#Ajan Reginald

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Ajan Reginald, CEO of Celixir (formerly Cell Therapy Limited) - An Entrepreneur based in London, UK

Ajan Reginald, CEO of Celixir (formerly Cell Therapy Limited) is an entrepreneur based in London, UK.  Ajan Reginald is a graduate in dental surgery and masters in Biotechnology with a combinational background in science and business. A vivid hockey player, Ajan has played at international levels and is actively involved in the work of Hockey.

Ajan Reginald is currently the co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Celixir, which was founded by him in 2009 with Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Martin Evans. The original name of the company at the time of foundation was Cell therapy Limited.

Celixir is a private British regenerative medicine company that discovers and develops life-saving and life-altering regenerative medicines for patient’s cell and gene therapies for patients with the greatest medical need. Celixir’s unique rational design approach drives in-house discovery and has created a broad pipeline of cell and gene therapy medicines, with seven of these currently being taken forward through the development cycle.

At Celixir the pipeline is led by their investigational cardiac tissue engineered, cell therapy product, HeartcelTM which was designed keeping in mind to treat patients with heart failure undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) These HeartcelTM   are injected during the bypass surgery surrounding the cardiac scar tissue in one single application. Another one of Celixir’s products is in late-stage clinical development called TendoncelTM, It is for tendon repair and is currently being tested in patients who suffer from tennis elbow. In its clinical stage pipeline, Celixir is also progressing three oncology products and two further cardiac products through the pre-IND stage..

Ajan Reginald before starting on with the entrepreneurial mode has served as the Global Head of Emerging Technologies and Business Development Director at Roche Pharma where he has overseen the identification, acquisition and development of the next generation of quantum leap of biopharma technologies and products. He joined Roche as a Business Development Director where he completed over 30 M&A and licensing transactions including a $1.3B licensing transaction with Alnylam.

Before joining Roche, Ajan Reginald worked with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in the USA & Zurich as a member of both the Life Sciences Practice Area and Intellectual Property Group.  Ajan Reginald was formerly a dental surgeon but he had to retire after getting injured during a hockey match which resulted in a visual impairment.

Ajan Reginald is a Fulbright Scholar, graduate of the London Hospital School of Medicine and Dentistry (University of London) and holds an MBA from the Kellogg Business School at Northwestern University and an MSc in Experimental Therapeutics from Oxford University. He has also completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

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Celixir announces US FDA approval of the IND application for cell therapy Heartcel

Celixir announces US FDA approval of the IND application for cell therapy Heartcel

FDA IND and UK MHRA CTA approval both achieved     in H1 2018

Potentially pivotal heart failure trial of up     to 250 patients in the UK and US

Celixir – Celixir, a privately owned company discovering and developing life-saving advanced therapies, announces that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its Investigational New Drug application (IND) for Heartcel its immuno-modulatory progenitor (iMP) cell therapy for the treatment of adult heart failure.

Celixir announced in January the approval of a clinical trial application (CTA) from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to initiate a potentially pivotal Phase II b human clinical trial with Heartcel The international trial will recruit up to 250 patients and the IND approval allows expansion to US clinical trial sites.

Ajan Reginald, Chief Executive Officer of Celixir, commented: “The FDA approval of our IND is a significant regulatory milestone, which follows UK clinical trial approval in January. Celixir is now well positioned to conduct potentially pivotal trials with Heartcel™ in Europe and the US.”

About Celixir Celixir is a privately owned UK biotechnology company that discovers and develops life-saving and life-altering advanced therapies for patients with the greatest medical need. Celixir, founded in 2009, is made up of a world class team of scientists and biopharmaceutical executives, led by Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Martin Evans and former Roche Global Head of Emerging Technologies, Ajan Reginald. Celixir’s unique platform technology allows it to adopt an ‘off-the-shelf’ approach to deliver cell therapies to patients.

