Axitan expands its UK & US operations with key hires in each region
Axitan, the UK biotech company focused on the elimination of antibiotics from animal feed, is pleased to announce the appointments of two new senior members to its UK and US teams:
Dr Richard Lewis as a Senior Scientist to Axitan’s UK R&D division;
Alex Diffley as Manufacturing Manager in its US Tech Transfer centre.
UK R&D Expansion
In the UK, Dr Richard Lewis joins Axitan’s R&D team as a Senior Scientist. Axitan’s R&D team is currently developing a library of endolysins, and complementary technologies, able to target and safely destroy, specific pathogens that impact livestock farming which have historically been managed through antibiotic supplementation in animal feed. The first bacteria to have been successfully targeted by the Company is Clostridium perfringens. Clostridium perfringens causes necrotic enteritis which accounts for $6B of economic loss each year in the poultry industry. Axitan’s R&D team is led by Axitan’s CSO, Dr Francisco Navarro, and is advised by Professor Saul Purton, a leading authority on algal biotech.
At Axitan, Dr Richard Lewis will oversee the building out of Axitan’s endolysin library and associated product pipeline, contributing intellectually to the new product development process. He has over 20 years’ experience in biotech, which spans both academia and industry, having originally obtained his doctorate in biochemistry from Oxford University in 1999. Dr Lewis held several post-doctoral research positions at leading universities in the UK prior to being appointed Senior Research Scientist at the Francis Crick Institute (2014-18). He joins from Demuris where he was Senior Research Scientist and IP Officer. To date, Dr Richard Lewis has authored 13 published scientific journal papers and written multiple patent applications.
US Operations Build Out
In 2022, Axitan successfully established its Tech Transfer centre in the US which is currently capable of producing 1 tonne of algal biomass a year, primarily for use in the Company’s US focused field trials. Seasoned bioprocessing professional, Alex Diffley, now joins the Company as its Manufacturing Manager to oversee Axitan’s tech-transfer operations in the US and build out Axitan’s Contract Manufacturing Organisation (“CMO”) network. He reports into Dr Weiluo Lee, the Company’s COO.
Over the past 20 years, Alex has established an impressive track-record in supervising bioprocess development and translating small scale production procedures into large scale commercial production, in both fermentation and microalgae cultivation. He joins from RWDC Industries where he led the bioprocessing team responsible for the commercial demonstration of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) production. Other notable past roles include 8 years at Sapphire Energy where he led the implementation of the world’s first integrated algal biorefinery.
Dr Kane Miller, Axitan’s founder and CEO, commented:
“We are delighted to welcome Richard and Alex to the team. Both bring exceptional experiences and know-how as we continue our journey from R&D to commercial sales, developing innovative new products able to tackle the combined challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance, population growth and environmental change.”
About Axitan
Axitan is a UK biotech company focused on eliminating antibiotics from animal feed and improving productivity. It is developing a library of endolysins capable of targeting those pathogens that impact livestock farming historically managed through antibiotic supplements in animal feed. Its focus forms part of wider WHO One Health initiative to combat the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance caused by the overuse of antibiotics, animals accounting for the majority (66%) of the antibiotics consumed globally each year. In October 2022, Axitan achieved US FDA GRAS (“Generally Recognised As Safe”) status for the algal biomass ingredient used in its first product, FORC3®, which promotes healthy growth in poultry by targeting Clostridium perfringens. Axitan has operations in the UK and US. Further information on the Company and FORC3® can be found at www.axitan.com.
Further information
Axitan
Toby Hall (communications advisor) media@axitan.com