The Touchlight Story
Our ambition is for our technology to underpin the next generation of DNA products.
Touchlight was established in 2008 on the conviction that our ever-increasing understanding of DNA would lead to its emergence as a material of the future.
Founder and CEO, Jonny Ohlson, has brought together a highly motivated and talented group of scientists to realise this vision. They are supported by an experienced executive management team and board that brings a wealth of experience leading life sciences companies, particularly those focused on DNA-based therapeutics.
Since its founding, Touchlight has developed, patented, scaled and evidenced a revolutionary platform to enable the next generation of genetic medicines and DNA industries.
Two arms of the company have been established to utilise the platform: Touchlight Genetics, a DNA therapeutics business developing DNA vaccine and non-viral gene therapy assets, and Touchlight DNA Services, a contract manufacturing business producing dbDNA as a critical starting material for ATMP production.
Touchlight is situated at the Morelands and Riverdale Buildings in Hampton, UK. These state-of-the-art facilities have been established in a restored Victorian water works on the River Thames
Management Team
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Jonny has previously held the positions of board director at Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising Ltd, Managing Director of Griffin Bacal Advertising, Chairman of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Society, main board director of Soho House Ltd, and founder of UK distribution company One Squared Ltd.
He also founded the UK-registered charity The Reconstruction Project.
Jonny founded Touchlight in 2007.
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Jill has worked in vaccine development and manufacture for 22 years, for Emergent Biosolutions (as Vice President, R&D), Microscience Ltd (as R&D Director), Celltech-Medeva (in product development and project management) and Evans Vaccines (in vaccine manufacture and R&D).
During this time she developed her substantial knowledge of vaccine development and held positions of responsibility in each of the functional areas of R&D, including manufacturing and testing, pre-clinical development, regulatory affairs and clinical development.
She has management experience of Phase I, II and III vaccine development programmes. Jill has been successfully working freelance since 2008, supporting biopharmaceutical companies in development planning and implementation, interim R&D management, project leadership and management of R&D service providers.
Jill holds a PhD in influenza vaccine research.
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Karen began her role as Chief Executive Officer of Touchlight DNA Services in November 2020, the CDMO business forming part of the Touchlight group and is responsible for the development, manufacture and deployment of Touchlight’s proprietary dbDNA technology to customers within the gene therapy and broader healthcare markets.
In her most recent role prior to joining TDS, Karen served as President, Business Unit Head, Mammalian and Microbial Development and Manufacturing for Lonza Pharma & Biotech. This business unit enabled Lonza’s customers to successfully develop and supply new biotherapeutics for patients by employing innovation in custom development and manufacturing across multiple technologies and throughout the drug life-cycle.
Karen has worked in the CDMO area of the Life Sciences Industry for 31 years holding various roles at Celltech and Lonza leading Business Units, global Sales / Business Development, Licensing teams and Operational Quality.
Karen has a BSc (Hons) in Applied Biology
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Tommy has a background in molecular biology, having first received a BA in Biological Sciences, followed by a D.Phil from the University of Oxford on the topic of cell and molecular biology.
He subsequently spent 4 years in the Life Sciences team at L.E.K. Consulting where he worked extensively with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on a broad range of commercial engagements, including corporate strategy, product strategy, commercial due diligence and valuation. Tommy joined Touchlight in 2015.
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Anjum Ahmad brings extensive insight in the UK life sciences sector having been the longstanding Group Finance Director of Touchstone Innovations Plc (formerly Imperial Innovations) - the AIM listed venture capital investor in early stage science.
In his former role at Touchstone he was one of the four-person senior executive team, presenting over £200m of investment opportunities in the therapeutics/biotech field to the Luxembourg Board, managing the corporate finance activity for an equity raise of £250m, responsible for the finance/treasury tax operations, conducting portfolio company asset valuations, and presenting the interim/year end results alongside their CEO. He was also responsible for their I.T. and H.R. functions.
Prior to Imperial Innovations he held finance positions within a tech start-up and GSK.
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Bradley is a solicitor qualified in England and Wales with an established and recognised expertise in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields, having worked alongside clients in respect of corporate structuring, mergers and acquisitions, licensing transactions and corporate fundraising.
Bradley divides his time between his role with the Company and the position of Principal of Theobald Associates, a highly regarded boutique legal practice founded in 2011. Prior to establishing Theobald Associates, Bradley was involved in a significant number of domestic and multinational transactions through his prior roles in the London office of the market leading biotechnology and lifescience practices of the Californian firm, Morrison & Foerster and the Washington DC based, Arnold & Porter.
Bradley began his career with Linklaters, where he worked on a number of high profile transactions in a wide variety of business sectors.
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Helen began her role as Chief Research Officer at Touchlight in June 2020, and has worked in immune modulation and vaccine R&D for 23 years, covering all stages from discovery to early clinical development.
