Cytox strengthens team to support commercialisation of genoSCORE test to predict risk of cognitive decline due to Alzheimer’s disease

New appointments in Commercial Operations, Medical Affairs, and Bioinformatics & Genetics

26 July 2021: Oxford & Manchester, UK. Cytox Ltd, which provides non-invasive, risk assessment and patient stratification tools for Alzheimer's disease and dementia, has strengthened its management team with the appointment of Ian McLellan as Commercial Operations Manager, Dr Vicky Jones as Medical Affairs Lead, and Dr Qian Gao as Head of Bioinformatics and Genetics.

Ian brings over 25 years of experience in senior roles developing commercial strategies, customer engagement and product launches within the medical diagnostics market. Ian’s role at Cytox is to oversee market development and revenue generation in Europe and the US for the genoSCORE^TM test. Prior to Cytox Ian had a focus on neurology imaging; was involved in the launch of the gene testing market at GE Healthcare; oversaw commercialisation of the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) service at NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT); and most recently led the commercial team at Feedback plc, developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions for oncology diagnosis.

Vicky is a highly experienced neuroscientist with a research profile centred on Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders. As Medical Affairs Lead at Cytox, Vicky aims to bridge the gap between scientific innovation and clinical implementation through medical education about the genoSCORE test and how clinicians can use the test to support their patients delay the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Vicky has a PhD in neuroscience, has undertaken a number of postdoctoral research positions, including one funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK. Vicky also established an independent research group, securing UK and EU grant funding for pre-clinical research into dementias and brain tumours. Most recently Vicky worked in medical affairs at Novartis.

Qian has a wide experience in bioinformatics across academia and industry. At Cytox, Qian is responsible for the ongoing development of the genoSCORE and genoTOR^TM platforms. With a PhD in Systems Biology, she began as a postdoc researcher at Babraham Institute, later joined Adaptimmune as a Senior Bioinformatics to lead and support cross-functional projects for early drug discovery and clinical trials, and went on to work as a solutions consultant at Genestack to support industry leaders by utilising bioinformatics and solutions expertise to solve issues and challenges in multi-omics data management.

Richard Pither, CEO of Cytox, said: “I am delighted to welcome Ian, Vicky, and Qian to the Cytox team. Vicky’s and Ian’s skills and experience are central to the launch of genoSCORE in Europe and the imminent launch in the US, and the ongoing programme to build our customer base, increase adoption of genetic testing for Alzheimer’s disease, and ultimately increase our sales revenues. Furthermore, Qian is critical to the future development of our portfolio of polygenic risk score products, that will enable us to provide new tools for clinicians to assess their patients, and for pharma to develop new therapies to treat Alzheimer’s disease.”