The (Secret) Barrier Breaker

How did your career in pharma begin?

I had always wanted to become a doctor. But no plan runs true to course – much to my mother’s relief. She always said it was divine intervention and a blessed relief to the human race that my medical ambitions didn’t come to fruition, as I wasn’t made to look after the sick! I got sucked into the world of immunology while studying at the University of Birmingham. By the time I had finished my PhD, my attentions had turned towards research and it was a case of serendipity that Smith, Kline and French (SK&F) had been looking for an immunologist who understood the effect of drugs on the immune system, as well as their role in blood disorders. At the time the company was small, but was working on big projects that would propel it into international acclaim.

How did your career in pharma begin?

I had always wanted to become a doctor. But no plan runs true to course – much to my mother’s relief. She always said it was divine intervention and a blessed relief to the human race that my medical ambitions didn’t come to fruition, as I wasn’t made to look after the sick! I got sucked into the world of immunology while studying at the University of Birmingham. By the time I had finished my PhD, my attentions had turned towards research and it was a case of serendipity that Smith, Kline and French (SK&F) had been looking for an immunologist who understood the effect of drugs on the immune system, as well as their role in blood disorders. At the time the company was small, but was working on big projects that would propel it into international acclaim.

What were your early achievements?

When I joined SK&F in the late 1970s, they were working on the world’s first blockbuster drug, cimetidine, a drug used to inhibit stomach acid production. And while I can’t claim any credit for the launch of the drug, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the company during its formative years and see many successful products sent to market. I was part of the team that launched Clearblue in 1985 and Clearblue One Step in 1988. They were massive technological breakthroughs and it is amazing to think that they are still highly recognizable products. And though I’ve never helped a patient in a hospital setting directly, I’ve been able to touch the lives of many through the products I’ve helped bring to market. Perhaps I’m not as bad at helping the sick as my mother thought!

What led you to the Pistoia Alliance?

As I was approaching the ripe old age of 60, I was working for PricewaterhouseCoopers, where partners retire at 60. Things were going well but I didn’t want to spend my last year there with people waiting for me to retire! I decided that I would start a portfolio career. I wanted to give something back to the industry and sit on the boards of startup companies and support R&D. And then John Wise from the Pistoia Alliance operations team asked me to apply to the Pistoia Alliance board for the position of President. He was very persistent! And I thought it would be a challenging, interesting role because I’d need to convince people that they had to collaborate in a completely open structure. I’d have no power to force them to collaborate – I’d have to convince them through goodwill and influence.

What exactly does the Pistoia Alliance do?

I’ve become quite famous for saying that the Pistoia Alliance is one of the industry’s best-kept secrets. It seems as though people are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the organization – they either know us well or have no clue! The people who know of the organization admire what we stand for and are willing to get involved with our initiatives, but I guess they must want to a keep a good thing to themselves…

The Pistoia Alliance is a global non-profit organization committed to forming collaborations between life science companies, technology and service providers, publishers and academic groups. We’re all working together to increase innovation and lower the barriers in R&D. We consider our members to be equals in the projects they participate in because they are generating data that is of significant value to the worldwide life sciences community and should result in better healthcare for all.

Though the role has presented its challenges, the growth we’ve seen over the course of the last four years has been enormous. The success of our projects has done a lot to help industry players from academia and industry join forces and move the industry into new areas.

What’s your focus for 2019?

If Brexit doesn’t make the world fall apart, I’m quite certain that 2019 will be a positive year for the Pistoia Alliance. Of course, there will be some additional challenges because we’re trying to forecast what the next decade will look like for the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.

We’ve recently developed a life sciences innovation report with Clarivate Analytics to help identify the emerging trends driving innovation in the R&D industry. The data-driven report assesses the companies and academic institutions who have drugs in the pipeline and puts forward a list of the top 30 molecules and innovative products based on the data collected.

Our Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) is another pursuit we’re very excited about. For years, AL/ML was only accessible to an elite group of specialists but we’re now entering an era where its applications are more widespread than ever before. And though AL/MI has the capability to provide solutions within the life science space, regulatory approval will make all the difference when it comes to how well these technologies permeate the industry and influence innovation.

Most importantly as we move into 2019, we remind ourselves of the continued need to better understand all of our members so that we can break down even more barriers in the world of R&D.