Background
Prior to founding BioReport, David Thatcher gaines over 25 years industrial experience in the pharmaceutical sector latterly as Chief Executive and founder of Cobra Biomanufacutring Plc.David led the team that span Cobra out of a gene therapy product development company, Therexsys Ltd.
Cobra Biomanufacturing PLC 2002-2008 CEO
Cobra Biomanufacturing [mpw Cobra Biologics Ltd.] was established as a service manufacturing company [CMO] leveraging the intellectual property and expertise developed over a number of years. Under his tutelage the company grew from a small niche (plasmid DNA manufacturing) with revenues of £100k in 1999 to a full service and significant global contract biomanufacturing with commercial manufacturing capability and revenues of £10M in 2005. Under his management theCompany became one of the top three companies manufacturing pDNA worldwide and also developed commercial manufacturing capacity for Adenovirus and other lytic viruses and for a protein product now approaching registration. The Company also carried out early phase manufacture of over 50 virus, plasmid DNA, protein and cell therapy products.
Therexsys 1994-2002
At Therexsys David was the second employee [founded 1994] and was responsible for developing and scaling the manufacturing technologies required for the clinical evaluation of the Company's gene therapy products. These activities covered both viral [Therexsys was the first company to put a PER.C6 derived adenovirus into the clinic (1999)] and non-viral [plasmid DNA] manufacture. In addition to developing the Company's manufacturing capability, David was also responible for the Therexsys peptide based plasmid DNA delivery system for which later led to a clinical trial using genetically modified human dendritic cells. David was responsible for filing over 100 patents and was responsible for preparation of the CMC sections of two MHRA regulatory filings, was responsible for the outsourcing of both viral and small molecule manufacture and design and construction and facilities management of the GMP manufacturing and research laboratories.
Zeneca [now Astra-Zeneca] - 1989-1994 Head of Protein Production.
David was responsible for the establishment of a protein manufacturing capability both in terms of establishing the manufacturing technology base and designing and supervising the construction of the Company's Phase I clinical trial manufacturing facilities. Both mamalian and microbial products were developed as far as Phase I clinical evaluation.
Biogen Inc [now Biogen-Idec] 1981 -1989 Director of Process Development
David was responsible intiialy for developing scaleable processes for the manufacture of cytokines derived from genetically engineered E.coli [in Geneva, Switzerland] and then for all process development activities at the Biogen main facility [in Cambridge, USA]. Academic Career 1972 - 1981 David was educated at the Universities of Newcastle-on-Tyne and Edinburgh. He speicalized in the protein chemistry of enzymes and has over 40 scientific papers and articles to his name