Team Members
All Ithaka Team members have senior level experience derived from working with emerging companies through to SMEs and blue chip clients:
Dr Paul Rodgers: Founder and Managing Director
Paul is an entrepreneur with thirty years experience in the life sciences industry and leads Ithaka’s work in Biomarkers and Personalised Medicine, and Regenerative Medicine.
- Paul has experience in the healthcare (human and veterinary), agriculture and food sectors of biotechnology and in a range of biomedical businesses.
- He has co-founded and raised finance of over £30 million for ten biotechnology companies from a broad spectrum of sources, including investment funds, grants and corporate deals.
- He has extensive experience in corporate and R&D management for a range of technology businesses, strategic business development, and licensing and protection of intellectual property. He has led the negotiation of significant corporate deals in the pharmaceutical, diagnostics, biosensor and agriculture sectors.
- Paul has worked with a broad range of academic institutions to assist in the exploitation of their intellectual property in the pharmaceuticals, sensors, agricultural, food and fine chemicals sectors of biotechnology.
- He has conducted technical and commercial due diligence on behalf of a range of investors, which has included the appraisal of technology as well as conducting market assessment and research.
- He is currently Executive Chairman of Psynova Neurotech Ltd a spin-out of Cambridge University commercialising research on biomarkers for neuropsychiatric disorders. Paul has played a significant role in helping take Psynova from a concept through to the launch of VeriPsych™, the first and only blood test to aid a psychiatrist in the diagnosis of recent-onset schizophrenia.
- He is also a non-executive director of Ziva Bioscience Ltd (reproductive healthcare), Paramata Ltd (remote sensing technology) and Enterprise Medical Ltd (an innovation company set up by an NHS Trust).
- Other companies that Paul has co-founded and served as a Board Director include Axis Genetics (human and veterinary vaccines), Axordia (regenerative medicine), Asterion (therapeutic proteins) and Creative Gene Technology (agricultural biotech).
Gavin Scott Duncan - Founder and Non-Executive Director
Gavin founded the healthcare company Hydron Ltd through a £30 million Management Buy-in of the contact lens business of Allergan Inc. where he played a leading role in growing the business as Commercial Director before its acquisition by Biocompatibles.
- Gavin has senior management experience in pharmaceuticals, nutritional foods and medical devices with a track record of success at both strategic and operational levels.
Sue Buchanan MBA: Executive Director
Formerly a Managing Consultant with PA Consulting Group’s Life Sciences and Technologies Practice in Cambridge, Sue’s experience spans marketing and management consulting in sectors in the life sciences industry and in NHS management. Sue now leads Ithaka’s work with public sector clients in developing strategies to promote and develop technology commercialisation.
- She has worked internationally with a wide range of technology focused businesses for clients spanning global corporations SMEs and investment institutions focusing on the interface between R&D, marketing and commercial strategy and including the management of technical and commercial due diligence.
- Her experience includes 11 years in a variety of strategic marketing, commercial and general management roles in the medical devices and biopharmaceutical industries, including roles as a Director of Marketing for an early stage biopharmaceutical company and management roles in the NHS.
- Sue now works primarily with SMEs across biomedical technology based businesses, including university spin-out companies, and with public sector clients at national and regional levels, developing strategic infrastructure and support services for technology commercialisation.
- Sue has recently led a number of projects for public sector organisations such as the Scottish Funding Council and has worked with Scottish Enterprise’s Proof of Concept Programme which seeks to create companies from life science and biomedical research across Scotland’s universities.
Dr John Adair: Consultant
John is a PhD molecular biologist with almost 30 years experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and leads Ithaka’s work in commercialising Therapeutic Proteins.
- John has an extensive background in pharmaceutical R&D, including bench research at GD Searle and Celltech comprising design and construction of novel biopharmaceuticals and cell line development for their production. This work has led to the development of a significant intellectual property portfolio at Celltech including the licensing of two biopharmaceutical products.
- He has experience in the management of research and pre-clinical development at Celltech, Axis Genetics and Scotgen Biopharmaceuticals and in consultancy work for a number of UK biopharmaceutical companies including Aeres Biomedical, Antisoma, Avidex, Cambridge Antibody Technology, Haptogen and UCB Celltech. He has also provided consultancy services for the Medical Research Council and BBSRC.
- John’s clients include major companies, emerging and established SME’s and academics.
- He has also led and participated in Ithaka’s wide range of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceuticals assignments focusing in particular on technical due diligence, including intellectual property matters, for clients such as for NVM, YFM, NESTA, Apposite Capital and the Wellcome Trust.
- He has co-authored several publications in the field, most recently: ‘Protein engineering’, Adair & McGregor in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology 5th ed Walker & Rapley eds., RSC Publishing 2009
Dr Richard Cumming: Consultant
Richard has over 20 years experience in product development, product management & marketing within Amersham International, Amersham-Pharmacia Biotech General Electric (GE) Healthcare.
Richard leads Ithaka’s consultancy work in life science and biomedical research tools, e.g. proteomics and genomics.
- Richard has held senior commercial roles including regional, global marketing & product management of molecular biology & proteomics consumables, instruments & research systems for the academic, biotechnology & Pharmaceutical sectors. His most recent position at GE Healthcare was Global Marketing Director, Protein Sciences segment.
- He has also set up the global marketing organization for a new multi-million dollar business segment, focused on proteomics & genomics research consumables & equipment (Laboratory Products, Amersham).
