Cluster of terminations of world-class Cambridge scientists and entrepreneurs as bit.bio ‘realigns’ directors

Further dramatic developments have taken place at bit.bio following the departure of Jonathan Milner as interim CEO last month, as exclusively reported at the time in the Cambridge Independent.

Dr Milner was appointed to the role of interim CEO at the synthetic biology company starting 1 January: his tenure lasted five weeks.

Earlier this month bit.bio - 2024 turnover was £4.89m, a 158 per cent rise on the previous year - released a statement thanking Dr Milner for his service, saying “he’s invested considerable time and energy working closely with the executive team and board to help guide our future strategy, and we’re incredibly grateful for his business insights and collaborative leadership during this period”.

As part of “strategic realignments to position the company for long-term success”, Przemek Obloj - hitherto CFO for less than one year at the company - stepped in as interim CEO.

This week, however, it emerged just how profound the realignment has been. Two other world-class Cambridge scientists and entrepreneurs - Sir Greg Winter and Dr Hermann Hauser - had their directorships of the company terminated on 5 February according to documents filed at Companies House, along with the board tenures of Dr Milner and Weslie Janeway.

A spokesperson for bit.bio told the Cambridge Independent: “After our $30m raise in December, we adjusted the board to include direct seats for our major investors including our Series Seed lead (BlueYard Capital/Jason Whitmire), Series A (Milky Way/Rick Klausner), Series B (Puhua/Kejia Li, Tencent/Min Hu), and ASA lead (M&G Investments/Cornel Chiriac).”

“Mark [Kotter] and Przemek Obloj are also on the board, bringing it to six members.

“It’s a shift to keep things manageable for a company bit.bio’s size. Changes like these can be difficult, but we’re fortunate that many of our previous board members remain investors and supporters, keeping us connected to their expertise.”

The spokesperson added: “Our focus is on bit.bio moving forward with the fundraising success in December and under Przemek’s lead.”