Edinburgh-based Ingenza, a pioneer in engineering biology, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Ian Shott CBE, FREng to the board as Executive Chairman. Ian joins Ingenza with over 35 years of experience in the global life science and biotechnology industries and is Executive Chairman of Shott Trinova, a specialist advisory and investment firm focused on helping a portfolio of life science businesses accelerate their growth and performance.

Ian was the co-founder and CEO of Arcinova – a UK-based pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) – which was sold to Quotient Sciences in 2021. Prior to this, he founded Excelsyn – a business specialising in chemical development and manufacturing services for the pharmaceutical industry – which he sold to AMRI in 2010. He has also held several global leadership positions with multinational life science companies including AstraZeneca, Lonza and Rhodia, where he has led the formulation and implementation of highly successful step change growth strategies. In parallel to his business activities, Ian is closely involved in the leadership of several industry bodies and business-university collaborations, ensuring he is perfectly placed to advise Ingenza as the company enters a new growth phase.

Ian commented: “Ingenza has an excellent history of technology invention, innovation and development for both small and large companies. It has collaborated with universities and industry groups to continuously update, renew and expand its technology platforms, and the company is now ideally positioned to move into a high growth phase. I have interacted with Ingenza on successful projects over the last two decades and am hugely excited to now join the company board to help drive this next phase of unbridled progress, with a particular focus on satisfying customers with unmet needs while simultaneously providing strong societal benefits.”

Ian Fotheringham, CEO at Ingenza, added: “I have had the pleasure of knowing and working closely with Ian Shott for over 20 years in numerous areas of biotechnology innovation, including its successful application within his businesses, collaborative programmes with leading academic teams, and within industry steering groups. Ian’s unique insight in maximising business growth through the strategic application of technology brings an enormous asset to Ingenza as we look forward to fully realising the benefits of engineering biology for human health and our planet’s future.”

Jaymin Amin, Chief Business Officer at Ingenza, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ian Shott to the board as Executive Chairman. His appointment will be key to guiding the board in defining new growth strategies for the company. Ian’s unparalleled breadth of expertise in revolutionising small molecule manufacturing through a combination of continuous process manufacturing and biotransformation – with operational experience in the UK, Switzerland, USA and France – will be key to Ingenza’s growth and development to the benefit of all stakeholders.”