OBN Investment & Tax Advisory Group (ITAG)

Shawn has over 30 years of working as part of, or alongside, the life Science industry. Originally an epidemiologist, he started his commercial career as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry, assisting with global product and portfolio development projects across a wide range of indications, transitioning to the City of London where he spent over 12 years as a rated analyst, broker and adviser to the European Life Science industry. Over his career he has assisted in raising over $1bn of funding. He is currently a strategic and financial advisor to the industry, with assignments spanning a broad range of corporate and commercial development activities, including both transactions and broader corporate strategy.

Stuart joined the OBN Board in May 2022 with over 35 years’ experience in the life science arena. After graduating in biological sciences he started his career in pharmaceutical sales before moving into international marketing in consumer healthcare and prescription medicines.

His career spans global pharma companies, a university spin-out, mid-cap biopharma, privately-owned SMEs, strategic consulting, advising PE & VC investors and leadership of a not-for-profit organisation. Prior to joining OBN he was Managing Director for Merz Pharma UK, building the business up to be one of the top 3 performing affiliates worldwide.

Stuart has also supported life sciences through roles including a Steering Group member for the Ethical Medicines Industry Group, the ABPI Small Companies Forum and a decade serving on the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority Appeal Board. He is passionate about mentoring new talent and enjoys DIY, high-handicap golf and wine.

Matthew is a founding partner at Longwall Ventures based at Harwell.  He has a D.Phil in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford.  His pre-venture experience ranges from working in clinical pathology to virology with Zeneca and drug development with Neures. Matthew began venture investing in 1999 and has worked with several investee companies either as an interim manager or board director.

Kathy is a tax partner at Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP. Kathy’s clients are made up predominantly of growth companies, with a significant proportion in the life sciences sector. For these clients, Kathy advises on tax efficient investments, employment status for tax purposes, incentivising employees and structuring for an exit. Kathy has recently been involved with the Worked Example Group to agree a worked example valuation for growth companies issuing shares to employees, which will shortly appear in HMRC’s valuation manual.

Helen is Chief Business Officer at Evgen Pharma plc. She has over 20 years’ experience in scientific and business roles for both public and private R&D-based biotechnology companies as well as in government funding and equity investment. She was previously Vice-President of Corporate Development at Chronos Therapeutics Ltd and while at Innovate UK, she created and delivered the £180m Biomedical Catalyst competitive grant scheme funded by the UK government. Helen holds a PhD in physiology and pharmacology from the University of Leicester, UK.

Graham is a partner and head of Tax and Incentives at the international law firm Taylor Wessing.  He is an international tax specialist who advises domestic and multinational clients on a wide range of transactional and advisory tax matters. He guides clients through stock and asset/business acquisitions and disposals, crossborder tax structuring, UK inbound and outbound investment, joint ventures and reorganisations.  He also advises on tax issues relating to the development, ownership and exploitation of intellectual property rights, with a particular focus on the life science and technology sectors.

Howard has been CFO of Safeguard Biosystems since 2006.  His previous career was fairly evenly split between investment banking (primarily with Charterhouse Bank) and providing corporate consultancy services.   He has spent much of his career working with early-stage companies and also has a rich knowledge of corporate finance and recovery transactions.  Safeguard Biosystems currently aspires to secure FDA approval for its revolutionary diagnostic solutions.