Vinter succeeds interim CEO Jonathan Critchley, who returns to his role as chief financial officer.

Concept Life Sciences appointed Adrijana Vinter as chief executive officer, ending the company’s interim leadership period under Johathan Critchley, who will continue as CFO.

Vinter joins from Selvita S.A. (WSE: SLV), where she served as global head of drug discovery and a member of the management board. Concept said her responsibility for a business generating about 50 million euros in revenue and employing more than 400 people across Europe and the United States.

Vinter previously led Fidelta, which Selvita acquired from Galapagos in January 2021. Earlier, she held medicinal chemistry roles at PLIVA, now part of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA); GSK plc (NYSE: GSK); and Galapagos, now Lakefront Biotherapeutics NV (Nasdaq: LKFT). 

She holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Zagreb and an MBA from Cotrugli Business School in Croatia.

Ian Waddell, Concept’s chairman, said Vinter’s scientific and commercial experience, network and ability to bring together multidisciplinary teams will help Concept build its integrated capabilities and develop international partnerships. 

Vinter said Concept has strengths in chemistry and scale-up, and capabilities and potential in biology and translational science. She said she plans to build on those strengths and develop the integrated offering.

Selvita names Padovan to succeed Vinter

Selvita announced July 3 that it promoted Jasna Padovan to global head of drug discovery, succeeding Vinter. The transition was scheduled to take effect Oct. 1. 

Padovan has led drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics at Selvita since the Fidelta acquisition. Selvita CEO Boguslaw Sieczkowski described the leadership change as part of a planned succession. 

Cliff’s exit preceded interim leadership

Concept’s leadership transition follows the departure of former CEO Ben Cliff. UK Companies House records show that Cliff resigned as an officer of Concept’s operating company on Jan. 10, 2026.

Concept identified Critchley as interim CEO in a Jan. 19 release. The release also announced Adam Davenport's appointment as chief scientific officer. Davenport previously served as chief discovery officer at Proxygen.

Waddell thanked Critchley for his leadership during the interim period.

Concept adds lab capacity in Britain

Concept Life Sciences provides integrated drug discovery, development and analytical services. Its main site is in Chapel-en-le-Frith, with operations in Edinburgh, Dundee and Sandwich. 

The company announced an expansion of its main site in 2025, adding capacity in chemistry, ADMET and screening biology. It said more than 130 scientists work there. In 2026, Concept launched a 500-square-foot facility to expand assay development and screening.

In January, Concept said it employed about 230 people and had helped 29 candidates advance to clinical development.

Concept teams with OpenBench on hit discovery

Concept and OpenBench Inc. announced a partnership on May 21 to accelerate hit identification for biotech companies under a fee-for-success model. 

Under the agreement, OpenBench’s AI platform screens compounds virtually, while Concept provides medicinal chemistry, in vitro screening and validation. OpenBench said it would fund the upfront discovery work and charge a fee only when validated hits are delivered.