As a CEO for a total of almost 20 years, he successfully built two businesses (Oxford Asymmetry International plc and Ablynx nv), led their IPOs on the LSE, EuroNext and NASDAQ and raised over €500M in equity and debt financing. He also ran the sales process for Oxford Asymmetry to Evotec for £316M and Ablynx to Sanofi for €3.9Bn respectively.

“Life science companies are seldom sold but usually bought”. An exit is also subject to many drivers and stakeholder motivations. Value maximisation is merely one of them. Often times, the CEO, board members or key shareholders pursue misaligned agendas that can critically affect the timing, form and terms of an exit. In all scenarios, the CEO plays a powerful role and can determine the outcome of that process. 

At Ablynx, Edwin ensured that the novel Nanobody technology platform was used to build a broad product pipeline, including Cablivi™ which was recently approved for use in both Europe and the USA. In addition, he helped secure pharmaceutical collaborations with a potential value of >€10Bn. Edwin has expertise in high value service provision to the pharmaceutical industry and in drug discovery and development, with more than 25 years of Board level experience in >20 companies.