In her most recent role as Senior Scientific Director of Infectious Disease Molecular Immunology at Janssen Pharmaceutica (a Johnson and Johnson company) Helen was responsible for the development of Janssen’s DNA therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of chronic Hepatitis B infection, taking the product from initial discovery through to early clinical testing. Prior to this role, Helen was appointed Associate Professor at Center for Infectious Disease Research, Seattle, WA (formerly Seattle Biomedical Research Institute), Affiliate Associate Professor at University of Washington (Seattle, WA) and Associate in Clinical Research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle, WA).
Helen is the recipient of multiple NIH grants, has authored >50 peer-reviewed publications, many in high-tier journals such as Nature Medicine and Blood; and has mentored scientists at all career stages. Helen holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of York.
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Neil has over 25 years research and business experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
A biochemist by training, he was head of natural products drug discovery at Glaxo Group Research, before joining Xenova as Technical Director of Applied Microbiology. He founded BioDiversity Ltd in 1996, a company providing drug discovery research services to the European and American pharmaceutical industry.
He has also worked independently as a technical and business consultant developing academic research ideas. Neil has a track record in the discovery of natural product therapeutics and has extensive experience in the design and manufacture of laboratory equipment including computer control systems used in automation and process optimisation.
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John has a background in immunology, receiving his PhD from the University of London and post-doctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine. He subsequently joined the Wellcome Research Laboratories (now GSK) and has worked in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors for over 25 years.
John worked extensively in the areas of vaccines and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies in his tenure at GSK rising to the position of Vice President with the GSK Biopharm CEDD where he was responsible for leading the Discovery Biology group.
After leaving GSK John was founding CEO of Bicycle Therapeutics, a spin out from the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology in Cambridge.
He has been involved in a number of academic translational initiatives and is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of MRC-T, a member of the CR-UK Drug Discovery Committee and Chair of the CR UK Biotherapeutics Expert Review Panel.
John was previously the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Edward Jenner Institute for Vaccine Research.
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Sarah has a background in biomedical engineering, and received a BABE(Hons) in Biomedical Engineering and Arts, from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute at Auckland University.
Sarah spent 2 years whilst at University working for Adept Medical, a New Zealand specialist medical plastics and devices manufacturer. She then spent 4 years at L.E.K. Consulting, in both Sydney and London. Starting in the general practice, Sarah later joined the Life Sciences team, where she worked with a range of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare companies on projects supporting M&A and commercial due diligence as well as corporate and product strategy.
In her role at Touchlight, Sarah is responsible for directing the translation of therapeutic candidates and products that utilise the dbDNA platform.
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Paul graduated from the University of York with a BSc in Biochemistry and an MRes in Biomolecular Science. He studied for his Doctorate at the Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology working on the kinetic and biophysical characterisation of the viral DNA polymerase from HIV-1.
During his post-doctoral research at Birkbeck/UCL and Heinrich-Heine University in Dusseldorf he focused on the kinetic characterisation of DNA polymerases, DNA repair enzymes and restriction enzymes. At Touchlight, Paul heads up the Innovations group who are responsible for creating new technologies and platforms as well as improving proteins used in the manufacture of DNA.
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Jon graduated from the University of Bath with a BSc in Biochemistry and a Doctorate in Protein Biochemistry and Enzymology. During his undergraduate studies he spent a year on placement performing research in the DMPK laboratories of AstraZeneca.
His Doctorate was undertaken in the Centre for Extremophile Research and focused on the study of thermophilic dehydrogenase proteins for use in second-generation biofuel production. Jon has experience in molecular biology, x-ray crystallography and protein biochemistry with a particular focus on enzymology. He joined Touchlight in December 2012.
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Lisa has a degree from the University of Edinburgh in Medical Microbiology and a PhD in microbial pathogenicity. She undertook postdoctoral research developing a recombinant subunit vaccine against Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium using immunomics to select potential antigens.
She was responsible for antigen selection, cloning and purification of these antigens including their testing in proof of concept studies.
She joined the vaccine company, Emergent Biosolutions, applying and developing her skills in antigen cloning, purification and vaccine strain construction, including patent development and HSE submissions. Lisa joined Touchlight in 2009.
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Sarah graduated from the University of Houston with a BSc in Biology and Chemistry, after which she obtained her MSc in Immunology and PhD in Molecular Virology at King’s College London. During her postdoctoral research at KCL, she focused on defining the mechanisms of AAV latency regulation and reactivation.
During her postdoc at Imperial College, she used CRISPR-Cas9 technology to edit primary human CD4+ T cells to study the relationship between certain somatic mutations and HTLV-1 infection in driving the progression of adult T cell leukaemia.
Sarah has extensive experience in gene therapy-focused molecular virology and a keen interest in host-pathogen interactions. Her aim is to apply established mechanisms in viral biology to the advancement of non-viral vector technology. Sarah joined Touchlight in 2019.
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Karen graduated with a degree in Applied Biology from the University of Hertfordshire and has gained experience in both academic and industrial research environments. She has extensive experience in molecular probe diagnostics, development of a bovine MHC-based screening technology and infectious disease research on Group B Streptococcus in neonates.
Her most recent work has involved molecular-based research and development of vaccine strains based on a new vaccine delivery platform. Her experience also includes business planning, project planning, supervising and training. Karen joined Touchlight in 2009.
