Oxford University Innovation names Adam Stoten as new COO
21st March 2017
Dr Stoten will be taking over from retiring Managing Director Linda Naylor from April.
Oxford University Innovation (OUI), the research commercialisation company of Oxford University, has named its new Chief Operating Officer (COO). Dr Adam Stoten, the current Head of Technology Transfer Life Sciences at OUI, will be taking up the newly-created position from 1st April 2017.
Stoten, who holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Nottingham, has been a leading figure at OUI since 2005 when he joined the company as a Project Manager. In 2010, he joined the Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium, a joint venture between Oxford University and Emergent BioSolutions, which conducted the first ever efficacy study of a new tuberculosis vaccine in infants. He remained with the spinout until 2013 as its Deputy General Manager, before returning to OUI to head up its life sciences commercialisation activities.
During his time with OUI, Stoten has led the Life Sciences Licensing & Ventures Group to achieve successes in many areas. These include the $14.55m purchase of non-invasive pre-natal testing intellectual property by US-based biotech firm Sequenom, the achievement of new spinouts funded (16 in 2016), and the recent launch of LAB282, a novel £13M drug discovery partnership between Evotec AG and Oxford Sciences Innovation, the patient capital provider for Oxford University.
Stoten will be taking over from Linda Naylor, who has been with OUI since 2002, and the COO position will be replacing Linda’s current title of Managing Director. Linda, who will be retiring at the end of April, came to OUI following her position as General Manager of York University’s Bioincubator. Prior to moving into university innovation, Linda held a variety of technical and business development positions at Zeneca (now AstraZeneca) and ICI, with a combined 25 years in the life sciences sector. She also holds an MBA from Oxford’s Saïd Business School.
Linda has been integral to the growth of OUI over the past 15 years, and has been a formidable influence on developing the service – in both depth and breadth – that the company provides to Oxford University. During her tenure, she has overseen the launch of over 100 spinout companies and in excess of 1,000 licensing deals. Linda has also supported the growth of Consulting Services at OUI, which has seen consultancy engagements rise from around 40 per year when she joined to over 450 in 2015.
Adam Stoten, future Chief Operating Officer at Oxford University Innovation, said:
“Having witnessed the rapidly accelerating culture of innovation within Oxford University and the investment in support available to its world-leading academics, I believe that OUI has an unprecedented opportunity to translate Oxford IP and expertise into new products and services that will have a positive impact on society. It is a privilege to be leading tremendously talented teams within OUI and I am looking forward to working closely with our new CEO to take OUI into its next chapter.”
Linda Naylor, Managing Director at Oxford University Innovation, added:
“Although I am stepping down to pursue activities outside of technology transfer, I know that I leave behind a dedicated team at OUI who are passionate about supporting researchers of all disciplines in translating their ideas into real world impact. Looking ahead, I will be keeping an eye out for opportunities where I can continue to use experience gained over many years.”
Matt Perkins, Chief Executive Officer at Oxford University Innovation, concluded:
“Linda’s legacy at OUI is she transformed OUI into one of the world’s leading research commercialisation offices. This changing of the guard comes with the company in its strongest position yet, and I look forward to working closely with Adam to build on Linda’s contribution.”
The full version of this release can be downloaded here. Interviews and pictures are available upon request.
Press release sign up
