Edinburgh-based life sciences firm Cumulus Oncology unveils trio of senior appointments

Edinburgh-based drug discovery accelerator Cumulus Oncology, which says its offering is the first of its kind in Europe, has strengthened its senior team with a trio of appointments.

It has appointed Munich-based Dr Diane Seimetz and UK pharma industry specialist Dr Sally Waterman as non-executive directors (NXD) on its board, while former NXD Nicola Broughton moves to an executive role as chief business officer.

Cumulus chief executive and co-founder Clare Wareing said: “We have stepped up our international activity and oncology asset-discovery process markedly over the last 12 months, and Diane, Sally and Nicola’s appointments significantly strengthen both our advisory and executive teams.

From left: Cumulus boss Clare Wareing and Nicola Broughton, who has been named chief business officer. Picture: Stewart Attwood.

"Diane is an entrepreneur, and a leading drug-development and regulatory expert, a perfect mix for the experience we need on the board alongside Sally, who brings over 30 years’ of experience in [research and development], operations and corporate development from senior executive roles in small biotech companies. Nicola has been invaluable as an adviser, then NXD over the last year, and we are excited to have her as our first chief business officer.”

The appointments come after Clare Doris, former chief operating officer at University of Edinburgh spin-out Aquila BioMedical, in May joined the firm as chief operating officer.

Cumulus was founded in 2017 to create spin-out companies around novel anti-cancer therapies that are fast-tracked through development and target cancers that don’t respond well to existing treatments.

It secured a £1.7 million investment round led by Eos Advisory in July 2020, and in September of that year founded its first spin-out, Modulus Oncology, alongside the University of Sheffield.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.