Cyprotex PLC (LSE: CRX), the drug discovery technology and information company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Darwin Cheney as Chief Scientific Officer of the Company with immediate effect. Dr Cheney will be responsible for all laboratory operations at Cyprotex. Dr. David Leahy, who held the position previously, becomes Chief Technical Officer with specific responsibility for the development of new products and services for the Company.

Dr Cheney has worked for many years in laboratory operations management as Executive Director of Contract Research for In Vitro Technologies and as Director of Neuroscience and Cardiovascular Research and Executive Director of Clinical Operations and Statistics at CIBA-GEIGY Pharmaceuticals. He has published 116 scientific papers and brings over 25 years' experience in the discovery and development of pharmaceutical compounds.

In the past year, Cyprotex has doubled its revenues and expanded its customer base by several fold as it has gained recognition as a high quality provider of information and technology to the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical industry. Cyprotex uses both computational and experimental approaches to understand how compounds are processed by the body.

Commenting on the appointment, Robert Morrisson Atwater, Chief Executive Officer of Cyprotex PLC, said: "We are extremely fortunate to have the knowledge, experience and skills of Darwin. He brings a wealth of sector knowledge and commercial expertise with him and I have no doubt he will play a pivotal role in the growth of Cyprotex."