David U'Prichard Joins the Board of Directors at Ocimum Biosolutions

Hyderabad, India and Gaithersburg, MD, USA, March 8, 2010 — Ocimum Biosolutions, a leading integrated genomics solutions company, today announced that David U'Prichard, President at Druid Consulting LLC, has joined the company’s Board of Directors effective immediately. Dr. U'Prichard holds several board positions in life sciences companies globally that include Life Technologies, Inc., Oxagen, Cyclacel and Silence Therapeutics plc. Dr. David U’Prichard is also a venture partner at Red Abbey Venture Partners.

Ms. Anu Acharya, CEO, Ocimum Biosolutions says, “We are delighted to have Dr. David U'Prichard on our Board of Directors. David’s wealth of expertise in the biotech and pharma, venture capital and a strong academic background makes him a great source of wisdom for the road ahead for Ocimum. We look forward to a long and fruitful association with David.”

“With David joining, we now have a very formidable board that strengthens our already strong independent members like Dr. Anula Jayasuriya, Mario Gobbo and Mr. BVR Mohan Reddy.” Ms. Acharya added.

Dr. U'Prichard said, “I am very pleased to be joining the board of Ocimum, a company that is attaining leadership in the exciting space of integrated genomics, under the inspiring leadership of Anu Acharya. I have developed increasingly strong personal and business links in India over more than 15 years, and look forward to contributing to Ocimum’s continued success.”

Dr. David U'Prichard was the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Yardley PA ("3DP") from 1999 to 2003. During his tenure at 3DP, he took 3DP public and secured large collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson. In March 2003, 3DP become a part of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D. From 1997 to 1999, Dr. U'Prichard served as Chairman of Research and Development at SmithKline Beecham, where he oversaw the entry of approximately ten compounds into global development. Prior to SmithKline Beecham, he worked for ICI/Zeneca from 1986 to 1997 as Executive Vice President and International Research Director from 1994 to 1997. Previously, Dr. U'Prichard was instrumental in the launch of Nova Pharmaceuticals in 1983, following an academic career as a tenured Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Neurobiology at Northwestern University Medical School (1978-83), and his postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University (1975-78). From 2003 to 2006, Dr. U’Prichard was a Venture Partner at Apax Partners Ltd. (London, UK) and Care Capital, LLC.

Dr. U'Prichard received his PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Kansas, and his B.Sc. in Pharmacology with first-class honors from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He has held academic appointments at Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania, and is an Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow. He is also an author of more than 100 primary and review publications, was a founding co-editor of Molecular Neurobiology, co-editor of Epinephrine in the Central Nervous System and has served as a member of various editorial boards. Dr. U’Prichard was Chairman of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association in 2004-2005 and has served on the boards of BioAdvance, the Biotechnology Greenhouse of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Dr. U’Prichard is a Trustee of the International House of Philadelphia and was on the Board of the Bioethics Institute of the University of Pennsylvania.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Dhanya Menon
Phone: +91-40-66986700
E-mail: pr@ocimumbio.com

About Ocimum Biosolutions
Ocimum Biosolutions is a global integrated genomics services company with operations in Hyderabad, India, Gaithersburg, MD in the US and The Netherlands. Ocimum provides comprehensive genomic reference databases, life science lab information management solutions, GLP-compliant microarray services and essential research consumables. Over 2/3rd of the top 25 pharma companies, leading research institutes and emerging biotech companies worldwide have chosen us as their preferred outsourcing partner and utilize our expertise for understanding underlying mechanisms of diseases, discovery and prioritization of gene targets and biomarkers.
Our global infrastructure, standardized procedures, capacity, expertise and highly skilled staff support drug development programs from pre-clinical target development and toxicogenomic assessment to clinical biomarker identification and patient stratification. In creating the world's largest commercial gene expression databases – BioExpress® and ToxExpress®, we have developed expertise and capabilities that are unparalleled in the genomic services industry. Ocimum has been consistently ranked as India’s fastest growing biotechnology company and one of the fastest growing technology companies over the last five years by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
For more information, please visit www.ocimumbio.com

Dhanya Menon
communication Manager
Ocimum Biosolutions Ltd.
6th Floor, Reliance Classic
Road No. 1, Banjara Hills
Hyderabad - 500 034. A.P., India
Phone: +91-40-66986700

This release was published on openPR.