Imperial Innovations Group named Sir Richard Sykes, a former chairman of GlaxoSmithKline, as chairman of Circassia, its spin-out and speciality biopharmaceutical company.

Sir Richard, who is the rector of Imperial College London, was chairman of GlaxoSmithKline until 2002 and was also chairman and chief executive of Glaxo Wellcome.

He is chairman of the UK Stem Cell Foundation and chairs CATALYST, London's Council for the Advancement of Science and Industry, Imperial Innovations said in a statement.

He is a board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England and chairman of the WHO International Advisory Board that oversees the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.

Susan Searle, the chief executive of Imperial Innovations, a technology transfer and commercialisation company, said: "Sir Richard's experience in the pharmaceutical industry and leadership of Imperial College will be of considerable value to the company."

Sir Richard said: "I believe Circassia has the potential to transform the treatment of conditions resulting from immune system dysfunction."

Imperial Innovations, which is based at Imperial College London, was founded in 1986 and listed on AIM in July 2006, raising £26 million.

Circassia, one of its many spin-out companies, focuses on developing medicines designed to control immune system responses.

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