About Heartcel Heartcel is an allogeneic celixir cell therapy containing off-the-shelf immunomodulatory progenitor (iMP) cells engineered to regenerate the heart. Imps are administered during coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery by direct injection around the cardiac scar that is to be regenerated. iMP cells have been designated an Advanced Therapeutic Medicinal Product (ATMP) by the European Medicines Agency. 

EU Phase II trials were successfully completed with results presented in 2016 at the congresses of the European Society of Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery and the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. All primary and secondary endpoints were met: 100% major adverse cardiac event (MACE) free survival; 30% improvement in heart function; 40% reduction in scar size; and 50% improvements in quality of life. In 2017, four-year follow-up analyses found the MACE-free survival rate remains at 100%. Potentially pivotal trials are approved to begin following US IND and UK CTA approvals. 

[prabhudayalseo-blog]

Celixir biotechnology company working

Ajan Reginald founded Celixir with Professor Sir Martin Evans in 2009 and has served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer since inception.

He is an inventor of Celixir’s core technology, discovered Heartcel and Tendoncel and designed and led the early clinical trials.

Under Ajan’s leadership, the company has grown from 1 employee in 2009 to ~70 FTEs in EU, US and Asia and has completed five successful funding rounds. These rounds include crowd funding in 2014 and successful institutional funding rounds in 2016 and 2017.

In addition to this, Ajan led the negotiation and completion of Celixir’s partnership with Daiichi Sankyo (DS) in 2016 and Co-Chairs the DS-Celixir Joint Steering Committee.

Before Celixir, Ajan served as the Global Head of Emerging Technologies for Roche Group Research. Here, he was tasked with analysing and acquiring / partnering the next class of breakthrough medicines and innovative medical technologies.

Ajan began his career at Roche Pharma. Here, he partnered as a Business Development Director in the Pharma M&A group, leading the analysis and transaction teams for large strategic partnerships and acquisitions. In 2007, he was awarded the Roche Gold Olympiad for a $1.3B Alnylam transaction.

Ajan served as a consultant to Pharmaceutical clients in the US and Europe at the Boston Consulting Group, developing intellectual property strategy for clients in multiple industries.

Ajan is a Fulbright Scholar and alumni of Harvard Business School (AMP), University of Oxford (MSC, Experimental Therapeutics), Kellogg Business School (MBA) and London University (BDS).

He plays hockey and has represented England at World and European Masters Hockey Championships.

[ajanreginaldbiz-blog]

Ajan Reginald – Best Technical Consultants [Famous CEO of Dustin Company in London UK]

Ajan Reginald is currently one of the best technical consultants around and whilst being an IT industry veteran, he is deeply chasing his passion towards Information technology around various expertise based roles like project management, technical consulting, technical writing, public speaking, and technical sales. Ajan Reginald is also the CEO of the famous Dustin Company in London, UK.

Ajan Reginald’s comes along with an exceptional technical background where he gained expertise in Identity and Access Management, Azure Active Directory, System Center, MFA, Intune MDM/MAM, Windows security configuration, Windows deployment, Group Policy, Thin Client, and Virtualization. During his long professional journey, he has not been confined to a specific work role and delivered all the research based knowledge and expertise in the form of various trainings and coaching programs to all the aspiring technical interns.

Ajan Reginald has got a Bachelor degree in Science (B.S.), along with an Executive MBA from Bowling Green State University. He also finished up his Management and Leadership diploma course from Franklin University.

Ajan Reginald has rendered his services to some of the best brands like Microsoft, Blue chip Consulting group and Tech target.

Service Provider:

·         Identity and Access Management

·         Data and Threat Protection

·         Cloud Security

[ajanrginaldsc]

Future of Healthcare, AI, Blockchain, Mankind Interview Ajan Reginald Founder Celixir

Ajan Reginald is on a mission to reinvent healthcare, AI, cell therapy and in many ways the way the future of what human body will be and our singularity.

In this long (over 40 minutes) but very exciting interview, we spoke with Ajan Reginald, the charismatic Founder and thought leader behind Celixir, a company co-founded with Professor Sir Martin Evans, Nobel of Medicine. Indeed, in 1981, Sir Evans isolated the first embryonic stem cell and in 2007, his ground-breaking research awarded him with the Nobel Prize.

