A biotechnology company based in Oxford which works on vaccine platform technology that can target cancer and chronic diseases has appointed a new chief financial officer.

SpyBiotech has appointed Keith Dewedoff, who has more than 20 years of experience in the life science industry.

He said: "I am proud to join the SpyBiotech team as the company continues to expand.

"Given the recently announced research collaboration with the University of Oxford and SpyBiotech’s Phase I trial of its HCMV vaccine, this is a really exciting time to join the company."

His previous work includes several roles at biotech venture-backed start-ups, commercial publicly traded companies and American advisory firm Danforth Advisors.

He also previously served as chief financial officer of Ceptur Therapeutics and more than 10 other privately held and public companies at various life cycle stages.

While there, he was involved in the management of finance, accounting, corporate development, and other corporate operational functions.

Before Danforth, he was chief financial officer at Kaizen Bioscience, and is still active on its board as chair.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Northeastern University and studied graduate work at Oxford University.

Chief executive officer, Mark Leuchtenberger, said: "Keith is an excellent addition to our leadership team.

"His depth of expertise in financial strategy and corporate development will serve SpyBiotech well as we continue to build our organization and progress our scientific pipeline."