Dr Sam Barker is the Chief Business Officer at ViaNautis, having joined the company in 2021 as Vice President of Business Development. Before this, he served as Director of Business Development at Midatech Pharma (now Biodexa Pharmaceuticals), where he secured and managed alliances with pharmaceutical partners. As part of the leadership team at ViaNautis, Dr Barker oversees partnering and licensing activities and brings particular expertise in developing and commercialising innovative platform technologies.

He began his biotech career at Phoremost Ltd, working as a scientist developing target‑discovery screening platforms before progressing into alliance management and subsequently business development roles. Dr Barker is a molecular biologist by training and completed his PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Exeter, conducted in collaboration with the Drug Discovery Unit in Dundee and DSTL Porton Down.