Christopher Ashton
Advisor, Life Sciences
Chris is an experienced biotech entrepreneur and advisor to the Life Sciences team at Oxford Science Enterprises. He joined in 2019, bringing more than 35 years of experience in founding, leading and scaling biotechnology companies.
He has led multiple early-stage ventures through to mid-stage clinical development, and brings deep expertise in international fundraising, licensing, and M&A across both private and listed businesses.
Previously, Chris was a Partner at Syncona, where he was founding CEO of Achilles Therapeutics. He was also CEO of Argenta Discovery – acquired by Galapagos NV – and Pulmagen Therapeutics.
Chris holds a PhD from the University of Manchester and completed post-doctoral research at MIT.
WORK WITH US
Oxford researchers & innovators
Want your research to have real-world impact?
We partner with researchers and innovators across Oxford, Harwell and Culham to explore commercial potential, co-create ventures and build companies.
Investors
Interested in becoming an OSE shareholder?
We’ve raised over £850m from global investors keen to access Oxford’s diverse, world-leading science. Our shareholders don’t just back OSE – many also co-invest alongside us.
Co-investors
Looking to invest in Oxford’s most exciting spinouts?
We partner with specialist global investors to fund and scale our companies – from pre-seed to growth. Together, OSE and our co-investors have invested more than £3bn.