Coulter Partners Completes Searches for Cambridge Epigenetix
November 9, 2017 – Executive search firm Coulter Partners recently helped Cambridge Epigenetix (CEGX), a pioneer in the development and application of epigenetic technologies, to secure the appointment of two diagnostic experts. Hayden Jeffreys joins the company as chief operating officer and Dr. Joanne Mason becomes vice president of biomarker discovery.
The appointments are designed to further strengthen CEGX’s in-house expertise to help drive the development of high-value diagnostic assays based on the company’s disruptive epigenetic discovery platform.
“The ability to attract such high caliber talent is further validation of CEGX’s disruptive technologies,” said Dr. Jason Mellad, CEO at CEGX. “The experience that both Hayden and Joanne have in the diagnostics field will help us to deliver upon our strategy of developing the next generation of diagnostics.”
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Mr. Jeffreys is a senior level executive with 20 years of experience in the clinical diagnostics industry. He specializes in the molecular diagnostic and blood bank fields. His previous appointments include serving as interim CEO at Erba Diagnostic as well as head of corporate business development and strategy for Erba Mannheim and Lumora. He also held senior positions at Lab21 and Gen-Probe. Mr. Jeffreys has expertise in leading and implementing organization transformation to create stakeholder value, growing revenue and developing effective structures within companies through formulating and implementing strategy.
Dr. Mason was previously director of sequencing and sample acquisition for Genomics England. In that role she managed sample collection and sequencing for the 100,000 Genomes Project. She also set up and managed an NGS core facility leading translational research, offering disease-specific diagnostic NGS panels and introducing clinical-grade whole-genome sequencing into the diagnostic setting at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Tapping Outside Talent for Life Science and Healthcare
For these top 50 executive recruiters working in the life science and healthcare sectors, the last decade has been one of transformation. Pressure on pricing, regulatory changes, emerging innovations, growth, and an uncertain political environment have all helped shape a new field of play.
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Coulter Partners, which is based in London, is a senior level executive search boutique focused exclusively on identifying global life sciences leaders and board directors. With offices in the U.K., Europe and North America, the firm serves clients in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics, CRO and services sectors.
Recently, Coulter made seven new appointments in the U.S., Switzerland, Germany and London.
According to Deloitte’s global sector outlook report on life sciences, persistent talent shortages and the need to develop and retain employees with critical business and technology skill-sets will continue to challenge global life sciences companies as they try to navigate a new world of work. This will require a dramatic change in strategies for leadership, talent and human resources.
“Our sector has changed beyond anyone’s expectations over the last two decades,” said Bianca Coulter, CEO. “We need to understand the appetites and needs of the major multinationals. This requires reach into all corners of the market. While our office network is growing, the key has been to have multilingual, multi-market experienced and connected researchers and consultants. Our team speaks many languages and has worked in all major bio-pharma markets and is organized as one P&L, to ensure collaborative information and experience sharing.”
The sector has recently enjoyed a healthy stream of consistent investment for the development of new therapies for unmet medical needs. “This spans the entire gamut of existing therapeutic areas from CNS, respiratory, immunology and inflammation to oncology, hematology, ophthalmology and rare diseases,” said Helga Long, a life sciences search specialist at ZRG Partners. She noted that there is a need and reliance on the biotech sector for innovation and early science, and this has led to a surge of investment in biotech start-ups. “All of these segments now require world class leadership,” said Ms. Long.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Will Schatz, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
