Driving growth: ValiRx and Inaphaea announce new appointments

Life science innovation company ValiRx has announced the appointment of a Director of Research and expanded the lab team of its research subsidiary, Inaphaea BioLabs.

Michelle Barnard joins ValiRx to head up the company’s scientific programmes and coordinate client projects with Inaphaea BioLabs, providing technical and commercial expertise and oversight.

Inaphaea BioLabs, based at MediCity Nottingham, has welcomed Dylan Jones to the team as a Laboratory Technician. Dylan will manage processes and procedures, support the team in assessing delivery technologies and applications, and ensure health and safety practices are upheld.

Mark Eccleston, CEO of ValiRx and Inaphaea BioLabs comments:

Both appointments align with our recently outlined strategy. We aim to develop our commercial prospects, collaborations, and partnerships quickly and efficiently. Michelle’s appointment is pivotal; her background, knowledge, and contacts will significantly enhance our ability to screen for and execute our evaluation programmes at ValiRx and support the services we provide at Inaphaea. Dylan’s skillset will enable Inaphaea to initiate processes and procedures that support future accreditations and drive growth.

Michelle joins ValiRx as a Senior Scientist at Cancer Research Horizons (CRH), the innovation engine complementing Cancer Research UK’s network of academic researchers and a freelance consultant for DefiniGEN, a specialist CRO focused on delivering phenotypically relevant liver, intestinal and pancreatic disease models using their proprietary OptiDIFF iPSC platform.

Michelle is an experienced biologist and drug discovery scientist with 19 years of expertise in both small molecules and biotherapeutics. She has applied her knowledge across the pharmaceutical, academic, not-for-profit, and biotechnology sectors to develop therapeutics for oncology and rare diseases.

Michelle shares her insights:

I believe my technical approach to drug discovery, particularly my mindset, has enabled me to adopt a highly targeted strategy and navigate through the complexities of drug development effectively. Collaborative working has been a cornerstone of my career, driving efforts to develop therapeutics that offer significant patient benefits. I have been responsible for biology strategy and cascade design on various projects, ranging from target identification and validation to pre-clinical proof of concept.

She continues: “I have been a core member of specialist groups designed to provide support, knowledge, and accountability on various subjects, including in vivo governance, disease positioning, fostering translatability, and clinical line of sight strategy. I am excited to bring all my experience and skills to my new role at ValiRx.”