We are led by an experienced team of complementary talents.

Sam is the founding CEO of Istesso and now serves as company Chairman. Prior to founding Istesso, he was a top-ranked equity analyst in the City of London. Sam is currently Managing Partner at IP Group plc where he runs the Life Sciences division and serves as an Investor Director on the boards of Diurnal Group plc, Microbiotica Ltd, Psioxus Ltd, Pulmocide Ltd, and Apollo Therapeutics. Sam holds a PhD in molecular biology from Cambridge and a degree in biology from Oxford.

Lisa is CEO and co-founder of Istesso. Prior to joining the company in 2007, she spent 10 years at GlaxoSmithKline as a team leader in the Cardiovascular Centre of Excellence and latterly as a group leader in Clinical Pharmacology and Discovery Medicine. Lisa has a PhD in molecular genetics, a degree in biochemistry and an MBA.

Peter has over 20 years’ experience in senior board positions in a wide portfolio of healthcare companies. He is currently non-executive Chairman of Clinigen plc, Advanced Medical Solutions plc and Diurnal Group plc. Peter was Chairman and interim Chief Executive Officer of ProStrakan Group plc at the time of its £292m acquisition by Kyowa Kirin in 2011 and Chairman of Proximagen Neuroscience plc at the time of its £223m acquisition by Upsher Smith.

From 1992-2004 he was Chief Financial Officer of Celltech Group plc where he played a critical role in managing the company’s flotation and several strategic acquisitions, and was Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the time of the company’s £1.5bn acquisition by UCB in 2004. Peter is a qualified chartered accountant by background and has a joint degree in Accountancy and Law.

Sir Keith is one of the UK’s most distinguished clinician-scientists, having previously been Regius Professor of Physic and Head of the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cambridge. From 2005-2016 he acted as Senior Consultant in R&D at GSK, reporting to the President of R&D, during which time he also served on GSK’s Global Safety Board. Sir Keith served as a non-executive director on the main board of Amersham plc prior to its £5.7bn acquisition by General Electric in 2003 and chaired the company’s Scientific Advisory Board. He also served on the Medical Advisory Board of Merck Research Laboratories from 1996-2005.

From 2006-2008 he was interim Director of the MRC National Institute for Medical Research where he played a key role in the conception of the Francis Crick Institute. Sir Keith is a Fellow of the Royal Society and was President of the Academy of Medical Sciences from 2002-2006. His research focused on immuno-inflammatory mechanisms in kidney and blood vessel disease.

Sir Keith was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to the advancement of medical science.

Mike has over 40 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and extensive expertise leading drug discovery and development, in particular identifying the clinical and commercial positioning of novel drugs. Following a successful career at GSK, where he was Senior Vice President (SVP) and Head of Biopharmaceuticals Research from 2001 to 2009, he co-founded and served as the first Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Kymab Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company developing fully human monoclonal antibody therapeutics, acquired by Sanofi in 2021. Prior to working in industry, Dr Owen spent his academic career at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, now Cancer Research UK. He currently serves as a non-executive director on the Boards of NovalGen and Sareum and is Chair of Ossianix. Dr Owen is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Craig is a Partner in IP Group’s investment team. He started his career in the pharmaceutical industry in 1998 with GlaxoWellcome, before moving into biotech business development and then venture capital. Prior to IP Group, he held investment roles at several funds including Inventages and FusionIP.

Craig has a first-class honours degree in Pharmacy from Cardiff University, a PhD from the University of Nottingham and an MBA with Distinction from the University of Warwick.

Greg is Chief Executive Officer of IP Group plc, which invests in breakthrough science and innovation companies across life sciences, DeepTech and cleantech. Greg was formerly the Group’s CFO and has more than 20 years’ experience in financial services including serving on various of the Group’s investment committees and its FCA-authorized businesses. Prior to IP Group, Greg built and managed the operations and operational due diligence team at Tarchon Capital Management, a multi-billion-dollar fund of hedge funds business. Greg qualified as an accountant in KPMG’s London financial services practice working with asset management, insurance and banking clients. Greg is a Fellow of the ICAEW and holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Warwick.