DDF/SV-LIFE-SCIENCES

The Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) www.TheDDFund.com , an innovative global investment fund launched in October 2015 to discover and develop new disease modifying drugs for dementia, announces the appointment of Tetsuyuki Maruyama PhD as its Chief Scientific Officer.

Dr Tetsuyuki Maruyama will join the DDF in April 2016 from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd where for the past five years he has been Senior VP, General Manager, Pharmaceutical Research Division, leading global drug discovery after his initial appointment as Head of CNS Research. Prior to this he was Director of GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s neuroscience research centre in Singapore, and led Alzheimer’s Disease target discovery efforts at Merck Sharpe & Dohme, Ltd. Dr Maruyama has lectured in neuroscience at Yale University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Edinburgh, and Cardiff University, where he was Professor in the Cardiff School of Biosciences. Dr Maruyama’s research has been published in the world’s leading scientific journals (under his previous name, Paul Chapman).

In addition, Dr Laurence Barker will join the DDF as Chief Business Officer in February 2016 from GlaxoSmithKline Plc where he has been Head of Investment Management, Worldwide Business Development. He has previously held business development roles at Syntaxin Ltd and MorphoSys AG and has an MBA from the University of Cambridge.

Barbara Tate joined the DDF as Venture Partner in Boston following the successful $485m deal between Biogen and Rodin – which she helped start with Atlas Venture. Dr Tate was previously Senior Director of Neuroscience at Pfizer following her long successful academic career at Harvard and Brown.

Dr Maruyama, Dr Barker, Dr Tate all join Dr Carol Routledge who joined the DDF in September 2015. Dr Routledge was previously Head of Translational Medicine, Biopharm Discovery, GSK, following 30 years of neuroscience drug discovery and development experience from prior roles at GSK, Syntex, Wyeth and BTG.

Kate Bingham, Managing Partner at SV Life Sciences Managers LLP, manager of the DDF, said: “The assembly of such a high calibre DDF team so soon after the Fund’s launch demonstrates the interest in this field and belief in what this Fund can deliver. Tetsu’s experience in global discovery, both in big pharma and academia, is exceptional and we look forward to welcoming him and Laurence soon.”

Tetsuyuki Maruyama, Chief Scientific Officer of the DDF, added: “The DDF has the mission to change the approach, diagnosis and treatment of dementia and I am pleased to be joining such a strong team who have already made significant progress since launch towards this ambitious goal.”

For further information please visit the DDF website at www.theddfund.com

About the Dementia Discovery Fund

The DDF is an innovative global investment fund established in October 2015 to deliver new disease modifying drugs for dementia by 2025. Managed by SV Life Sciences Managers LLP, DDF investors include the UK Government’s Department of Health, Alzheimer’s Research UK and world-leading major pharmaceutical companies: Biogen, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly, Pfizer and Takeda. The DDF works collaboratively with universities, academic institutes, government, the regulatory agencies and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry internationally to identify and develop novel dementia research projects.

About SV Life Sciences Managers LLP

SV Life Sciences Managers manages life sciences investments for both the Dementia Discovery Fund (www.TheDDFund.com ) and the publicly listed fund International Biotechnology Trust plc (www.ibtplc.com ). The investment team have a breadth of experience across both public and private investing.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT AN OFFER OF SECURITIES FOR SALE INTO THE UNITED STATES. THE SECURITIES REFERRED TO HEREIN HAVE NOT BEEN AND WILL NOT BE REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES, EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN APPLICABLE EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION. NO PUBLIC OFFERING OF SECURITIES IS BEING MADE IN THE UNITED STATES.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160124005040/en/

Contact:

Dementia Discovery Fund
Carol Routledge, +44 20 7421 7091
Venture Partner
carol.routledge@svlsm.com
or
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott, Chris Gardner, Amber Fennell, Ivar Milligan
+44 20 3709 5700
DDF@consilium-comms.com