Butler joins Xceleron from contract research, development and manufacturing company Aptuit, where he had the dual roles of president and chief scientific officer.
“Dr. Butler brings to Xceleron a balance of sales, operations and management know-how, including significant experience in expanding science-driven businesses,” said Xceleron in a statement.
Xceleron has been a pioneer of the concept of microdosing, in which small numbers of human volunteers take doses of experimental new drugs that are just 1/100 of therapeutic dose, so there is almost no risk of toxicity, in order to obtain early pharmacokinetic information.
The company uses accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS) to count radioactive carbon atoms (14C) in blood, urine and or faecal samples from volunteers who have taken radiolabelled doses of test compounds, amongst other tools.
Butler’s appointment comes at a time when Xceleron is expanding its business into the US and other markets. The company opened a $7.5m facility in Maryland in the summer, including a $1.5m accelerator mass spectrometer in a bid to increase its US client base.
The new CEO’s experience seems to fit well with Xceleron’s current objectives. Whilst at Aptuit he helped increased sales revenues from $75m to over $200m, as well as overseeing an expansion of the company’s operations from three locations to eight sites globally.
Butler said it was an “exciting time” to join Xceleron, as its customers are “dealing with the most intractable challenges the industry has ever faced including poor compound solubility, biologics development, high potency drugs, and the need for earlier human data.”
Prof Garner will remain with Xceleron, serving as senior scientific advisor and a non-executive director.