Horizon Discovery Group plc
Horizon Discovery appoints Terry Pizzie as Chief Executive Officer
Cambridge, UK, 8 May 2018: Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD) ("Horizon", "the Group" or "the Company"), a global leader in gene editing and gene modulation technologies, is pleased to announce the appointment of Terry Pizzie as Chief Executive Officer and Board Director with immediate effect.
Terry joined Horizon Discovery in 2017 as Head of Commercial Operations and has close to 30 years of leadership experience within the Biotechnology Tools sector. Since joining Horizon, Terry's impact has been significant as he has rapidly built a world-class commercial team, recruiting talent from across the industry. His actions have aligned Horizon's commercial teams and allowed them to sell the full Horizon portfolio to all customers across different geographies as well as form teams focused on adding value to key customer accounts.
Prior to joining Horizon, Terry worked for Pacific Biosciences, first as Vice President Europe, and later as Head of Global Sales. Previous leadership roles include Director Global Commercial Operations at Genetix prior to its acquisition by Danaher; and Senior Vice President Global Commercial Operations at Swedish Biotechnology firm Biacore, where he was part of the team that reignited the company's commercial success, culminating in its acquisition by GE Life Sciences in 2006. Terry started his career at Applied Biosystems in 1988 in a sales role and rose through the ranks to Vice President Europe in 2003. Terry graduated with a degree in Physiology & Biochemistry from the University of Reading.
Dr. Ian Gilham, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, Horizon Discovery, said: "I am delighted to announce the appointment of Terry as Horizon's new CEO, following a rigorous process that assessed both internal and external candidates. As the process evolved it became clear that Terry was the stand out candidate to deliver on the strategy and growth of the Group. Since joining Horizon, Terry has been instrumental in building a world-class commercial team, and his outstanding leadership and highly valuable commercial experience will help lead the Company through its next phase of growth and development as we transition from building scale through acquisitions towards becoming a sustainably profitable business driven by demand for our market-leading products and services in both gene editing and gene modulation. With Horizon's strong technology and commercial platforms and a highly experienced commercially-focused management team in place, Horizon is ideally positioned to execute on its growth plan and create value for shareholders.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Richard for his dedicated work as interim Chief Executive Officer, ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of the business. He will resume his role as Chief Financial Officer with the Company following an orderly transition to Terry."
Terry Pizzie, Chief Executive Officer, Horizon Discovery, said: "Horizon has built a highly successful global business which has a world leading position in gene editing and gene modulation. We are now an established market leader across the high value and high margin RNAi and CRISPR end-markets which are estimated to be worth £2.2 billion and growing at approximately 20% per year. The Company is also a technology leader in the broader field of cell engineering as evidenced by the commercial success with important customers in this field. I am honoured to have been appointed to lead the Group at such an important stage in the Company's development. With the strong product and commercial platforms in place and our presence in high-growth markets I look forward to working with the Board and executive management team to deliver on our vision and strategy to build value for our customers, patients and shareholders."
The following additional information is provided in accordance with Rule 17 and paragraph (g) of Schedule Two of the AIM Rules for Companies.
Terence William Pizzie, aged 57, owns a total of 67,997 ordinary shares of 1.0p each in the Company. His current and previous directorships or partnerships are detailed below:
Current directorships and partnerships:
None
Past directorships and partnerships held within the last 5 years:
TP Commercial Strategies Limited
There is no further information to be disclosed pursuant to Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.
ENDS
For further information from Horizon Discovery Group plc, please contact:
Horizon Discovery Group plc
Ian Gilham, Executive Chairman
Terry Pizzie, Chief Executive Officer
Richard Vellacott, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 655 580
Numis Securities Limited (Broker and NOMAD)
Michael Meade / Freddie Barnfield
Tel: +44 (0) 207 260 1000
Consilium Strategic Communications (Financial Media and Investor Relations)
Mary-Jane Elliott / Matthew Neal / Melissa Gardiner
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5700
Email: horizon@consilium-comms.com
About Horizon Discovery Group plc www.horizondiscovery.com
Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD) ("Horizon") is a world leader in gene editing and gene modulation technologies. Horizon designs and engineers cells using its translational genomics platform, a highly precise and flexible suite of DNA editing tools (rAAV, ZFN, CRISPR and Transposon) and, following the acquisition of Dharmacon, Inc., its functional genomics platform comprising gene knockdown (RNAi) and gene expression (cDNA, ORF) tools, for research and clinical applications that advance human health. Horizon's platforms and capabilities enable researchers to alter almost any gene or modulate its function in human or mammalian cell-lines.
Horizon offers an extensive range of catalogue products and related research services to support a greater understanding of the function of genes across all species and the genetic drivers of human disease and the development of personalised molecular, cell and gene therapies. These have been adopted by over 10,000 academic, drug discovery, drug manufacturing and clinical diagnostics customers around the globe, as well as in the Company's own R&D pipeline.
Horizon is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market under the ticker "HZD".