About

At Phenotypeca, we unlock the full potential of genomic diversity to power the next generation of biological products. Our proprietary QTL strain optimisation platform delivers unmatched performance in yield, cost, and regulatory readiness, while securing robust IP protection.

From biosimilars and biologic therapeutics to advanced peptides, our work delivers measurable value for partners in pharmaceuticals, consumer health, and beyond.

Backed by decades of experience and a leadership team spanning science, strategy, and commercialisation, we are building a global portfolio of differentiated biotech products—one optimised genome at a time.

Team

Board Of Directors

Patrick Florent

Chairman (Non-Executive)

Patrick is a seasoned Senior Executive with a broad and diverse experience in Industrial Operation, Enterprise Integration and Global Alliances at GSK Vaccines. Most recently, as Head of Global Strategic Partnership, Patrick was in charge of several strategic alliances in Japan, China, Singapore and Brazil and is a Board member of three joint ventures; the Japan Vaccines Company, Qualivax and Tian Yuan.

Simon Chalk

Non-Executive Director

Simon has over 20 years industry experience working with some of the world's biggest biopharmaceutical manufacturers. After obtaining an engineering degree, Simon became a management consultant in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing supply chain area. In 2002, Simon founded Biopharmaceutical Consulting, advising on facility startup projects. In 2009 he was a founder of BioPhorum, a leading industry collaboration group that he turned into a highly successful business, culminating in a private equity deal in 2018.

David Grinham

Non-Executive Director

David is a Chartered Director and Fellow of the Institute of Directors and the RSA. He has held several executive and non-executive positions for international organisations, primarily in the Learning and Development, Higher Education and Assessment sectors. He is currently Chair of the Learning and Performance Institute International.

Leadership

Johnny Cordiner

CEO

Over 20 years of C-suite life sciences leadership. Johnny was formerly CEO and CFO of Lamellar Biomedical and also led the spin-out e-Therapeutics plc from Newcastle University and thereafter the raising of over $50 million of investment across 5 investment rounds including taking the company public. He is a chemistry and physics graduate, a chartered accountant with previous experience in IPO, M&A, product development, research projects, product commercialisation as well as patent strategy.

Dr Chris Finnis

Innovation Director

PhD in Microbial Genetics from the University of Nottingham, MSc in Biochemical Engineering (UCL), Biotechnology BSc (Hons) from University of Leeds. 30-years industrial experience in yeast strain development for recombinant protein production. Royal Society Entrepreneur-in-Residence and inventor on multiple patents with a passion for bringing new products to the market.

Professor Ed Louis

Research Director

Ed has a PhD in Genetics from The University of California at Berkeley, and a BSc in Biology and Mathematics from Clarkson University. He is experienced in yeast genetics, genomics, and evolution; was a key part of the yeast genome sequencing project; and is now developing tools for exploiting its natural genetic/phenotypic variation.

Ranjit Bhabra

Finance Director

Ranjit joins Phenotypeca as Finance Director with 36 years’ experience in financial, commercial and operational leadership with large multi-nationals and SMEs, across the globe. He is very experienced in scaling businesses within the engineering, software, project and services markets. He has driven a start-up business in the UK from circa £0.5m to over £50m over a 7-year period and has many years of experience in dealing with acquisitions, disposals and raising investment / finance.

Commercial

Dawn Long

HR & Finance Manager

Dawn joins Phenotypeca as HR & Finance Manager. She has worked in several different industries holding various roles. Dawn brings a wealth of experience in Accounts, HR, Office Management and PA work. She thrives on helping and supporting people and is currently studying for her CIPD L5 in People Management.

Tom Rock

Business Development Analyst & Project Manager

Tom has a BSc in Business Management from the University of Lincoln and spent a year on an industrial placement at Phenotypeca in between his studies. Returning to Phenotypeca after the conclusion of his studies, Tom now supports and manages Phenotypeca’s Business Development activities alongside managing Phenotypeca’s internal and external customer projects.

Shaun Cahill

Business Research Analyst

Shaun joins Phenotypeca as a Business Research Analyst with a BSc in Neuroscience from the University of Nottingham. Having developed a keen interest for commercialisation in the life sciences, he is now using his biomedical background to strengthen the Business Analysis team in its more technical-oriented tasks. Shaun is also undergoing training in the field of IP to help safeguard Phenotypeca's technology and ensure its freedom to operate, with a long-term goal of expanding his capabilities in this domain.

Technical

Dr Diane Wilkinson

Fermentation Manager

Diane qualified with BSc (Hons) Microbiology (Leeds University), MPhil and Diploma Biochemical Engineering (UCL) and PhD Biochemical Engineering (UCL) Diane has over 25 years industrial fermentation experience within the biotechnology, biopharmaceutical and agricultural industries. She has a track record of delivering new product discovery, fermentation process improvements, scale-up/down and successful technology transfers, meeting client expectations globally.

Neil Dodsworth

Bioanalysis Science Manager

Neil joins Phenotypeca as a Bioanalysis Science Manager with over 30 years of industrial experience in the characterisation and quantitation of recombinant proteins using a variety of analytical techniques, supporting R&D through to technology transfer, manufacturing and commercial at Delta Biotechnology, Novozymes and Albumedix. He is experienced in cGMP, validation and customer support and has also worked within a CRO applying these techniques in the DMPK environment.

Chris Anelli

Senior Fermentation Scientist

Chris joins as a senior research scientist with expertise in industrial fermentation. His experience of delivering production targets on tight timelines is one of the key strengths he brings to Phenotypeca. He has previously worked in pharmaceutical manufacture using E.coli and yeast at Cobra Biologics and Novozymes Biopharma UK, as well as supervising at Source Bioscience's covid testing laboratory during the pandemic.

Jack Davis

Senior Downstream Process Development Scientist

Jack joins Phenotypeca as a Research Scientist specialising in Downstream Process Development. With an MSc in Biotechnology and BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Lincoln, his work has focused on the purification and analysis of recombinant proteins. Jack has experience in the mechanics of molecular motors and the development of cancer diagnostic tests. He now focuses on developing purification workflows and expanding Phenotypeca's portfolio of analytical methods.

Dr Andrei Parker

Senior R&D Scientist

Andrei is a research scientist at Phenotypeca and has recently achieved a PhD in Genetics from the University of Leicester. Andrei's expertise is primarily in yeast genetics and synthetic biology which he utilises to design and construct novel strains and genetic constructs for Phenotypeca.

Dr Christian Gude

IP Strategy Lead

Christian received his MSc Biochemistry degree from the Technical University of Munich. In 2021, he gained his PhD at the University of Nottingham for his research in synthetic biology and joined Phenotypeca as Research Scientist. In 2024, he obtained part-qualification as UK patent attorney through a Postgraduate Certificate in Intellectual Property. Christian is pursuing his goals of developing and protecting Phenotypeca’s innovative technologies as our IP Strategy Lead, supporting both the R&D and business analysis teams in a multidisciplinary role.

Dr Yue Hu

Senior Computational Geneticist

Dr. Yue Hu is a bioinformatician and data scientist. Yue has a degree in Mathematics and was awarded PhD in Genetics from the University of Leicester in the role of developing pipelines for high-throughput NGS studies and statistical modelling in quantitative genetics. Yue was Research Fellow in Bioinformatics at the University of Nottingham. Yue has expertise in quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis to dissect complex traits of yeast, working with Professor Ed Louis.

Elevate Your Strain Performance

Don’t settle for suboptimal strains. Connect with our team to explore a tailored strain development plan that meets your exact specifications and exceeds industry standards.