Simon Sturge

Simon Sturge is a non-executive independent member of our Board of Directors since 19 September 2023, and was the former CEO of Kymab, a biotech company focused on immune-mediated diseases and immuno-oncology therapeutics, until its acquisition by Sanofi in 2021.

Mr. Sturge brings over 40 years of global experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including manufacturing expertise from decades of leadership roles at Celltech Biologics (now Lonza), Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck KGgA. He is currently chairing three biotechnology companies in Switzerland, Belgium, and the United States. He also runs his family investment fund and consultancy company and is a Trustee of Weizmann UK.

Mr. Sturge joined Kymab as CEO in 2019 before selling it to Sanofi two years later. Before Kymab, he spent six years at Merck Group, based at their corporate headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, as Executive Vice President Global Strategy, Business Development & Global Operations and previously as Chief Operating Officer of Merck Healthcare, responsible for the company’s global commercial and manufacturing operations. In this capacity, he was responsible for the continued growth in global sales at Merck KGaA, as well as the commercial launches of Bavencio® (anti-PD-L1 antibody, avelumab) in solid tumors and Mavenclad® (cladribine) for relapsing multiple sclerosis.

Prior to that, Mr. Sturge served as Corporate Senior Vice President, Biopharmaceuticals at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he was responsible for the company’s global biopharmaceuticals manufacturing business as well as its biosimilars portfolio. Mr. Sturge was also founder and CEO of Ribotargets (now Vernalis), which was acquired by British Biotech.

Mr. Sturge holds a BSc degree in Biology from Sussex University.