MANCHESTER, England and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, June 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Biotechnology firm Retrogenix today announces the appointment of Matthew Britz as North American Business Development Director. Matthew will operate out of Retrogenix's offices in Cambridge, MA, and play a key role in supporting the company's continued growth in US and Canadian markets.  

Retrogenix's proprietary cell microarray technology is used by the majority of the world's top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to rapidly identify the human cell surface receptors of antibodies, proteins, viruses and small molecules.  The high likelihood of finding a molecule's receptor puts the success rate of the technology around four fold higher than other methods. This leads to significant savings by cutting research costs and preventing unnecessary project delays. Retrogenix's expansion in the US follows a sustained increase in demand for its technology, particularly in the area of target deconvolution following phenotypic screening.

Matthew Britz, who has recently held business development and strategy consultancy roles within life sciences companies, has extensive experience in both scientific and managerial positions within several global pharmaceutical companies with a particular focus on biologics research and development.

Commenting on his appointment, Matthew said: "Retrogenix has developed a technology which is a major advance over existing methodologies. It is providing companies with the boost needed to secure a real competitive advantage in their phenotypic screening programs and maximize the IP gained as a result of identifying new targets. I am delighted to be part of a team that is having such a major positive impact on the industry and facilitating breakthroughs in medical research through its partnerships with leading academics."

Dr Jim Freeth, Managing Director of Retrogenix, commented: "Matt will be an excellent ambassador for Retrogenix, maintaining our strong relationships with existing clients, expanding our client base and exploring other potential market applications for the Retrogenix technology. Matt has first-hand experience of the challenges that our clients face in drug discovery and development, making him an incredibly valuable asset. We look forward to supporting him in this new role."

The appointment was facilitated by Cambridge-based management consultancy firm Alacrita Life Sciences through its Foothold America program. Matthew takes up the role with immediate effect.

About Retrogenix  

Retrogenix's proprietary cell microarray technology provides a fast, accurate and effective solution for determining the primary target and secondary target (off-target) activities of antibodies, proteins, small molecules and viruses. Microarrays of over 3,500 plasma membrane proteins expressed in human cells allow physiologically relevant interactions with test molecules or protein ligands to be identified with high sensitivity and specificity. Retrogenix's technology recently provided the critical breakthrough for a team studying the molecular mechanisms of severe malaria in children, the results of which were published in Nature (2013, 498:502). The Retrogenix technology is also widely used by major global pharmaceutical companies to advance drug discovery and development, predominantly in biologics research.

Retrogenix has offices near Manchester, UK, and in Cambridge, MA.  

http://www.retrogenix.com

About Foothold America 

Foothold America, an Alacrita business, enables non-US life science companies to easily hire their first employees in the United States. Foothold America hires the employee and provides services to its clients under a standard consulting agreement. This removes the bureaucratic burden from the foreign company, leaving it to focus on growing its business while having full-time, dedicated resources in the US market.

http://www.footholdamerica.com

Spokespeople are available on request, for more information please contact:

Elizabeth Kingsley
elizabeth.kingsley@retrogenix.com    

SOURCE Retrogenix