This interview highlights Ajan’s personal history and as well as several aspects of how his venture, Celixir, is working in breath through general trends developing cellular medicines to combat life threatening and life altering diseases.

Ajan also discusses general challenges and opportunities for life sciences and the healthcare industry such as AI, blockchain and related topics while focusing on the future of mankind with singularity.

Cell therapy

 Ajan Reginald

is the Executive Director of Celixir, a leading scientific company that develops cellular medicines and solutions to combat life threatening and life altering diseases. He is an Ex-Global Head of Emerging Technologies and Ex-Business Development Director at Roche.

Previously, he was a Consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. He studied at the Kellogg School of Management, was a Fulbright Scholar and did his initial academic studies at the University of London.

Ajan Reginald is a dynamic, hugely accomplished and widely recognised expert in the fields of Science and Medicine. His company, Celixir, quickly became an award-winning biotech company developing stem cell therapeutics with products already reaching phase II and phase III of clinical trials.

Celixir

Celixir develops a wide range of cell therapies but the company is currently focused on CVS indications: Heart Failure and Myocardial Infarction.

Prior to this, during his time at Roche, Ajan had already worked with cell therapies as he led efforts to identify and commercialise the best breakthrough life science technologies including a focus on stem cells.

During his career, Ajan has completed over 30 licensing and acquisition transactions as Business Development Director at Roche. He has a very solid background in life sciences combined with a business approach: From 2003 to 2005, when Ajan worked with the Boston Consulting Group in the USA and Zurich, he was a member of both the Life Sciences Practice Area and Intellectual Property Group.

Ajan is also a graduate of London Hospital School of Medicine and Dentistry and holds an MBA from the Kellogg Business School at Northwestern University.

Mr. Reginal enjoys spending time with his wife and young son and in his spare time he plays competitive Hockey, representing England at the over 40’s level.

His experience at Roche and BCG made him realise that when it comes to biotechnologies, only true breakthrough innovation is of value. That is what led him to focus and position his company.

As he says: “Innovation must be directly convertible into a benefit for the patient. You can only get rewarded as a company if you do something that is fantastically good for patients.”

Ajan has been working closely with Professor Sir Martin Evans,

his co-founder at Celixir. In 1981 Dr Evans isolated the first embryonic stem cells. Over his career Sir Martin Evans has published more than 120 scientific papers and received numerous awards for his ground-breaking research.

Alongside his 2007 Nobel Prize, Sir Martin has also been awarded the prestigious Albert Lasker Award in 2001, the Gold Medal of The Royal Society of Medicine, the Copley Medal of the Royal Society and the Baly Medal of Royal College of Physicians, all in 2009.

Ajan points out in the interview that despite the vast improvement in life expectancy over the last 200 years, “there is a large number of diseases that are still degenerative, chronic and ultimately fatal like heart disease.” Thus, Celixir approaches these incurable diseases with cellular therapies because normal medicines will not help. “In Western Europe, heart failure is the biggest cause of death, yet we don’t have anything that reduces the scar that is formed in the heart after a heart attack. We looked at that as a target. If this is something that can’t be cured by current medicines and evolution has given us this very interesting stem-cell-like technology, we should engineer the stem cell technology to produce a cellular therapy that can reduce scar in the heart.”

Does it work?

Ajan has a very clear response to their initial hypothesis: “We were beautifully lucky since this medicine seems to have a profound effect in reducing scar in patients. It is the first time it has been seen in humans. These are patients that within 10 years would have died of late stage heart failure.”

At Celixir, Ajan and his team mainly focus on cell therapies. He explains the difference between this approach and regular medicine:

“Disease happens at a cellular level. When we take an aspirin, often what we do is we are treating the symptoms, we are not treating the underline cell that had been damaged.Our cellular medicines have a totally different focus. Those medicines are aiming to restore and repair the damaged cells. It has a profoundly different impact.

