The BioIndustry Association (BIA) has appointed Professor Andrew Porter to its Scotland Committee.

Established in 2001, BIA Scotland represents over 60 members in the Scottish bioscience sector. Scottish members benefit from tailored services, events and representation to more closely meet the particular needs of those operating in Scotland.

Professor Porter is currently Professor of Biotechnology and Deputy Director of the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen.  Until very recently he was also founder and CSO of the University spin-out Haptogen Ltd. 

Haptogen was acquired, in October 2007, by the US pharmaceutical giant Wyeth Inc.  Haptogen developed human therapeutic antibodies capable of treating liver disease or able to combat super-bug infections.  The company also developed shark antibodies as a new and exciting drug discover platform.

Prior to Haptogen, Andy was one of the founding academics and Research Director of Remedios Ltd, Aberdeen.  Remedios is a biosensor company and was Scottish biotech of the year in 2000.  Again in 2000, he was awarded a Royal Society of Edinburgh commercialisation fellowship in Biotechnology.

In 2005 he was made the Ernst and Young Plc, Scottish and then later UK Science and Technology Entrepreneur of the Year.  In 2006 his proudest moment was to be made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Since the sale of Haptogen, Andy has accepted two positions within the biotechnology sector.  In addition, and together with the founding scientists of Haptogen (Drs Broadbent and Charlton), he has established a small venture fund, Grampian Bio-partners, that recently made its first investment into an anti-infectives company based in Scotland.

Commenting on the new appointments, Dr Barbara Blaney, Director, BIA Scotland, said: "I am delighted to welcome Andy to the Committee.  I am sure that BIA Scotland will benefit from his experience and knowledge of the sector and I look forward to working closely with him during the coming year."

For more information on BIA Scotland visit http://www.bioindustry.org/cgi-bin/contents_view.pl?SITE_ID=37&ID=89