Prior to joining Conduit Pharmaceuticals as Chief Executive Officer, David held senior leadership positions at Senior Vice President or CEO level in international R&D healthcare companies and Charities with responsibility for the strategic leadership of these organisations. David’s past roles include joint worldwide head of chemistry for Zeneca agrochemicals, Vice President of Glaxo Smith Kline Pharmaceuticals and Senior Vice President of Millennium Pharmaceuticals which, at the time, was the third largest Biotech company in the world.
Immediately prior to joining Conduit Pharmaceuticals, David was for 10 years the CEO of Medical Research Council Technology and led that organisation through a renaming and rebranding exercise to create the strategy and vision for the Charity now known as LifeArc. During his time at MRCT/LifeArc he served on the Executive management committee of the Medical Research Council reporting to both Sir Leszek Borysiewicz and Sir John Savill and represented the UK research Councils in meetings with European heads of research councils on International patent strategies and commercialisation of research. David built an extensive network of connections in the technology transfer and commercialisation sector of UK University technology transfer offices and represented the healthcare sector of the UK at International Conferences in Europe and the Far East and trade missions to Japan and China. During these missions he met with the ministers of health for both countries and even the current and previous presidents of China.
Whilst at LifeArc David worked closely with Dr Freda Lewis-Hall to create the highly innovative and hugely successful company Springworks which currently has a Market Capitalisation of $3.08Bn (Jan 2022). David left LifeArc having steered the charity to Endowment status funding with a cash balance of $1.4Bn.
David also worked extensively as an entrepreneur having now started or been involved with the creation or funding of 10 new life science companies here in the UK. Four of these successfully exited via trade sales, one was listed on the AIM market and one was listed on the London Stock Exchange. He has also served as a non-Executive director/Chairman in a range of Biotech and healthcare technology companies both here in the UK and internationally.
David has built an international network and reputation in pharmaceutical research and development and commercialisation of technology in healthcare. This has encompassed public and private sectors including working for government bodies such as the funding councils and the Department of Trade and Industry as well as the Venture Capital and Charity sectors internationally. He has a strong academic track record with more than 40 patents and publications. He has been a visiting professor at Sussex University and is currently a visiting professor at Wenzhou University and Nanjing Medical University. David has also held positions as a Senior Special advisor and Special Expert advisor (life sciences) to the Shanghai government. In 2012 He was awarded the Tianjin government “Haihe Friendship” award and the Tianjin Economic Development Area “TEDA Friendship Award”.
Dr. Regan is a British born polar explorer and entrepreneur. He was a co-founder of Conduit Pharmaceuticals Limited and has served as a Board member since 2019. Dr. Regan also founded Corvus Capital Limited and has been its Chief Executive Officer since 2008. Corvus Capital is an investment vehicle that was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange prior to being taken private in 2008. Corvus Capital continues to invest in a number of industries and sectors.
Dr. Regan also has experience as an investor in a number of public and private companies, including ASOS, a global online fashion and beauty retailer, Virtual Internet, an IT services company that specializes in hosting infrastructure such as VMWare cloud hosting and Managed and Dedicated Servers, and Imperial Energy Corporation plc, an upstream oil and gas exploration and production company. Prior to that, Dr. Regan was the Chief Executive Officer of Hobson Plc, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange, until its sale in 1996 through a cash takeover.
Dr. Regan has a strong interest in the use of bio-inspired science to create solutions for present day problems. In 2014, he was awarded a PhD from Oxford Brookes University for his research in writing and developing a bio-inspired algorithm for forecasting the financial markets. He is passionate about the polar regions and is an accomplished polar explorer having led a number of expeditions to both the Arctic and Antarctica.
Dr. Regan was selected to serve on the board of New Conduit following the Business Combination based on his knowledge of Conduit and his extensive experience in investing, financing, overseeing and developing companies.
During her 35-year career in medicine, Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall served as Pfizer, Inc.’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President until the end of 2018 and as Chief Patient Officer and Executive Vice President during 2019. Before joining Pfizer, Freda held senior leadership positions in medical affairs and product development with Vertex, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pharmacia and Eli Lilly and Company.
Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall has been on the frontlines of healthcare as a clinician, a researcher, and a leader in the biopharmaceuticals and life sciences industries. The common thread throughout has been her passion to advocate for health equity and improved outcomes for all patients. Dr. Lewis-Hall appears regularly on health-related television programs in major global markets, including CBS-syndicated shows such as The Doctors and Dr. Phil. She also shares health and medical information through GetHealthyStayHealthy.com.
Prior to joining the biopharmaceutical industry, she served as vice chairperson and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Howard University College of Medicine and was an advisor to the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Lewis-Hall served on the board of directors of SpringWorks Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company which licensed four compounds initially from Pfizer which currently has a Market Capitalisation of $3.08Bn (Jan 2022), in collaboration with UK-charity LifeArc.
Faith L. Charles, has been a corporate transactions and securities partner at the law firm of Thompson Hine LLP, since 2010. She leads Thompson Hine’s Life Sciences practice and co-heads the securities practice, advising public and emerging biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and internationally.
Ms. Charles negotiates complex private and public financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, licensing transactions and strategic collaborations. She serves as outside counsel to a myriad of life sciences companies and is known in the industry as an astute business advisor, providing valuable insights into capital markets, corporate governance and strategic development.
