Cyprotex Leadership Team

Your ADME-Tox Specialists: our experienced and trusted leadership team are driving strategic growth and success for our company and our partners.

Our leadership team at Cyprotex is a powerhouse of experience and vision. With a wealth of knowledge in the field of ADME-Tox, our leaders are not just industry experts; they are driven by a shared mission to continually define excellence in ADME-Tox through collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship - transforming data into knowledge.

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Steve Madden, PhD, FRSB

SVP Head of Global Operations

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Latest update: April 2024

Biography


Steve brings over 25 years of drug discovery and development expertise to Cyprotex. He joined the company in June 2021, and now holds the position of SVP, where he is currently responsible for leading the Global Cyprotex Operations. Prior to this, Steve spent 25 years at Charles River Laboratories where he led various scientific teams in regulatory and non-regulatory DMPK and ADME. Steve obtained his PhD from the University of Liverpool where he studied the role of drug metabolism in toxicity.

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Felix von Haniel, MBA

SVP Business Development

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Latest update: October 2023

Biography


As a business development leader and investor, Felix has over 25 years of experience in biotech and CROs, where he has applied his MBA and life sciences background to solve problems in medicine and create value for partners and stakeholders. He is passionate about advancing personalized medicine and enabling drug discovery and development through innovative technologies and services. Currently, Felix holds the position of SVP of Business Development at Cyprotex where he oversees the global sales strategy, drives revenue growth, and builds long-term partnerships with pharma and biotech clients. He has been instrumental in the expansion of the US site and the development and launch of the Cyprotex e-Store. Previously, Felix held senior business development and sales roles where he expanded the market presence and adoption of stem cell-based products and solutions. He is also an active business angel and investor in several biotech start-ups, providing strategic guidance and support.

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Phil Butler, PhD

VP Head of ADME, Physical Chemistry & Analytical Sciences

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Latest update: February 2024

Biography


Phil is currently VP, Head of ADME, Physical Chemistry and Analytical Sciences at Cyprotex in the UK. Phil obtained his PhD from the University of Liverpool where he studied the role of drug metabolism in toxicity. In 2006, Phil joined Cyprotex, initially in the drug metabolism department and later progressing to Head of ADME before taking on his current role in 2021. Phil is responsible for leading the scientific operations of several teams who deliver a breadth of data to support various stages of the drug discovery and development pipeline for our partners, provides technical support for business development, and scientific expertise and consultation in supporting partner interactions with a particular focus on ADME screening strategies, drug-drug interactions and bespoke mechanistic studies. His current scientific interests broadly encompass biotransformation, drug-drug interactions and ADME approaches for assessing new modalities in drug discovery and development.

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Paul Walker, PhD

VP Head of Toxicology & Innovation Efficiency

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Latest update: April 2024

Biography


Paul joined Cyprotex in 2010 and holds the position of VP, Head of Toxicology and Innovation Efficiency. Within this role, he is responsible for the R&D strategy, operations and project management in the Toxicology and Permeability and Transporter Groups. In 2005, Paul obtained his PhD from King’s College London in Molecular Toxicology and, during this time, was awarded the Tadion-Rideal prize for molecular sciences. His research interests have focused on the role of drug metabolism in drug toxicity and in vitro assays to predict toxicity in early drug discovery (New approach methodologies; NAMs). Paul’s team at Cyprotex are focused on: 1. Developing and evaluating novel cellular systems to improve the prediction of toxicity. 2. Evaluating current industry utilized mechanistic endpoint assays in predicting toxicity. 3. The importance of drug metabolism and appropriate cellular models in our mechanistic understanding of toxicity. 4. Integrating in vivo exposure in interpretation of in vitro data, and 5. Modeling approaches combining ADME, PK, Omics technologies and in vitro toxicity assays to assess off and on target safety liabilities.

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Chris Strock, PhD

VP US ADMET Operations

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Latest update: April 2024

Biography


Chris has over 20 years experience in scientific research and scientific operational management. He was awarded his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore where he determined the calcium binding sites on the SR Calcium ATPase. Following his PhD, Chris was a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate in the Oncology Department at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine under Barry Nelkin, PhD where he identified CDK5, a protein important in migration of cells in neural development, as an essential molecule for metastasis in numerous cancer models. He then joined Cellumen where he developed his expertise in High Content Screening technology. While there, he specialized in assay development and was responsible for the design and development of High Content HTS Protein: Protein Interaction biosensor assays. He also worked in the HCS toxicology group, developing and optimizing assays for the in vitro toxicology assay, CellCiphr®. After Cyprotex acquired Cellumen, Chris joined Cyprotex US where he has brought his expertise in the area of HCS assay development, electrophysiology and toxicology. He currently is the VP of the Cyprotex US ADMET Operations and has more than 25 peer reviewed publications.


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Samara Collins

Head of HR - Site (Alderley Park)

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Latest update: April 2024

Biography


Sam joined Evotec in March 2024 as Head of HR for the Alderley Park Site, providing HR leadership to Cyprotex and Evotec colleagues.


Sam brings over 25 years of HR, People and Organizational Development experience from a variety of sectors, including Vodafone, SSL International, JD Williams and most recently the University of Manchester.

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