Board of Directors

David is an experienced public company biotech CEO, board member and biotech investor. He was the CEO of Zealand Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ZEAL) from 2008 to 2015. Under David’s leadership the company went public on NASDAQ OMX and its lead product, Adlixin®, a GLP-1 receptor agonist for the treatment of type II diabetes, was approved in the US and globally and is now marketed by Sanofi as a monotherapy and in combination with Lantus as Soliqua®. David was also the CEO of Bionor Pharma ASA (OSL:BIONOR) and Akari Therapeutics, Plc (NASDAQ:AKTX), and was the Managing Partner of Sund Capital, ApS, a Nordic healthcare investment fund.

He has earlier served as a faculty member at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. From 2003 to 2006, David headed healthcare investment at Carrot Capital Healthcare Ventures in New York. David is currently a member of the Board of Directors of TxCell SA (NYSE EURONEXT:TXCL), and was earlier a member of the Boards at Onxeo SA (NYSE EURONEXT:ONXEO) and Promosome, LLC. Dr Solomon studied at Weil Cornell Medicine of Cornell University and its Graduate School of Medical Science where he received his Ph.D.

Dr. Richards has an established track record in founding and scaling up innovative Biotech and Healthtech companies in the UK. His early career spanned positions with ICI (now AstraZeneca) and PA Technology, and he was a founder and executive director of Chiroscience plc. Since 1999 he has founded, invested in and helped to scale more than 25 innovative ventures including companies such as Vectura, Arakis, Cambridge Biotechnology Ltd and Geneservice. Andy is also a founder member of the Cambridge Angels and a trustee of the British Science Association.

David was appointed Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of Silence in July 2016. David holds a B.A. in English & Philosophy from Birmingham University, and is a qualified chartered accountant.

Prior to joining Silence, David’s relevant Biotech experience includes several senior finance roles within both UK and US publicly owned life science companies, most recently as Senior EUMEA Finance Director for BioMarin Pharmaceuticals Inc. from 2010 to 2016. Prior to that he was CFO at Plethora Solutions plc (2008-2009), and Group Financial Controller at Ark Therapeutics from 2001 to 2008, during which time Ark undertook an IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

Alistair brings a wealth of strategic consultancy and business experience. Having trained as an accountant, his early career was in senior management positions with Unilever and John Wood Group PLC. Alistair was a Director of Arthur Young (now Ernst and Young) Management Consultants and PA Consulting Group for over ten years. Alistair previously chaired the Audit and Remuneration committees of AorTech International PLC and Highland Distillers PLC, as well as the Pension Trustee Board. Alistair also served as a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and Institute of Consultants. His key role at Silence is to chair the Audit and Risk Committee.

Dave has over 20 years of US and international business experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, having served in executive management and non-executive board roles in multiple US and European private and publicly-traded companies. Dave is currently Executive Vice Chair, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Proteros biostructures GmbH. Prior to that he served as Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Medigene AG, a publicly-listed German biotechnology company focused on the research and development of T-Cell-Receptor based immunotherapies, and prior to this as Chief Executive Officer of Sigma Tau Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dave was Chief Financial Officer and Executive VP of MorphoSys AG, taking the Company public in 1999 in Germany's first biotech IPO and held various positions at leading pharma companies including at Hoffman La Roche.

Dr. Parker served as Non-Executive Chairman from September 2015 to October 2017, having first joined the Board in November 2013. He brings substantial Board experience, with over thirty years’ experience in the healthcare sector. Stephen was previously a Partner with the Celtic Pharma funds, Chief Financial Officer of Oxford GlycoSciences plc and a senior investment banker with Barings, Warburg’s and Apax Partners.