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I am delighted to announce that Prof Sir Mene Pangalos will join Omega Funds in early October. Mene probably needs no introduction to anybody in the biotech and pharma industry: however, for the unaware amongst you, a bio (as short as I could possibly make it) follows. Mene will work with the investment team as well as existing and future portfolio companies. The entire team at Omega is fortunate to have him! Mene has made outstanding contributions to drug discovery across multiple pharmaceutical companies, leading scientific and cultural R&D transformation, pioneering private-public partnerships, developing new scientific talent and guiding life science strategy, especially in the United Kingdom. Mene was EVP for R&D AstraZeneca from 2010-2024, where he led the transformation of their R&D productivity through the development and implementation of the “5R” framework, resulting in a greater than 4x increase in success rates compared to industry averages. In parallel, he championed an open approach to working with academic and other external partners, changing the nature of academic-industry collaboration. Mene previously held senior R&D roles at Wyeth and GSK. Mene holds Honorary Doctorates from University of Glasgow and Imperial College London; he is a Fellow of the The Royal Society, of the Academy of Medical Sciences, of the Royal Society of Biology and of Clare Hall (University of Cambridge). Mene was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the British Pharmacological Society. He is a Visiting Professor at The Wolfson Centre at Kings College, a Prof at Manchester University and honorary professor of Cambridge University Medical School. Mene co-chaired the UK Life Sciences Council Expert Group on Innovation, Clinical Research and Data and was a member of the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy Implementation Board. Mene is on the Boards of The Francis Crick Institute, The Judge Business School, Cambridge University and Absci. He was awarded the 2019 Prix Galien Medal, Greece for his scientific research and named Executive of the Year at the 2019 Scrip Awards. In 2019 (hence the "Sir"), Mene was awarded a Knighthood by Her Majesty The Queen for his services to UK science. Mene oversaw the creation of AZ's new Global R&D Centre in Cambridge, a state-of-the-art facility designed to stimulate collaborative scientific innovation. He also led and oversaw AZ's R&D response to COVID-19: partnering with Oxford University in the global development of a vaccine and ensuring broad an equitable access at no profit during the pandemic, the discovery and development of a long-acting antibody combination for those who can’t be vaccinated, as well as exploring AZ's existing portfolio as potential treatment options against the disease. The AZ team was awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society in 2023.