next phase of growth whilst also ensuring the Company remains fully focussed on the execution of its strategy of delivering life changing gene therapies to patients.”

John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Biomedica, added: “I am immensely proud of Oxford Biomedica’s achievements, and will retire at the appropriate time. Oxford Biomedica is now a global market leader in viral vector technologies for gene and cell therapy. The world-class management team at Oxford Biomedica is surrounded by a dedicated workforce of over 740 people who have demonstrated a unique robustness and ability to deliver – exemplified several times over the recent years and certainly by our contribution to the fight against the pandemic. I believe this is the right time to start the transition to a new leader given the robustness of the senior team and Company as a whole, which is undoubtedly stronger than ever before.”

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Enquiries:        

Oxford Biomedica plc: T: +44 (0)1865 783 000 / E: ir@oxb.com

John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer

Stuart Paynter, Chief Financial Officer

Sophia Bolhassan, Head of Investor Relations

Consilium Strategic Communications: T: +44 (0)20 3709 5700

Mary-Jane Elliott / Matthew Neal         

About Oxford Biomedica

Oxford Biomedica (LSE:OXB) is a leading, fully integrated, gene and cell therapy group focused on developing life changing treatments for serious diseases. Oxford Biomedica and its subsidiaries (the “Group”) have built a sector leading lentiviral vector delivery platform (LentiVector®), which the Group leverages to develop in vivo and ex vivo products both in-house and with partners. The Group has created a valuable proprietary portfolio of gene and cell therapy product candidates in the areas of oncology, CNS disorders and liver diseases. The Group has also entered into a number of partnerships, including with Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sio Gene Therapies, Orchard Therapeutics, Santen, Beam Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Arcellx and Cabaletta Bio, through which it has long-term economic interests in other potential gene and cell therapy products. Additionally, the Group has signed a 3-year master supply and development agreement with AstraZeneca for large-scale manufacturing of the adenoviral based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, AZD1222. Oxford Biomedica is based across several locations in Oxfordshire, UK and employs more than 740 people. Further information is available at www.oxb.com