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Ajan Reginald is a hugely accomplished and widely recognized expert in the fields of Science and Medicine.

[celixirstock]

Celixir stock

Get Even Better Celixir stock Final Results By After 3 Simple Measures.

Celixir stock can be a privately-owned biotechnology company that develops and finds life-saving and life-altering advanced level therapies for individuals with the most significant medical requirement. Celixir, based in 2009,'' is Composed of the world-class team of Experts and Bio-pharmaceutical executives, led by Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Martin Evans and former Roche Global Head of Emerging Technologies, Ajan Reginald. Celixir stock can be really a distinctive platform technology allows it to embrace a way to send cell remedies to individuals. Heartcel can be an allogeneic cell treatment containing naturally-occurring immunomodulatory progenitor cells engineered to regenerate one's heart.

The First Stage of the Celixir stock trials has been performed with results presented in 2016 at the congresses of their European Society of Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery and the National Society of Gene and Cell Treatment. Each of primary and secondary endpoints of the elixir stock had been met: 100% primary adverse cardiac event-free survival, 30 percent improvement in heart function, 40% reduction in scar dimensions, and 50% progress in wellbeing. Back in 2017, four-year follow-up investigations identified the absolutely free survival rate continues to be at 100%. Heart-failure now affects more than 25 million older people globally. In accordance with 45 percent of patients in hospitals with heart failure expire within one year of entrance, highlighting the urgent demand for new therapy strategies.

Celixir stock is a significant source of death, affecting hundreds of sufferers around the world. Latest therapies do not decrease chronic esophageal scarring, diminish disease development, or prolong life. Thus, the initial Heartcel trial results have been fascinating, revealing the very first evidence in people of disease reversal, scar decrease, and also cardiovascular regeneration. The adult heart collapse trial is going to be conducted in Imperial College London's Royal Brompton and is expected to perform in 2020, meaning that the therapy Celixir stock direct investigational cardiac regenerative medicine - can be in the marketplace in 2021. They're administered during coronary artery bypass graft operation by lead retention round the lymphatic scar which would be usually to be regenerated.

[ajanreginalduk-blog]

The agenda covers gene therapy, gene edited cell therapies, stem cells & regenerative medicine.

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Celixir’s CEO discuss about his agreement with the Japanese firm to distribute its heart failure drug

Just days after the Cardiff-based cell therapy company Cell Therapy Ltd (CTL) signed an agreement with Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo, providing them with the rights to its heart failure drug Heartcel, the company’s chief executive, Ajan Reginald, got interviewed by one of the leading dailies.

Heartcel, an immune-modulator progenitor (iMP), can be considered as one of the allogeneic celixir stem cell therapy which posses the power to redevelop the human heart. The same therapy has confirmed two-year MACE-free survival for all the tested patients in the Phase II clinical trial studying myocardial regeneration. 

As per the agreement, Daiichi Sankyo will take care of the development, regulatory approval and marketing of Heartcel in the Japanese territory, while CTL will still holds the rights for the rest of the world.

Mr. Ajan Reginald, the co-founder of CTL, quoted that the deals comes as a future step towards accomplishing the global mission of bringing company’s life-saving drugs to the world’s markets within a short period of time.

“Japan was a natural priority because it has an accelerated pathway that allows innovative regenerative medicines to reach patients much faster,” he said. “It is also very important commercially because it is the world’s second biggest pharmaceutical market.’

He also said that the company is ‘agnostic’ towards bringing these medicines to the global markets within a short period and they are open to all the available options in the same regards.

“Partnerships are a tool, but sometimes we are the best company to do it. It varies by territory. In Japan Daiichi Sankyo was identified as the best partner”, he added.

It was October last year when CTL received the permission for the conditional marketing authorization for Heartcel in European region.

“There are multiple ways of bringing life-saving medicines to market, conditional approval is one way but there is also the Phase III route which is what we will do in the US,” he explains.

