Appointment of Christine Soden as Chief Financial Officer

Appointment of Christine Soden as Chief Financial Officer  
 
LONDON, UK, 1 December 2009 - Optos plc (LSE: OPTS), a leading retinal imaging company, today announces the appointment of  Christine Soden as  Chief Financial Officer and to the Board of Directors with immediate effect.
 
Ms Soden was appointed interim CFO on 22 September 2009, having previously worked with BTG plc, the FTSE250 specialty pharmaceuticals company.  She became CFO of BTG in 2005 and was appointed Chief Operating Officer of BTG following the acquisition of Protherics plc in December 2008.
 
Roy Davis, Chief Executive Officer, said: "I am delighted to confirm Christine's appointment as our Chief Financial Officer.  In the short time she has been with Optos, Christine's breadth of experience and strong management skills have been very evident and will prove invaluable to us as we focus on optimising the future growth of the business."
 
There are no further details to be disclosed in relation to paragraph 9.6.13R of the Financial Services Authority Listing Rules.
 
 
Enquiries


Optos plcTel: 01383 843 300
Roy Davis, CEO
Christine Soden, CFO
 
FDTel:  020 7831 3113
Ben Atwell / Mo Noonan

Notes to Editors
About Optos Plc
Optos plc is a leading retinal imaging company with a vision to be recognized as the leading provider of retinal diagnostics through leveraging its unique wide-field imaging technology. The company has built an extensive installed base for its technology among healthcare professionals under its pay-per-patient business model. This provides an excellent position from which to focus on its core optometry business and expand into ophthalmology in a measured way. For more information please visit www.optos.com
About Christine Soden
Christine joins Optos from BTG plc, the FTSE250 specialty pharmaceuticals company.  Christine was appointed as Chief Financial Officer of BTG in 2005 and contributed significantly to the company's strategic, financial and operational development.  Following the acquisition of Protherics plc in December 2008, Christine became Chief Operating Officer of BTG and helped integrate the two businesses. 
 
Prior to BTG, between 2000 and 2005, Christine was Chief Financial Officer at Oxagen Limited, a privately owned drug discovery company; Christine helped refinance and restructure Oxagen.
 
From 1996 until 1999, Christine was Finance Director of Chiroscience Group plc before becoming  Chief Financial Officer of Celltech Chiroscience plc following the merger of the two companies.  During her time at Chiroscience she played a major role in fundraising, M&A, and licensing (including the securing of six partnerships for drug development programmes).
 
Prior to this, Christine spent over four years as Group Financial Controller and Head of Tax and Treasury at Medeva plc, where she was involved in acquisitions, financing and co-ordinating its US stockmarket listing.
 
Christine has degree in mathematics from Durham University.  After graduating she qualified as a chartered account and worked for accountancy firms Clark Whitehill and Price Waterhouse.  She then spent eight years in a number of finance roles with investment group Pavion International plc and Stringer Saul solicitors.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Company's current expectations, estimates and projections about its industry, its beliefs and assumptions. Words such as 'anticipates,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control, are difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions shareholders and prospective shareholders not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of the Company only as of the date of this announcement. The forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. The Company will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority.
 
 
 
 
Mo Noonan
Senior Manager
Financial Communications