Oxford Biomedica CEO John Dawson to step down

Oxford Biomedica chief executive John Dawson said he was stepping down after 13 years at the helm of the Gene and cell therapy firm which helped develop a Covid-19 vaccine with AstraZeneca.

Dawson said he would "retire at the appropriate time".

"I believe this is the right time to start the transition to a new leader given the robustness of the senior team and company as a whole, which is undoubtedly stronger than ever before," he said in a statement.

Oxford Biomedica chairman Dr Roch Doliveux said it had started searching for Dawson's replacement to "lead the group through its next phase of growth".