- He has delivered assignments for both major multinationals and for emerging companies, including interim and part-time marketing positions for University spinout companies including deltaDot (commercialising biomolecule separation and analytical technologies from Imperial College), ProteinLogic (a Cambridge University spinout company developing novel biomarkers) and CrossGen (a Nottingham University spinout commercialising software tools for analysis of gene arrays).
Paula Wittels MA MSc : Consultant
An experienced marketing and business director with a track record in developing and implementing commercial strategies, Paula is also Ithaka’s lead in life science diagnostics and medical devices.
- Paula has a proven record in growing sales and profit, in conducting technology and commercial assessments, marketing planning and successful product launch.
- She has particular expertise in life science diagnostics and significant expertise in medical technologies in orthopaedics, cardiovascular and wound care.
- She has worked with a wide range of companies including mentoring new business start-ups commercialising novel technologies in these areas and has conducted extensive due diligence on behalf of investors.
- Senior roles with Amersham International, Pfizer Hospital Products and Quintiles Consulting, leading the development and marketing of novel diagnostics and medical devices
- Paula has worked with a wide range of companies including start-ups developing business plans and market access strategies.
- She has extensive experience with the development and commercialization of new technologies, including protein biomarker immunoassays.
- Working on Ithaka’s project for e2V Paula worked with the company to identify the biomarker assay that would best suited to showcase the company's technology.
- Similarly for Stratophase Paula worked with the company to explore analytes in the clinical arena matching the technology’s strengths to market requirements.
Dr Bill Primrose: Consultant 
Bill is a PhD biological chemist with 25 years postdoctoral experience at the interface between chemistry and the life sciences, and between academia and industry. He has a broadly-based background in SMEs across a range of life science areas, with a particular interest and experience in small molecule drug discovery and development, and he leads Ithaka’s activities in these areas.
- He has supervisory, line management, project management, and business development experience, knowledge of a number of therapeutic areas and direct personal understanding of building innovative companies from scratch.
- He led medicinal chemistry and structural biology teams at PanTherix, the antibiotic drug discovery spin out from the University of Leicester which he co-founded. He was active in all aspects of the company’s development, including fund-raising, licensing and initiating industrial and academic collaborations.
- Bill is Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Group of the Aeropath EU-funded consortium of academic and small company researchers, who are using structural and computational methods to identify new antibacterial agents against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
- From 2007 to the present day, Bill has been CEO of Theryte Ltd, an Ithaka client company, developing novel oncology drugs. He secured new private equity funding, and initiated partnering and licensing discussions with a number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. He also manages the R&D, including out-sourcing target identification, synthetic chemistry, pharmacokinetics, toxicology and in vivo studies.
- In 2005, Bill and an ex-colleague from PanTherix founded SioKem Ltd., a contract chemistry provider to UK and European biotechnology companies and research institutes, providing access to high quality affordable organic synthetic facilities in China.
- Other work carried out with colleagues at Ithaka includes business strategy development and fund raising for client companies; technology and market assessment; and due diligence projects.
Dr Mark Treherne: Consultant
Mark has been actively involved in the pharmaceutical industry for over 25 years. Mark has now helped raise more than £100 million for numerous pharmaceutical businesses around the world and was formerly Chairman of ERBI Limited (now One Nucleus), which is a not-for-profit organisation that represents the biotechnology companies based around Cambridge, UK.
- Mark initially trained as a neuropharmacologist at Cambridge University and previously led the neurodegeneration research group at Pfizer's main European research facility at Sandwich, UK, until 1997.
- He then a co-founded and was Chief Executive of Cambridge Drug Discovery Limited (CDD), leading the acquisition of CDD for £28 million by AiM-listed BioFocus plc (BioFocus), where he then became a Commercial Director, driving significant growth of its profitable services business that reached a valuation of £100 million on AiM. BioFocus is now the service division of Galapagos NV.
- Since leaving his full-time position at BioFocus plc in February 2002 to remain on the Board as a non-executive director, Mark has now served on the Boards of over 10 private and public biopharmaceutical companies.
- He is currently CEO of Senexis Limited, a Manchester University spin out, and on the Boards of Domain Therapeutics SA, Cyclofluidic Limited, Population Genetics Technologies Limited and Bioceros BV.
- He has taken NCE’s and biological products from inception, through discovery and on into clinical development and has a strong interest in using biomarkers as surrogate end points and population genetics to selects patent sub-groups to facilitate clinical trials.
Dr Malcolm Rhodes: Consultant
Malcolm is experienced in commercialisation of academic Life Sciences research in Pharmaceutical, Diagnostics, Environmental, Fine Chemical and Biopharmaceutical businesses. His specialist expertise in bioprocessing supports Ithaka’s assignments in Therapeutic Antibodies.
- Currently based in Edinburgh, Malcolm is employed by the HeathTech and Medicines KTN (a Knowledge Transfer Network set up by the Technology Strategy Board to promote the development of the UK biotechnology, pharmaceutical and health technologies industries), where he has been granted scope to undertake external consultancy projects.
- Malcolm has acted as a mentor to the recipient of a BBSRC/RSE Enterprise Fellowship at Manchester University.
- Malcolm is experienced in commercialisation of academic Life Sciences research in the Pharmaceutical (small molecules and biologics) and Diagnostics sectors.
- Malcolm has held senior R&D, manufacturing and quality positions in companies such as Celltech, Serologicals and Pfizer.