PureTech appoints George Farmer as new finance chief

Clinical-stage biotherapeutics company PureTech Health announced on Tuesday that George Farmer has been appointed chief financial officer.

The FTSE 250 firm said that, as a key member of its senior leadership team, Dr Farmer would be responsible for all aspects of its finances, including capital markets strategy and execution, strategic and financial planning, and financial reporting.

“We are delighted to welcome George to the senior leadership team as we are poised to build on the momentum of the past year,” said founder and chief executive officer Daphne Zohar.

“This is an important moment for PureTech, as we recently initiated three clinical trials based on programs from our wholly-owned pipeline and expanded our presence with the Nasdaq Global Market listing.

“We believe that George's depth of experience will be very helpful as we share the PureTech story with a broader community of investors.”

Dr Farmer was joining PureTech from BMO Capital Markets, where he completed a 15-year career as a senior biotechnology equity analyst, providing in-depth sector research for institutional investor clients.

Prior to that, he served as chief executive officer of the privately-held Cortice Biosciences, which was focussed on the clinical development of therapies for brain malignancies and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr Farmer also served as vice-president of corporate development at Synta Pharmaceuticals, a publicly-traded company developing cancer therapeutics.

He was a postdoctoral fellow at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and University of California San Francisco after receiving his Ph.D. in biological sciences from Columbia University and a BA from Dartmouth College.

“PureTech has built a leadership position in the science of the brain-immune-gut axis, which has led to the discovery and development of novel medicines,” said Dr Farmer.

“I am particularly intrigued by the potential of LYT-100 for treating multiple fibrotic diseases and LYT-200 as a potential new cancer immunotherapeutic.

“Just as impressive is the track record of management, which has developed a deep therapeutic pipeline both internally and through the company's founded entities.”

At 0924 GMT, shares in PureTech Health were up 0.19% at 404.26p.