A former key executive at Oxford Nanopore Technologies has been named CEO at fellow biotechnology firm Oxford BioDynamics Plc.
Oxford BioDynamics, also known as OBD, is looking to advance personalised healthcare through precision clinical diagnostic tests and EpiSwitch Orion, its cloud-based 3D genomics platform.
Targeting pharma and BioTech partners, it is now looking to incoming CEO Richard Compton to secure the sales necessary to the long-term viability of the business.
A public company life sciences executive with more than 25 years of operational, commercial and P&L leadership across genomics, diagnostics, scientific software and healthcare technology, he has held senior leadership roles at Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Illumina and the BIOVIA business unit of Dassault Systèmes.
He was senior vice president, sales and commercial operations at Oxford Nanopore from mid-2016 to late 2025 and was a member of the executive leadership team during the company’s transformation from early commercialisation to a publicly listed global genomics company.
During his tenure, Oxford Nanopore grew annual revenues from approximately £4 million to more than £200m and completed its London Stock Exchange IPO.
Compton has joined as CEO with immediate effect and it is expected that he will be appointed to the group’s board in due course.
Iain Ross, who has served as executive chairman since January 2025, will remain as non-executive chairman.
“Since joining OBD as executive chairman in January 2025, my focus has been on stabilising and refocusing the business, strengthening the commercial foundations and preparing the company for its next stage of development,” said Ross.
“The board believes OBD now requires a CEO with deep experience in scaling commercial genomics and diagnostics organisations internationally.
“Richard brings precisely that experience. He has helped build and scale major life sciences technology businesses at Oxford Nanopore, Illumina and Accelrys, combining commercial execution, operational leadership, strategic partnership experience and public company understanding.
“His appointment reflects our confidence that OBD has the scientific and clinical foundation to become a leading international diagnostics company built on its proprietary 3D genomics platform, commercially available precision clinical tests and strategic industry partnerships.”
The company has also released its half-year results: it generated £690,000 of revenue in H1 2026, compared with £590k in H1 2025, and suffered an operating loss of £4.68m (H1 2025: £5.88m).
Cash and term deposits at 31st March 2026 were £2.51m (30th September 2025: £1.39m) after an equity and subscription raise in the latest half-year period which raised £6.32m after costs.
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“This has been a challenging period in that whilst we have made significant progress across all aspects of the business, we have not yet secured deals to ensure the long-term financial stability of the business,” said Ross.
“PSE test sales in the US have grown to record levels, supported by changes to the operational leadership and management of our US sales & operations team. As also announced today, MK Commercial Group, a third-party sales organisation, has been appointed to help accelerate further growth.
“EpiSwitch Orion has been introduced into several research centres of excellence, and we are now in commercial discussions with three large pharma companies. In parallel, our Episwitch ME/CFS data has attracted significant interest from both industry and academia and we are seeking to secure non-dilutive/grant funding for this initiative by the end of the calendar year.
“Under Richard’s leadership the board and management remain confident that by increasing PSE sales, progressing the commercialisation of Episwitch Orion and launching a credible ME/CFS test we will be able to create long-term, sustainable, shareholder value.
“As a significant non-dilutive funding transaction has not yet been secured, Richard and I are now in discussions with our advisers and key shareholders to identify the most appropriate route to securing additional funding.”
Compton said: “I am delighted to join Oxford BioDynamics at an important point in its development.
“OBD has built a distinctive scientific and clinical foundation, with commercially available products, a proprietary 3D genomics technology platform and a growing body of clinical and translational evidence. The opportunity now is to turn that foundation into a more focused, scalable and commercially disciplined business.
“My immediate focus will be on execution. We will prioritise clinical utility, customer adoption, strategic partnerships and disciplined allocation of resources towards the opportunities with the greatest potential to create value for patients, customers and shareholders.
“I look forward to working with Iain and the rest of the board and wider OBD team and our customers, partners and investors as we shape the next phase of the company’s development.”
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