The force behind msX™

BIOCAPTIVA has been developing ground-breaking polymers since spinning out of the University of Edinburgh in 2021. Our mission is to improve the lives of millions of patients by developing new, liquid biopsy technologies which can replace costly, uncomfortable, and invasive traditional sampling methods, and enable more personalised approaches to treatments.

Backed by a multidisciplinary team with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the biochemistry and medical device industries, BIOCAPTIVA has a strong track record of polymer development, generation of new intellectual property and attracting investment.

Meet the board

Jeremy Wheeler headshot photo


  • CEO

    Jeremy has a track record of bringing innovative medical devices to market, building and operating companies operating in the UK, US, Spain and Hong Kong.

    As Operations Director at Aircraft Medical he was with the company from start-up through to sale to Medtronic Inc for $112M.  He set up the company’s US distribution office in Houston, TX and Off-shore Quality team in Hong Kong.  During Aircraft’s purchase of Morpheus Medical, Jeremy integrated the company in to the group.

    Previously he has set up medical device companies in the field of Alzheimer’s disease detection and was appointed General Manager at Medstone International Ltd. taking the company out of receivership to profitability

  • Non-Executive Chairman

    Stephane Argivier is a seasoned life sciences executive and board adviser with 30 years’ experience across life science enabling tools, diagnostics and critical IVD raw materials. He has successfully built and scaled businesses, led global commercial and cross-functional teams, and supported privately owned and VC-backed organisations through key value inflection points, including fundraising, international growth, operational scale-up and strategic exits.

    His career includes executive and non-executive roles at SCIPAC, BBI Solutions, MIP Discovery and Logical Biological, where he built a strong track record in commercial strategy and execution, product industrialisation, strategic partnerships, governance and leadership development.

    Stephane brings experience in supporting boards and management teams as they turn differentiated science into scalable commercial businesses, secure investment and build long-term shareholder value.

  • Investor Director

    A successful serial biotechnology entrepreneur, Stephen was CEO of DxS, an innovator in the field of personalised medicine, developing and manufacturing companion diagnostics. DxS exited to QIAGEN BV in 2009 for £85M where he became VP of Personalised Healthcare, responsible for developing companion diagnostic partnerships with the pharma industry.

    Stephen also led Premaitha through its successful AIM listing in July 2014, becoming Vice Chair in 2018 when the company became YouGene Health PLC.

    Prior to his leading role at DxS, he worked for 20 years in various senior positions in the diagnostic divisions of Astra Zeneca and ICI. He holds a PhD from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.  Stephen is now involved at board level with several early-stage biotech companies.


  • Director

    Mark is Professor of Therapeutic Innovation and co-director of the Precision Healthcare University Research Institute (Queen Mary University of London).
    He has an entrepreneurial track record as a founder of several successful spin-out companies, and has 15+ patent applications on technologies from polymers for hepatocyte/drug toxicology screening to innovative imaging agents for in vivo application. In 1997 he was awarded a Professorship in Combinatorial Chemistry and founded the UK Combinatorial Centre of Excellence.
    Over the past 10 years, Mark has been invited to speak at over 100 lectures, meetings and conferences and as well as academic lectures, Mark also gives public service and educational lectures. In 2021 he was awarded the Presidential Award - Distinguished Scientist of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and in 2019 won the Royal Society of Chemistry – Interdisciplinary Prize.

  • CTO

    Alan is a scientist and entrepreneur with over 30 years experience in genetics technologies and molecular diagnostics. As CTO of Inivata, he was part of the Executive Team responsible for Inivata’s acquisition by NeoGenomics in 2021 for $415M. Alan was previously CEO of 14M Genomics, a cancer molecular diagnostics company, and prior to that CEO of Population Genetics Technologies which specialised in infectious disease diagnostics and next-generation sequencing technologies.

    Earlier roles include those of Global VP Technology Development at GlaxoSmithKline, Director of Science Funding at the Wellcome Trust, VP Genetics at Incyte, and Founder/Director of Biology at Hexagen Technologies (acquired by Incyte in 1998). In addition, Alan has worked as an independent biotechnology consultant and for 10 years was an Adjunct Professor at the Imperial College Business School.


  • CFO

    Alison is a highly accomplished senior finance professional with over 30 years’ experience in financial strategy, M&A, business planning, risk management and financial modelling. Prior to joining BIOCAPTIVA, Alison was CFO at DYSIS Medical Ltd, a global medical device business developing cancer screening technologies.

    Previously, Alison was Finance Director at Aircraft Medical, a specialist manufacturer of video laryngoscopes used for challenging intubations, initially in a part time capacity before joining the company full time in 2010, before it was acquired for $112 million in cash by the leading global medtech company, Medtronic.

    Alison began her career at KPMG where she qualified as a charted accountant in 1988. Since then, Alison has held a number of roles in tax and corporate finance at accountancy firms RMD and Deloitte