Directorate Changes

RNS Number : 9183L

RUA Life Sciences PLC

18 January 2021

 

18 January 2021

RUA Life Sciences Plc

("RUA Life Sciences", the "Company" or the "Group")

Directorate Changes

RUA Life Sciences, the holding company of a group of medical device businesses focused on the exploitation of the world's leading long-term implantable biostable polymer (Elast-Eon^TM), is pleased to announce the appointments, with immediate effect, to the Board of Dr Caroline Stretton, Group Chief Operating Officer of the Company, and Ian Ardill as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee.

Dr Caroline Stretton who was appointed as Group Chief Operating Officer on 1 April 2020, following the Company's acquisition of RUA Medical Devices Limited ("RUA Medical"), joined RUA Medical in 2018 from prosthetic hand manufacturer, Touch Bionics Limited, where, prior to its sale in 2016 to Icelandic orthotic and prosthetic manufacturer Ossur, she was a key member of the leadership team responsible for Global Manufacturing, Operations, Quality and Customer Support. Previously, Caroline had been employed by a number of medical device and pharmaceutical companies in a variety of roles, most notably Ivax Pharmaceuticals (now Teva Pharmaceuticals), Ocutec Limited and Mpathy Medical Devices Limited, a surgical medical device company which achieved a multi-million pound exit to Danish surgical medical device manufacturer, Coloplast, in 2010. Caroline is a graduate of, and holds a PhD in, Pure and Applied Chemistry from, the University of Strathclyde.

Ian Ardill has over 25 years' experience in senior financial positions , with the majority of that time being spent in medical devices and pharmaceuticals.  He is currently Managing Director of Causeway Finance Associates Limited, a CFO and accountancy consultancy focussed in Life Sciences, which he founded in 2017.  Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer of Diurnal Limited, which he joined in April 2015 ahead of the company's successful IPO on AIM in December 2015.  Prior to that, Ian was Chief Financial Officer of two other listed companies. With Lombard Medical Technologies plc, from 2012 to 2015, he led the company financially through the late stages of FDA pre-market approval and the commencement of US commercial operations.  On the financing front, he managed a £22 million fundraising on AIM and the company's IPO on NASDAQ raising $55 million.  With Biocompatibles International plc, from 2003 to 2011, he played a leading role in transforming the company from a loss-making to a profitable enterprise with sales of £33 million.  He also managed the company's sale to BTG Plc in 2011 for £177 million and two returns of capital to shareholders totalling £23 million.  Ian   is a graduate of Warwick University and qualified as a chartered accountant with Grant Thornton.

Bill Brown, Chairman of the Company, commented: "I am very pleased to welcome Caroline and Ian to the RUA Life Sciences Board. They bring with them significant and diverse experience and will be valuable additions to the Board."

For further information contact:

RUA Life Sciences

Bill Brown, Chairman    Tel: [phone]                                   

David Richmond, CEO      Tel: [phone]

Shore Capital  (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) 

Tom Griffiths/David Coaten    Tel: [phone]

Cenkos Securities plc  (Joint Broker)                          Tel: [phone]

Russell Cook/Max Gould (Corporate Finance)

Michael Johnson (Sales)

About RUA Life Sciences

The RUA Life Sciences group was created in April 2020 when RUA Life Sciences Plc (formerly known as AorTech International Plc) acquired RUA Medical Devices Limited to create a fully formed medical device business. RUA Life Sciences is the holding company of the Group's four trading businesses, each exploiting the Group's patented polymer technology.

Our vision is to improve the lives of millions of patients by improving and enabling medical devices with Elast-Eon^TM, the world's leading long-term implantable polyurethane.

Whether it is licensing Elast-Eon^TM, manufacturing a device or component or developing next generation medical devices, a RUA Life Sciences business is pursuing our vision.

Elast-Eon™'s biostability is comparable to silicone while exhibiting excellent mechanical, blood contacting and flex-fatigue properties. These polymers can be processed using conventional thermoplastic extrusion and moulding techniques. With over 7 million implants and over 14 years of successful clinical use, RUA's polymers are proven in long-term life enabling applications.

The Group's four business units are:

RUA Medical :	End-to-end contract developer and manufacturer of medical devices and implantable fabric specialist.
RUA Biomaterials :	Licensor of Elast-EonTM polymers to the medical device industry.
RUA Vascular:	Commercialisation of large bore polymer sealed grafts and soft tissue patches.
RUA Structural Heart :	Development of polymeric leaflet systems for heart valves.

Appendix - AIM Rule 17 

Dr Caroline Stretton

Save for the information set out above and below, there are no further disclosures to be made in accordance with Rule 17, Schedule Two (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of the appointment of Dr Caroline Stretton (nee Dunn), aged 50, who does not hold an interest in the Company's share capital.

Current Directorships

RUA Medical Devices Limited

Past Directorships

Caztek Consulting Limited

Ian Ardill

Save for the information set out above and below, there are no further disclosures to be made in accordance with Rule 17, Schedule Two (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of the appointment of Ian Leslie Ardill, aged 53, who does not hold an interest in the Company's share capital.

Current Directorships

Causeway Finance Associates Limited

Past Directorships

Diurnal Group Plc

Diurnal Limited

Ian Ardill was a director of Biocompatibles International plc, between October 2004 and March 2011 and of a subsidiary company, Biocompatibles Inc. from July 2008 to February 2011. In November 2016, the US Department of Justice announced that Biocompatibles Inc. had pleaded guilty to misbranding its product, LC Bead, in violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and agreed to pay approximately US$36.0 million to resolve this and False Claim Act allegations. Ian Ardill was neither named, fined nor faced public criticism in relation to this matter.

 

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