He also confirmed that CTL is currently looking for a partner in the US on Heartcel and various other discussions are in pipeline for a European partnership for its second asset named, Tendoncel.

This topical regenerative medicine which is quite helpful in treating certain severe tendon injury is geared up to enter its Phase III trials, after receiving positive results from Phase II.

Mr. Ajan Reginald also puts his stamp on the healthy financial state of the company. “It is a private company, still managed by the founders, so we have been prudent in our use of funds and also prudent in our fundraising. We were well-capitalized ahead of this partnership.” he said

 He further expects an initial public offering (IPO) to be coming out anytime around next year.

Ajan Reginald concluded the interview whilst saying, “I think we have a strategy which is to fund the company until the innovation and product revenues can drive sustainable development of our pipeline. We are not against an IPO but we won’t consider it until next year,”

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How to Pursue a Career in Regenerative Medicine

Professor Sir Martin Evans, Celixir’s President, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder, attended Christ’s College (a constituent college of the University of Cambridge) where he studied zoology, botany, chemistry and biochemistry. After graduating with a BA, he moved to University College London where he worked as a research assistant and graduated with a PhD. Not only did Sir Martin Evans isolate the first embryonic stem cells, he’s also published over 120 scientific papers and is the recipient of a Nobel Prize.

Celixir’s Chief Executive Officer and other co-founder, Ajan Reginald, whose background is in both science and business. Ajan holds four degrees and is an alumni of Harvard Business School, University of Oxford, Kellogg Business School and University of London. After serving as the Global Head of Emerging Technologies for Roche Group Research, he moved on to the Business Development Director at Roche Pharma. Since, he’s helped develop Celixir’s breakthrough technologies including Heartcel and Tendoncel.

[ajanreginaldbiz-blog]

Ajan Reginald has got a Bachelor degree in Science (B.S.), along with an Executive MBA from Bowling Green State University. He also finished up his Management and Leadership diploma course from Franklin University.

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Bu hafta 13 film vizyona girdi

F. Gary Gray'ın yönetminliğini yaptığı; Tessa Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson ve Rebecca Ferguson'un başrolünde oynadığı "Siyah Giyen Adamlar: Global Tehdit" izleyici ile buluşacak.  "Siyah Giyen Adamlar" serisinin yeni projesi "Siyah Giyen Adamlar: Global Tehdit", dünya dışı varlıklar karşısında yeryüzünü korumaya çalışan birimin saha görevlileri Ajan M ve Ajan H'nin hikayesini anlatıyor. Sevilen seriden yola çıkan bu yeni bölümde, dünyayı kötülüklerden arındırmaya çalışan ekibin, bugüne kadar karşılarına çıkan en büyük tehdit olan köstebeği ortaya çıkarmak için kurdukları takımla birlikte verdikleri mücadele konu ediliyor.

