Ian Tomlinson joins SBC Board as GlaxoSmithKline Representative Director
Stakeholder representative to guide development of UK’s first open innovation bioscience campus
Stevenage, UK, October 19 2011
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), the UK’s first open innovation bioscience campus, is pleased to announce that Ian Tomlinson, Senior Vice President, Head of Biopharmaceuticals R&D and Worldwide Business Development at GlaxoSmithKline, has been appointed to its Board.
In his role as GSK Representative Director, Dr Tomlinson will bring his experience of innovation in both the large and small company environment to SBC. Prior to joining GSK, he spent 11 years at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. In 2000, together with Sir Gregory Winter, he co-founded Domantis Limited to develop a new class of drugs based on domain antibodies. Domantis was acquired by GSK in 2007. Following Dr Tomlinson’s appointment to the SBC Board, Dr Allan Baxter, formerly Chairman and GSK representative, becomes Independent Chairman.
Dr Martino Picardo, CEO of Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, said, “Having Ian, with his entrepreneurial and large company expertise, on our Board as a stakeholder representative is a great advantage as we work to make Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst a compelling offering for life sciences companies. In particular, development of our open innovation offering will be greatly enhanced by the network he brings in his business development role at GSK.”
Dr Ian Tomlinson added, “Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst will be an important player in the UK life sciences ecosystem, and I am delighted to be working with the team to build on the progress it has made so far. In this role I will be helping to bring new companies to the site, as well as encouraging scientific collaboration to advance translation of research ideas and early discovery into new medicines and technologies.”
Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst is a joint venture between the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills, GlaxoSmithKline, the Wellcome Trust, the East of England Development Agency and the Technology Strategy Board. The £38m development will be an independent bioscience facility and is due to open in Q1 2012.
