Dr. Xavier Jacq has been appointed vice president of Biology at Almac Discovery.

Dr. Jacq will be responsible for leading the company’s small-molecule discovery biology team, in addition to playing a key role in defining the strategic direction of both the biology group and Almac Discovery as a whole. Dr. Jacq reports to Tim Harrison, vice president Drug Discovery, and will be based in the Almac Discovery labs at the Queen’s University Life Sciences campus, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

He brings extensive experience in preclinical/early clinical pharmaceutical drug discovery, both oncology and CNS, having held positions at Sanofi-Synthelabo, Hybrigenics, Lectus Therapeutics and KuDOS Pharmaceuticals/ AstraZeneca. He was also part of the team which co-founded Mission Therapeutics where he held the position of vice president Scientific Affairs and Director of Biology.

Mr. Harrison said, “We are delighted to have Xavier join Almac Discovery to lead our small molecule biology team.  His outstanding scientific background and extensive experience in drug discovery, coupled with his proven track record of delivery, means Xavier is ideally suited to the role. I look forward to working with him to continue to develop Almac Discovery’s portfolio of innovative projects.”