Pharmaceutical group Vectura’s longest serving director has stepped down after 12 years on the board, during which time it has been transformed into a £1bn turnover business.
Dr Susan Foden, pictured, left her position as senior independent non-executive director last week to be replaced by Dr Thomas Werner. 
Dr Foden joined Chippenham-based Vectura’s board in 2007 and was most recently a member of its nomination committee. She has also chaired the group’s remuneration committee and has been a member of the audit committee.
Vectura, which was part formed from a spin-out from the University of Bath, develops inhalable dry-powder drugs that treat lung conditions such as asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
The London Stock Exchange-listed group has grown rapidly through development collaborations and licence agreements with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies such as Novartis, Sandoz and GlaxoSmithKline.
In 2016 it merged with London-based Skyepharma, creating one of the UK’s leading specialist pharmaceutical firms with a combined turnover of £1bn.
Vectura chairman Bruno Angelici said: “I would like to recognise Susan’s significant contributions to Vectura and thank her for her commitment to the group over the past 12 years. She has provided valuable insight and expertise in her roles across the board and our committees. We all wish her every success for the future.”
Dr Foden studied biochemistry at the University of Oxford, obtaining an MA and a DPhil. She has been a director of BTG and a former chair at BerGenBio AS. She is also a former investor director with Merlin Biosciences and, from 1987 to 2000, was chief executive officer of the technology transfer company Cancer Research Campaign Technology.
