- Appoints New President, Biotechnology Research Scientist and Entrepreneur Dr. Morris S. Berrie
- Appoints New SVP Commercialization, Business Leader in Life Science Richard Lingard
- New Senior Leadership Expected to Drive Production and Commercialization for Gumnuts, Achiko’s Test Kit for Covid-19
ZURICH, Switzerland, Jan. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Achiko AG (SWX: ACHI, ISIN CH0522213468) appoints biotechnology research scientist and entrepreneur Dr. Morris S. Berrie to the position of President, and business leader in the life science industry Richard Lingard to the position of SVP Commercialization.
The Company continues to reinforce their senior leadership team with these appointments. Dr. Berrie and Mr. Lingard will be responsible for the diagnostics and biotechnology part of the business, helping to drive the production and commercialisation of Gumnuts (patent pending DNA aptamer test kit for Covid-19) into global markets.
Dr. Berrie brings over 20 years of scientific, business and financial experience in the biotechnology and healthcare industries. He served as Co-Founder/Chairman of TTS Global Initiative which globally facilitates deal flow in the early stage/SME biotech sector and was a partner of several EU Horizon 2020 multi-million Euro projects aiding the European SME sector. He is also Director of Tech Investor Ltd. which consults and advises government organizations, regions, and companies throughout the biotech sector on the commercialization of science, including business development and capital raising.
Prior, Dr. Berrie was the Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-Chief of the Biotechnology Investment Today Group where he worked with numerous prestigious clients from both the healthcare and the financial industries, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Pfizer, GSK, Needham & Co, Orbimed, TVM, JPMorgan and many more.
Previously, he was Head of Global Intelligence and Business Development for the Nature Publishing Group and before that he was the Director, Compound Registry, Patent Database for the Investigational Drug database (IDdb3) of Current Drugs, which was subsequently acquired by Thomson Reuters.
He has worked at Schering AG, is a Chartered Chemist (CChem), a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) and was the recipient of a European DG Post-Doctoral Fellowship upon completing his PhD in Organic Chemistry at Imperial College, London.
“I am delighted and excited to be joining Achiko at this pivotal moment,” said Dr. Morris S. Berrie. “The opportunity to harness the talented team and drive forward the commercialization of an exceptional and unique diagnostic product is inspiring. To do so with a product that can both do good and affect rapid change in the control and management of pathogenic disease, not least Covid-19, is truly a worthy endeavour.”
Mr. Lingard is an accomplished business leader with over 25 years’ experience in the life science industry. He has a chemistry background and has worked with a range of multinational corporations, contract research organisations (CROs) and start-up companies.
Previously, he was CEO of Adroit-DI, where he developed a software platform to unify research. Mr. Lingard was Head of Europe, Middle East, India and Russia for Taconic Biosciences, creating a partner ecosystem and structuring his division to assist with the sale of Taconic to H.I.G. Capital.
Mr. Lingard was SVP Global Commercial Operations for Dotmatics, a global software solution and service provider, where he doubled his international team of PhD scientists, sales, and marketing to triple the business turnover in three years. Prior to that, he led business development, sales, commercialization and partnership positions at Clarivate Analytics, Thermo Fisher, Charles River, Biovia, Exelixis and Merck & Co Inc.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Management and Chemical Sciences from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.
“Achiko’s team and technology are positioned to democratize rapid, accurate, non-invasive Covid-19 diagnostics. We defeat pandemics one test at a time,” said Richard Lingard, SVP of Commercialization. “I’m thrilled to join Achiko’s senior leadership team.”
“The pandemic represents a disruption in diagnostics and telehealth, especially in moving from point of care to point of need,” said Achiko CEO Steven Goh. “The addition of new senior leadership further builds on our commitment to our transformation into a leading player in diagnostics.”
About Achiko AG
We create solutions with a great user experience, for the transforming healthcare industry.
The development of our patent pending diagnostic testing kit (Gumnuts) provides for an easy and effective way to help people get the information they need. This is complemented by our mobile check-in app (Teman Sehat), enabling users to manage their own diagnostic experiences on their own terms, safeguard their privacy, share experiences and find community.
We are headquartered in Zurich, with offices in Hong Kong, Jakarta, Singapore and Seoul.
www.achiko.com
Media contacts:
ACHIKO AG
Investor Relations
E: ir@achiko.com
Switzerland
Marcus Balogh
Farner Consulting Ltd.
E: achiko@farner.ch
T: +41 44 266 67 67
Germany and Austria
Axel Mühlhaus / Dr Sönke Knop
edicto GmbH
E: achiko@edicto.de
T: +49 69 90 55 05-51
DISCLAIMER
This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Achiko AG and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Achiko AG to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Achiko AG is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.