Green Bioactives, a pioneer in the development of sustainable food and cosmetics, has appointed non-executive director David McElroy as chief executive ahead of a fund-raising round.

Prior to joining Green Bioactives, Dr McElroy was co-founder of agbio start-ups Verdia and NovaSynthetix, as well as natural gas-to-feed company Calysta.

He was also instrumental in helping launch computation-based protein design company Arzeda and has held roles as president of agbiotech SME Targeted Growth, senior director of business development at DuPont Food & Ag, VP of business development at Maxygen/Verdia and senior scientist at DeKalb Genetics/Monsanto.

Dr McElroy obtained a PhD in plant molecular biology from Cornell University where he was a Fulbright Scholar and NATO Overseas Fellow, as well as a BSc (Hons) in plant science from University of Aberdeen. He is an inventor on 17 patent families.

He replaces current CEO and founder Professor Gary Loake, who will become chief scientific officer (CSO) and retain his position as acting chair.

Professor Loake said: “With his extensive experience in leading and building biotech and agbio companies, as well as his expertise in plant science, David is the perfect person to lead Green Bioactives as the company prepares for its next stages of growth.

“We are looking forward to launching our upcoming financing round and continuing to build our capabilities for the production of plant-derived natural products in an environmentally sustainable and commercially viable manner.”

Dr McElroy said: “I’m excited to be taking on this position at a time when the need to provide more sustainable access to valuable plant bioactives is more critical than ever.

“Green Bioactives’ platform gives us the potential to become the world’s leading supplier of safe, natural and sustainably-sourced plant-derived products, with strong commercial potential across a range of industries, and we are in a great position to begin realising that vision.”