One CSO for two companies
With the appointment of Russell Thomas as Chief Scientific Officer, Symeres and Axxam are further strengthening their strategic collaboration. The goal is to provide pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with an integrated platform for drug discovery and development from a single source.
Symeres and Axxam have strengthened their scientific leadership by appointing Russell Thomas as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). He will lead the further development of the companies’ joint integrated discovery platform.
With this move, the Dutch contract research, development and manufacturing organization (CRDMO) Symeres and the Italian provider of biology-driven discovery services Axxam are deepening their strategic collaboration. Their joint offering is designed to cover every stage of early drug discovery and development, from target assessment and screening through lead identification and optimization to development candidate nomination and the delivery of IND-ready packages.
As CSO, Thomas will help shape the scientific strategy of both organizations while coordinating collaboration between their scientific and commercial teams. He will also focus on developing integrated client solutions and identifying additional opportunities to connect the scientific platforms and capabilities of Symeres and Axxam. The appointment reflects growing demand from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for partners capable of supporting the entire drug discovery and development continuum through integrated services.
Thomas returns to Symeres after spending a year advising emerging biotechnology and biomaterials companies. He first joined Symeres in 2020 as Head of Business Development before later serving as Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to that, he held senior positions at Axxam, where he played a key role in establishing the strategic medicinal chemistry collaboration with Symeres. Earlier in his career, Thomas held scientific and leadership roles at GSK, Evotec, Siena Biotech and Proteros.
The CEOs of both companies described the appointment as an important milestone in their long-term growth strategy. Symeres CEO Henning Steinhagen emphasized that scientific leadership capable of connecting expertise, people and platforms across organizations is becoming increasingly important as customer programs grow more complex. Axxam CEO Ciriaco Maraschiello added that Thomas’s experience within both companies uniquely positions him to strengthen the scientific collaboration and accelerate the development of innovative medicines.
Exonate, Ltd.