Lunac Therapeutics appoints new chief

Lunac Therapeutics has appointed Carl Sterritt as its new chief executive

The Leeds-based drug discovery company is focused on the development of advanced life-saving anticoagulants with minimal risk of bleeding.

Mr Sterritt has over 25 years of management and executive experience in pharmaceutical research, development and commercialisation.

Mr Sterritt said: "I am delighted to be appointed CEO of Lunac at this important point in the company's journey.

"We have high quality IP licensed from one of the UK's leading research-based academic institutions, the close support of the world leading scientists who invented that IP and a very strong roster of supportive and committed shareholders."

Mr Sterritt was founder and chief executive of Shield Therapeutics. He led the development and subsequent approval of prescription pharmaceuticals in the EU and the US.

He said: "Having spent the last 10 years successfully creating and building Shield Therapeutics from an idea to a publicly listed company, I look forward to bringing my full focus, entrepreneurialism and experience to bear for the benefit of Lunac as we seek to move the company forward apace."

Dr Mervyn Turner, chair of Lunac Therapeutics, said: "On behalf of the board and shareholders of Lunac, I am excited to be able to appoint an individual of Carl's experience and track record to the leadership of our company.

"We have an exciting future ahead of us and I look forward to Carl and his team successfully driving our project forward, as he has done with his numerous previous projects."

Lunac Therapeutics is pursuing the discovery of next generation oral anticoagulant therapies with a reduced risk of causing bleeding compared to current treatments.

The business is founded on IP generated by Professor Helen Philippou (professor of translational medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Leeds) and Dr Richard Foster (associate professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Leeds), built on a decade of academic research in association with some of the world's leading supporters of scientific and medical research, including the Wellcome Trust, British Heart Foundation and the UK's Medical Research Council.