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Cheryl graduated from Anglia Ruskin University with an BSc (Hons) in Forensic Science. Throughout her early career she gained experience in Microbiology with Oxoid and Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Validation and Quality (QC & QA) with Tristel, a high-level disinfectant manufacturer. She moved into the Quality Assurance field with Intertek, working on Quality Systems Management.
Since, she has been working as an independent consultant in Quality and Compliance. She has extensive knowledge and expertise in GMP Manufacturing, consulting throughout the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices industries for EU and US markets and holding Senior Lead Auditor status. Cheryl joined Touchlight in 2019.
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Michal graduated from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun (Poland) with a BSc in Biotechnology and from University of Westminster with an MSc in Medical Biotechnology.
Before joining Touchlight in September 2019, Michal worked for 2 years at Unipath Ltd as a QC inspector, and for over 11 years at Bio Products Laboratory, where he started his career as a technician, and progressed to a senior management position. Throughout his career at BPL he gained extensive experience of GMP regulations.
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Satish has been working in the pharmaceutical industry for over 14 years, most recently as a regulatory consultant at UCB and GSK. He started his career in a bio-analytical lab, working in pharmaceutical development and CMC before transforming as a regulatory professional.
Satish has worked in various organisational settings including academia, SME and large biopharmaceutical companies. He has been successfully working freelance since 2014, supporting companies in both pre-approval regulatory and post approval life cycle maintenance for biopharmaceutical products. During this time he has developed his substantial knowledge of global regulatory requirements for different phases of the development.
Satish has masters degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and he is one of the consultant editor for TOPRA regulatory Rapporteur.
Board Members
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Jonny has previously held the positions of board director at Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising Ltd, Managing Director of Griffin Bacal Advertising, Chairman of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Society, main board director of Soho House Ltd, and founder of UK distribution company One Squared Ltd.
He also founded the UK-registered charity The Reconstruction Project.
Jonny founded Touchlight in 2007.
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David spent 15 years as a broker in London Insurance before he joined an international firm of strategic corporate advisors assisting companies with mainly energy-related contracts in emerging markets.
In 2001 he joined the UK corporate finance firm Axis International Limited as a partner and director. In 2005 David sold his share of Axis to concentrate on consultancy work as well as investing in exciting start-up companies mainly in the medical and biotech sectors.
David is also a director of the recently formed 1678 Society, which is a large charitable trust addressing the problems of child poverty in London.
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Bradley is a solicitor qualified in England and Wales with an established and recognised expertise in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields, having worked alongside clients in respect of corporate structuring, mergers and acquisitions, licensing transactions and corporate fundraising.
Bradley divides his time between his role with the Company and the position of Principal of Theobald Associates, a highly regarded boutique legal practice founded in 2011. Prior to establishing Theobald Associates, Bradley was involved in a significant number of domestic and multinational transactions through his prior roles in the London office of the market leading biotechnology and lifescience practices of the Californian firm, Morrison & Foerster and the Washington DC based, Arnold & Porter.
Bradley began his career with Linklaters, where he worked on a number of high profile transactions in a wide variety of business sectors.
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Anjum Ahmad brings extensive insight in the UK life sciences sector having been the longstanding Group Finance Director of Touchstone Innovations Plc (formerly Imperial Innovations) - the AIM listed venture capital investor in early stage science.
In his former role at Touchstone he was one of the four-person senior executive team, presenting over £200m of investment opportunities in the therapeutics/biotech field to the Luxembourg Board, managing the corporate finance activity for an equity raise of £250m, responsible for the finance/treasury tax operations, conducting portfolio company asset valuations, and presenting the interim/year end results alongside their CEO. He was also responsible for their I.T. and H.R. functions.
Prior to Imperial Innovations he held finance positions within a tech start-up and GSK.
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Thomas Harding is a partner at Bridford Group. He previously worked on TMT investments at Access Industries, after joining from Weil, Gotshal and Manges’ private equity department. He has an MA from the University of Cambridge and subsequently studied at City University (law) and London Business School (finance). He is currently a director of Westwing Group AG, LenioBio GmbH, Grabyo Limited, Solar Foods Oy and Penfold Technology Limited and has previously been a director of Ice Group ASA, Perform Group/DAZN, Channel 10 TV, an officer of Access Industries, Inc. and a trustee of The Blavatnik School of Government Foundation at the University of Oxford
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John spent more than 20 years as a partner at PwC UK.
He led the Global Deals Business (US 5 Billion Turnover) and sat on the Executive Board as Head of Deals with responsibility for the TS, Restructuring, Corporate Finance and Forensics businesses.
Since leaving PwC in 2017, John has engaged as a non-exec /chair of a number of Private Equity portfolio companies and has been involved as a shareholder and director in the successful sale of Pigsback.com to Secret Escapes in 2019.
He is Chairman of both C&N Sporting Risk , a tech based sports business , and Irish middle-market PE firm Renatus. John was an early investor in Touchlight and in genetics company Sympronics .