"Rocketman" Dexter Fletcher'ın yönetmen koltuğunda oturduğu "Rocketman", Elton John'un hayatının önemli yıllarına ait bilinmeyenleri konu alan epik bir müzikal hikayeyi beyaz perdeye taşıyacak. Taron Egerton, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Gemma Jones, Charlie Rowe ve Stephen Graham'ın rol aldığı film; utangaç bir piyano dehası olan Reginald Dwight'ın dünyaca ünlü, süper star Elton John'a dönüşümünün muhteşem yolculuğunu konu alıyor. Elton John'un en sevilen şarkıları üzerine kurulu ve Taron Egerton performansı ile hayat bulan hikaye, küçük kasabalı bir çocuğun pop kültürünün dünyaca ünlü en ikonik figürlerinden biri olmasını anlatıyor. "Solaris" Sinema tarihinin önemli yönetmenlerinden Andrei Tarkovsky'nin yönettiği 1972 yapımı Sovyet sanat filmi "Solaris" Başka Sinema gösterim programı kapsamında Türk izleyicisi ile buluşacak. Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Jarvet, Nikolay Grinko, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Olga Barnet ve Vitalik Kerdimun gibi isimlerin oynadığı gizemli dram "Solaris", bilim kurgu meraklılarının ilgisini çekmeye aday. "Stalker" Haftanın bir diğer bilim kurgu filmi yine Rus sinemacı Andrei Tarkovsky'nin yönetmenliğini üstlendiği "Stalker" olacak. Tarkovsky'nin 1979 yapımı filminin başrollerinde Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko, Natalya Abramova ve Faime Jurno oynuyor. "Ayna" Andrei Tarkovsky'nin 1975 yapımı filmi "Ayna" da bu hafta Başka Ssinema gösterim programı kapsamında Türk izleyicisinin beğenisine sunulacak. Film, çocukluk anıları, güncel olaylara dair sahneler ve Tarkovsky'nin babası Arseny Tarkovsky tarafından yazılan güncel olaylara dair şiirler ile kompoze edilmiş bir otobiyografiden oluşuyor. "Kuyu" Lee Cronin'in yönetmenliğini üstlendiği "Kuyu", travmatik geçmişini arkasında bırakmak için oğlu ile birlikte İrlanda kırsalında sakin bir eve yerleşen bir kadının, oğlunun ormanda kaybolması sonrası kendisini içerisinde bulduğu paranoya girdabını anlatıyor. Korku türündeki filmin başrollerinde Seana Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, Simone Kirby ve Steve Wall oynuyor. "Cinnet" Aytekin Birkon'un yönettiği yerli korku filmi "Cinnet", bir sabah kendisini kocasını öldürmüş şekilde bulan fakat olanlara dair hiçbir şey hatırlamayan bir kadının bu cinayetin arkasındaki gerçeği ortaya çıkarma çabasını konu alıyor.

"Hayalimdeki Köy" Cüneyt Faruk Arkın'ın yönetmenliğini yapıp başrolünde Eşref Kolçak, Nuri Alço, Hacı Ali Konuk, Levent Taşçı, Burçak Kabadayı ve Selahattin Taşdöğen ile oynadığı "Hayalimdeki Köy"; komedi meraklılarının ilgisini çekmeye aday. "Akıllara Seza" Romantik komedi filmi "Akıllara Seza", 1997 yılında lise mezuniyetine giderken kaza geçirip komaya giren bir gencin; 22 sene sonra komadan uyanıp kazadan önce sevdiğinin peşinden gitmesini konu ediniyor. Haldun Boysan, Ulaş İnan Torun, Aslıhan Güner, Timur Acar, Kemal Uçar, Sema Atalay, Erdem Baş ve Onur Sermik'in rol aldığı filmin yönetmenliğini Serdal Genç yaptı.

"Bekçi" Durmuş Akbulut'un yazıp yönettiği; Turan Özdemir, Koray Ergün, Serhan Süsler, Uğur Karabulut, Engin Çelik ve Pelin Ermiş'in rol aldığı "Bekçi", bir kasaba mezarlığında gece bekçiliği yapan bir adamın hikayesini odağına alıyor.

"Ferhat ile Şirin: Ölümsüz Aşk" Tolga Yüce, Çağla Şimşek, Tevfik İnceoğlu, Murat Kuşçu, Gönül Acar, Muharrem Erdemir ve Belkıs Akçil gibi isimlerin oynadığı "Ferhat ile Şirin: Ölümsüz Aşk" filminin yönetmenliğini Murat Kuşçu üstlendi. "Tekne" Winston Azzopardi'nin yönettiği ve Joe Azzopardi'nin başrolünde oynadığı "Tekne"; ava çıkan ve yolunu kaybeden bir balıkçının başına gelen esrarengiz olaylar etrafında dönüyor.

