Director Biographies
Bill Brown, Chairman
Bill was appointed to the Board on 21 October 2011 and became Chairman on 3 July 2012. Bill is a chartered accountant with over 30 years’ experience in advising and investing in high growth smaller companies. Has floated several companies and has significant experience in fund raisings, corporate deals and restructurings.
He launched the first dedicated fund for AIM and was instrumental in the growth and internationalisation of AIM as a member and Chairman of the AIM Advisory Committee. He joined the Board in late 2011 and, having conducted a strategic review, concluded that despite the Company having outstanding technology, its business model would not succeed. Since then, the historic problems have been addressed and a strategy developed to monetise the core technology.
In addition to conducting and negotiating the resolution of the recent legal dispute, Bill has dealt with the licensing, commercial and IP issues gaining a detailed understanding of all of the Company’s projects and opportunities.
Lachlan Smith, Chief Financial Officer
Lachlan is a Fellow of the ACCA with 20 years’ experience in accounting and finance, with the last 14 years spent in leadership roles. Prior to joining RUA Life Sciences Lachlan served as Finance Director at technology companies Silver Cloud Smarter Technology and Equator. Lachlan brings a wealth of experience in financial management, digital transformation and strategic leadership.
John McKenna, Director of Clinical Marketing
John McKenna is a leading marketing expert in the field of cardiovascular devices. With over 30 years’ experience in cardiothoracic surgery, he has helped develop and launched a number of successful devices, including heart valves, large vessel grafts and stents.
John has worked for a number of leading medical companies, including Pfizer, Vascutek (Terumo) and CryoLife, and has contacts with both leading heart surgeons and senior executives at the major device companies.
John rejoined the AorTech Board in late 2016, and has helped develop the product strategy based on his analysis of competing products and current market need from the industry.
He has established European-wide distribution networks for medical devices and OEM supply agreements, particularly in heart valve related products.
John Ely, non-Executive Director, Heart Valve Expert
John is a recognised expert in cardiovascular devices and spent 7 years at the FDA, where he was responsible for a team that approved cardiovascular medical devices, including heart valves. In industry, he has successfully managed the process of obtaining pre-market approvals for 6 heart valves, including both tissue and mechanical valves.
He has also led research and development, regulatory and quality assurance teams at Baxter International Inc., Edwards Lifesciences Corporation and On-X Life Technologies, Inc. John has authored over 25 scientific papers and is the named inventor on 3 US patents.
He was previously engaged as an expert witness in the area of heart valve design and development process, giving him an intimate knowledge of AorTech’s heart valve project.
Geoffrey Berg, non-Executive Director, Cardiovascular Expert
Geoff was formerly a consultant heart surgeon at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Glasgow where he specialised in surgical treatment of valvular heart disease and was recognised as one of the leading surgeons in mitral valve repair and replacement.
He has authored a number of scientific papers on the treatment of heart disease and conducted studies into the long term performance of replacement heart valves. He has been involved in the early stage development of a number of cardiovascular devices, including a stentless animal tissue heart valve, and the launch of the only biological valved conduit. He is a recognised authority on stentless aortic valve surgery and has co-authored papers on stentless versus stented aortic valve insertions.
Ian Ardill, non-Executive Director
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.