Published:10/06/2019
Vectura Group today announces that James Ward-Lilley will be stepping down from the Board and his position as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) on 30th June 2019. Paul Fry, Chief Financial Officer, will assume the role of CEO in an interim capacity, in addition to his current responsibilities. A search for a CEO successor will begin immediately.
James was brought in at a critical time for Vectura and has been instrumental in executing and successfully integrating the merger with Skyepharma, creating an industry-leading inhaled airways disease-focused business, with a broad range of device and formulation capabilities, underpinned by strong intellectual property. Looking forward, Vectura’s core focus will increasingly be on leveraging these capabilities to develop new partnerships and revenue streams as a leading provider of enhanced inhaled drug delivery services.
Bruno Angelici, Chairman of the Board, said: “I would like to express my sincere thanks to James for his distinguished leadership of the Group. Following the successful merger with Skyepharma in 2016, James has demonstrated great resilience building an effective and robust business. This has been reflected in strong 2018 financial and operational performance, followed by positive news flow this year. During his time he has also built a culture of effective employee engagement and a significantly strengthened and talented team. The Board and James have agreed that after four years as CEO it is now time for a new leader to take Vectura through its next phase of development. We look forward, in due course, to announcing the appointment of a new CEO.”
James Ward-Lilley said: “The strong results delivered in 2018 and the positive start made to 2019 underline today’s Vectura as a growing, cash generative business with a strong balance sheet and positive pipeline momentum. I am proud to have led the business over the past four years as CEO particularly through the transformational integration with Skyepharma. I will leave Vectura in a strong operational and financial position with a robust leadership team as the Group enters the next phase of its evolution. I would like to thank Vectura’s industry-leading employees who have made the Group what it is today. It has been a privilege to work with them.”