"Kahraman Tavuk Uzayda" Alex Orrelle ve Eduardo Schuldt'un yönettiği animasyon film "Kahraman Tavuk Uzayda", Condorito ve arkadaşlarının maceralarını sinema perdesine taşıyacak. Read the full article

[ajanrginaldsc]

ENVIRONMENT AND WALES AS AN INNOVATION CENTRE FOR CELL THERAPY

AJAN REGINALD IS A CO-FOUNDER OF CELIXIR ALONGSIDE PROFESSOR SIR MARTIN EVANS. AJAN PREVIOUSLY SERVED AS THE GLOBAL HEAD OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR AT ROCHE. HE IS A FORMER BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP CONSULTANT AND A FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR, WITH AN MSC IN EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS

Phacilitate: Why does Celixir follow a non-traditional financing model?

Ajan Reginald: It’s driven by two things, I think: first of all, we are in a new cutting-edge area, i.e. regenerative medicine. The second thing is that we’re a very British company; we’re British investors, based in the UK and funded in the UK.

We, the founders, have put in a significant amount of the capital so far to get the company all the way to completing phase II trials. That’s quite unusual and I think that says a lot about our understanding and belief in the technology, and how we think it will be a paradigm-shifting technology. That might be based on the fact that we’re a little bit older and we’ve done a fair amount of time in biotech and pharma.

On the second point, the VC environment in Europe is a bit different to the US. There are some excellent VCs in Europe and there are some excellent VCs in the US; I just think the US has a larger number of VCs that have followed biotech, have done biotech deals, and who are therefore used to the high degree of uncertainty and volatility in biotech both from a technology perspective but also from a market perspective - so I think in Europe, the drivers to be more non-traditional are perhaps more apparent than in the US.

Phacilitate: In terms of the financing environment in Europe, many European biotechs consider the US to be much healthier in this regard; does this tally with your own experiences?  What trends do you see developing in European private sector funding?

Ajan Reginald: In the US, you’ve seen better valuations for platform technology companies and for earlier-stage companies. I think Circassia last year is a great example of a company that has a platform technology having a very successful IPO in Europe, in London, so I do think that trend is changing.

Our own experience, which is relatively recent – we’re doing a large private funding now – has been pretty similar. We picked 20 of the top European institutions and 20 of the top US institutions, and our hit rate is about the same at both.

I think in that top tier of the very sophisticated funders in Europe and the US, they’re just top people; they understand it. It’s not necessarily that they’re going to invest in you, but they definitely understand what they’re doing and how quickly they understand it is pretty much the same.

Phacilitate: Did you consider Horizon 2020 as a potential financing source? What factors influenced your decision on whether or not to pursue this route?

Ajan Reginald: Yes, we did consider Horizon 2020. I think the key driver there is the specificity of the call from Horizon 2020. If Horizon 2020 has a call that really fits what you’re doing as a company anyway and you have some good European collaborators, I think it’s an excellent programme.

I think the secret to this, which is the same for this grant as it is with any other, is make sure that what you’re doing as a company is critical to you and then look for a grant that fits, not the other way round – don’t try to manufacture a project to fit a particular grant.

Phacilitate: Wales is becoming a force in the regenerative medicine space. What particular elements make it the ideal location for Celixir?

Ajan Reginald: For us, we’ve been in Wales from conception, so hopefully we’re the spark for some of that. Very simply, for us it’s where our scientific founder, Sir Martin Evans, was based; it’s where he won his Nobel Prize, it’s where we have a lab, it’s where we have fantastically skilled scientists and where we’ve had significant support from the Welsh Government. I think the Welsh Government for us has been a very strong supporter, they are committed to developing an innovation-based economy and I congratulate them on that.

Phacilitate: Tell us about Celixir's priorities for the remainder of 2015 and beyond, particularly for the lead product, Heartcel.

Ajan Reginald: 2015 is going to be a big year. We are focused on Heartcel, but we also have completed phase II for our second product, Tendoncel, and the results for that were presented in June at the International Society of Stem Cell Research. Then also Skincel, our third product, is probably going to report in Q4, so 2015 is a busy year.

For Heartcel, we are interacting with the regulators currently. We’re looking to get orphan designation in place for Heartcel in Europe and we may then also apply for some of the US regulatory pathways as well. So yes, it’s going to be hopefully a very positive year in terms of our interactions with the regulators.