Evgen appoints Helen Kuhlman as chief business officer

Clinical-stage drug development company Evgen announced on Monday that Helen Kuhlman had been appointed to the post of chief business officer, taking up the role from 1 April.

The AIM-traded firm said Dr Kuhlman had more than 20 years of experience in government funding and equity investment, together with scientific and business roles in public and private research and development-based biotechnology companies.

It said she was joining the company from the Development Bank of Wales, where she was responsible for equity investment in technology companies and for managing investments in the bank's portfolio companies.

Prior to that, Dr Kuhlman was vice-president of corporate development at Chronos Therapeutics, and was previously at Innovate UK, where she created and delivered the £180m Biomedical Catalyst competitive grant scheme funded by the UK government.

She holds a PhD in physiology and pharmacology from the University of Leicester.

“We are delighted to appoint Helen to a key senior role within the Company as we increase our focus on potential partnering activities for SFX-01,” said chief executive officer Dr Huw Jones.

“Helen will also have a key role within the team in providing a commercial focus on our indication selection, horizon scanning and competitor intelligence activities.”

At 0823 GMT, shares in Evgen Pharma were up 0.62% at 8.1p.