Ms. Charles has been a member of the board of directors of: CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSP), a biotechnology company developing novel treatments for cancers of the brain and central nervous system, since December 2022; Avenue Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATXI), a specialty pharmaceutical company specializing in developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of the central nervous system, since May 2022; and Abeona Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABEO), a fully integrated gene and cell therapy company, since March 2021.
Ms. Charles serves as Chair of CNS Pharmaceuticals, on the Audit Committee of Avenue Therapeutics and on the Audit Committee and as the Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of Abeona Therapeutics. From 2018 until October 2021, Ms. Charles served on the Board of Directors and as a member of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Compensation Committee of Entera Bio Ltd., a publicly-traded biotechnology company. Ms. Charles founded the Women in Bio Metro New York chapter and chaired the chapter for five years. She also served on the national board of Women in Bio.
Ms. Charles is also a member of the board of Red Door Community (formerly Gilda’s Club New York City.) She has been recognized as a Life Sciences Star by Euromoney’s LMG Life Sciences, has been named a BTI Client Service All-Star, and was named by Crain’s New York Business to the list of 2020 Notable Women in the Law. Ms. Charles holds a J.D degree from The George Washington University Law School and a B.A. in Psychology from Barnard College, Columbia University. Ms. Charles is a graduate of Women in Bio’s Boardroom Ready Program, an Executive Education Program taught by The George Washington University School of Business. Ms. Charles’ qualifications to serve on our Board include her leadership skills and her vast legal experience representing companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical field.
Chele Chiavacci Farley has served on the MURF Board since the closing of its initial public offering and currently serves as a partner and managing director of Mistral Capital International (“Mistral”), a private equity firm, since 1995. In her role as Partner and Managing Director of Mistral, Ms. Farley originates, evaluates and executes equity investment opportunities, creates and implements deal and financial structures, negotiates with banks for credit facilities, and oversees management.
Ms. Farley is the President and a member of the Board of Directors and Management Committee of Palmilla San Jose Inmobiliaria, the Master Developer of the luxury Palmilla resort development in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Prior to Mistral, Ms. Farley was Vice President of Tricap International from 1994 to 1995. From 1992 to 1994, Ms. Farley was an Associate at UBS Capital Corporation, and analyzed and evaluated principal investment and financing opportunities for the firm’s internal $1 billion fund. Ms. Farley began her career as a Financial Analyst in the Global Finance department – Energy and Telecom Group of Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Ms. Farley has also had an active political career. In 2020, Ms. Farley ran for election to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent New York’s 18th Congressional district. In 2018, Ms. Farley ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent New York. Ms. Farley graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering. She is a member of YPO – Young Presidents’ Organization.
Jennifer I. McNealey currently serves as CFO of Abdera Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company developing targeted radiotherapeutics. Prior to Abdera, Ms. McNealey served as CFO of Codex DNA, Inc. (now Telesis Bio Inc.) from March 2021 through its IPO in 2021. Prior to Codex DNA she was a member of the senior management team at Calithera Biosciences, Inc., a development stage biotechnology company.
Ms. McNealey guided Calithera through multiple equity raises including the IPO and secondary raises. Ms. McNealey is currently a director at Antibe Therapeutics Inc. where she serves on the Audit and Governance committees. Antibe Therapeutics is a development-stage biotechnology company building a pipeline of safer, non-addictive therapeutics for pain and inflammation. Previously she served on the board of Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from November 2013 to November 2021.
Ms. McNealey founded and launched Laurient, an equity research and competitive intelligence tool for the biotechnology investment community. Prior to founding Laurient, Ms. McNealey served as an equity analyst and portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton and Morgan Stanley, each with a focus in investing in public biotechnology companies. Ms. McNealey earned an MHA from the Sloan Program in healthcare administration and a BA in psychology from Cornell University.
Mr. Bligh was a co-founder of Conduit Pharmaceuticals Limited in 2019. From 2008 to 2019, Mr. Bligh worked closely with investment vehicle Corvus Capital Limited, including as a Partner, where he led a number of reverse takeover transactions, stock market listings, initial public offerings, secondary fundraisings, and merger transactions.
Mr. Bligh’s prior transaction experience includes advising several special purpose acquisition vehicles in listing on the London Stock Exchange, including the listing of Bermele Plc, a special purpose acquisition vehicle, and the subsequent acquisition of Bermele by East Imperial Pte. Ltd., a global purveyor of ultra-premium beverages, in June 2019; the listing of Leverett Plc, which subsequently acquired Nuformix Plc, a pharmaceutical development company targeting unmet medical needs in fibrosis and oncology via drug repurposing; and Cizzle Biotechnology Holdings Plc, a UK-based diagnostics developer.
Jamie previously served as a director of Bermele Plc from June 2021 through February 2022; Mertz Plc from January 2021 through March 2022; and East Imperial Pte. Ltd. from September 2017 through April 2018. Jamie graduated from the University of Bristol with a BSc in Economics & Finance.
Mr. Bligh was selected to serve on the board of New Conduit following the Business Combination based on his past experience with business development, capital raising, financings, public offerings and other strategic transactions, including mergers and acquisitions.