He has been responsible for the management and strategic development of the company and has led the public and private M&A activities of the Group since the IPO on AIM which was completed via a reverse merger in 2006. Alastair is a respected and trusted executive with many years experience of investor relations in the UK, Europe and US and has successfully delivered multiple follow-on fundraisings for the Group totalling over £120m. Avacta Group is developing next generation oncology drugs based on its proprietary Affimer® and preCISIONTM platforms through its clinical stage Therapeutics Division based in Cambridge, UK. Its Diagnostics Division, based in Wetherby, UK, is developing a pipeline of diagnostic immunoassays utilising Affimer® reagents and works with partners world-wide to develop Affimer-powered products. The Group has around one hundred employees across its two sites and a business development team in the US. He has a degree and PhD in Physics from Manchester University and, following a period of working in the US, took up a position at Leeds University in 1995. At the age of 38 he was awarded a Chair of Molecular Biophysics and had, over ten years, grew one of the leading biophysics research groups in Europe before he left his academic career in 2007 to focus full time on delivering value to Avacta shareholders.