Colin was founding CEO of Symbiosis in 2011 and has since driven the growth of the company to become a leading provider of contract clinical and commercial scale GMP sterile biopharmaceutical manufacturing services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical company clients globally and he has over 25 years of commercial and senior leadership experience in the drug development services industry.
Having graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Cell Biology and an MSc in Molecular Genetics, both from the University of Glasgow he has pursued a career supporting the development of next-generation medicines which improve the quality of life of patient’s lives. Prior to embarking on the Symbiosis start-up journey, he worked for both large and small drug discovery and development companies in London, San Diego and Brussels, He later completed an MBA specialising in international business from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He is highly motivated to develop mutually beneficial relationships and building a progressive business culture focussed on helping clients to successfully achieve their drug development milestones.
David joined Symbiosis in August 2025, bringing more than 20 years of industry experience in both Contract Testing and Contract Manufacturing Organisations. With a background rooted in Operational Excellence, his career path moved into wider operational leadership roles covering both local and global remits. Whilst in the Contract Testing arena, he served as Site Head, General Manager and Managing Director of a major global testing provider.
In his role as Chief Operating Officer at Symbiosis, David provides executive leadership for all Operational, Quality, Supply Chain and Engineering functions within the business. David graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University with a BEng(Hons) in Mechanical Engineering and is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Lean Practitioner. He is also experienced at board level and currently serves as a Non-Executive Director within the UK National Health Service.
Lorraine is an experienced operational leader with over 20 years of experience in financial services sector. She joined Symbiosis in 2011 to head the Finance function and has since expanded her leadership to include HR and Administration, strengthening the company’s core support functions. After completing her CIPD qualification in 2019, she was appointed Director of Administration and HR in 2022, driving a people‑focused, high‑performance culture.
Cheryl has over 23 years experience within the life sciences sector and over 10 of those with Symbiosis. She is Operations Director, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of business operations, driving efficiency and aligning operational goals with the broader strategic objectives of the business to ensure profitability and growth. Cheryl provides overall leadership and supports the growth of the operational teams (SCT, Technical, Manufacturing, PM, Engineering, H&S). Cheryl holds a Bsc (Hons) in Immunology and Pharmacology from the University of Strathclyde and prior to joining Symbiosis she worked in Project Management for 8 years and has previously held roles within Pre-Clinical and Clinical Development.
Alison joined Symbiosis in November 2021 to establish and develop our in-house analytical testing capability. She also project managed the design build and qualification of The Bruce Building to deliver automation and increased batch size capacity for the business. Alison is now Strategic Projects Director leading projects to expand Symbiosis capabilities. With over 25 years of experience within the industry, she has held senior roles leading both large and small teams. Alison is a graduate of the University of Glasgow, holding both BSc and PhD degrees in Pharmacology. Following seven years of academic research, she moved into preclinical testing services, gaining the role of Senior Director of Preclinical Technologies before moving to lead the Global Project Services Team for Central Laboratory Testing. More recently Alison has held the roles of Managing Director for a pharmaceutical testing company as well as CEO of a SME developing products for the biopharmaceutical industry.
Joanne is Chief Commercial Officer at Symbiosis , where she leads commercial strategy and client partnerships across the CDMO. Initially joining in the Symbiosis formative years with tenure from 2013-19 then rejoining the team in 2026, Joanne holds a BSc (Hons) in Forensic Science and an Masters in Business Administration with distinction.
With a strong track record of driving CDMO growth, building strategic client relationships, and aligning commercial strategy with operational delivery, Joanne supports biotech and pharmaceutical companies to advance therapies from clinical development through to commercial supply and with ongoing lifecycle management. With expertise to translate complex requirements into high-value, collaborative supply solutions using a pragmatic approach, Joanne works closely with clients to understand their needs and shape solutions that work in the real world, partnering with organisations at every stage to help move therapies forward efficiently.
Robert has been a Symbiosis Board Director since 2014 and is a UK-registered medical practitioner. He has over 35 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, initially in medical and regulatory specialist roles across multiple therapy areas and subsequently, in C-Suite roles in commercial clinical drug development.
As a COO in global Contract Research Organisations he has successfully commercialised a range of drug development services. He has previously held Non-Executive Director roles in a number of high growth clinical service companies
Gerry has been a Symbiosis Board Director and Chairman since 2016. He began his career as a research chemist with Croda International and in 1985 founded his own company, Paragon Inks, specialising in the manufacture and sale of radiation curable coatings for the printing and packaging industry. Gerry grew the business from a start up to an internationally respected player with distribution worldwide. The company was also honoured with the Queen’s Award to Industry during his tenure.
In 2021 he sold the company and now focuses his experience on growing Symbiosis. During his time at Paragon, Gerry also worked as a business mentor with many companies as part of a Scottish Enterprise initiative to help develop Scottish based SMEs.
