Athena SWAN: Encouraging Equality Water Vapour in the Stratosphere Royal Institution Christmas Lectures Memories of Dan Brown & Herchel Smith As I See It
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Spring 2013 Athena SWAN: encouraging equality Water vapour in the stratosphere Royal Institution Christmas Lectures Memories of Dan Brown & Herchel Smith As I see it... Chemistry alumnus James Harrison moved from science to the City, and then back into chemistry-based industry. He talks to Sarah Houlton about how his Cambridge chemistry experience has shaped his career thus far – both directly and indirectly Can you tell us about your Cambridge profit, employment and the depth of our prod - experience? uct pipeline all increased. Archimica was sold a I came up to Cambridge and Robinson in 1992 couple of years ago to the Italian company – and like many people at Robinson at that Euticals, and I moved on. time, I didn’t apply there, but came through the pool system. But I’m very glad I ended up there How did that experience shape your – and it made me very motivated to beat all the next career move? chemists Christ’s chose ahead of me in the final The insight I gained into the pharmaceutical exams! I quickly gravitated towards chemistry industry led me to try the entrepreneurial in the natural sciences tripos, with my interests route, and I founded a new company, Cycle more on the physical and theoretical side. I Pharmaceuticals, one year ago. We believe that think the person who put most red ink on my many existing pharmaceuticals are not opti - work was Melinda Duer, and it was very inter - mised for patients and we are trying to do esting to be supervised by Lord Lewis. something about this. There is very much an I was then offered a PhD place in Dave King’s ethical component to our work – we want to do surface science group, but wrote up an MPhil well by doing good. after a year instead. I don’t think I was ready at We only work with existing approved drugs 21 for the move from the structured under - – we don’t touch anything in the clinical graduate world, and seeing my contemporaries pipeline where patient safety is not yet proven. having fun in London, I sold out – there’s no We have two areas of focus: bringing to market other way to describe it – and became a merg - our own pipeline of products, many of which ers and acquisitions banker in London with are for the under-served rare disease patient Morgan Stanley. population, and secondly repurposing and redeveloping discontinued drugs. That’s a far cry from surface science! Most of the 7,000-or-so identified rare dis - Yes, it was. But I saw the error of my ways after eases are genetic abnormalities that the patient three years, and joined an investment manage - is born with, and require life-long treatment. ment firm, Soros Private Equity Partners, While there are incentives for big pharma com - How do you go about finding drugs to involved in buying and selling companies. We’d panies to research and find new drugs for rare work on? buy them, and restructure and build them, to diseases, these new drugs are understandably We collaborate with experts, whether within create growing businesses. I naturally gravitated designed for babies so that they can take the the academic community or industry. They have back to chemistry and the industrial world, drug as soon as they are diagnosed. That’s great, often already had a long career, and have devel - putting some of the things I’d learnt at but there are no incentives for the big pharma oped ideas about drugs that might have poten - Cambridge to use. Many of the skills you learn company to adapt its drug as the child grows tial, perhaps with a different formulation, or in are relevant in any career – thinking from first and gets heavier and more active. There are a different indication. We are trying to find principles, structuring your arguments, and so instances of eight-year-olds popping 30 pills in these people, work with them, and make their on – and I like to think my chemistry back - the morning and another 30 at night because ideas reality by investing in the necessary devel - ground helped me persuade the head of R&D at each individual pill is optimised for a newborn! opment process. We also have a few ideas of a chemical company to throw their career in This is something we look to address. our own! with me, as the person trying to buy the com - There are many examples of these optimisa - pany. At least I understood some of the words! I tion opportunities – perhaps we can create a How much development work is bought and sold chemicals businesses from new formulation that does not need refrigera - required? Bayer, from Degussa (now Evonik), and from tion. One-year-olds may rarely be away from a This is the key skill set we bring. We have former Clariant – taking a division out of a big chemi - fridge for very long, but eight-year-olds want US and EU drug regulatory officers on our staff, cal conglomerate, then putting all the other to go to Alton Towers – a real problem for mum and therefore we know the right regulatory path - necessary pieces around it that a standalone and dad if they need to take their drugs every ways to use and what drug regulators require of business needs. few hours. And many rare diseases fall into us. Our background is also in drug manufactur - genetic ‘families’, so it may be possible to ing, so we know how to put pharmaceutical sup - Did you get more closely involved with repurpose an approved treatment for one dis - ply chains in place and manage them. any of the businesses? ease, to treat another. I did, yes. One chemical business I was respon - Our other area of focus is trying to bring What links do you maintain with the sible for buying from Clariant, a global manu - ‘dead’ drugs back to life. While many old drugs university? facturer of pharmaceutical ingredients called have been superseded by newer, better alterna - I was invited back to Robinson the other week Archimica, turned out to have all manner of tives, there are some where we think there are to give the annual scholars’ lecture, and I’m on issues, including fraud. We made the judgement good reasons why their use should increase the college’s investment committee, trying to that the existing management team would be again. For example, antibiotic resistance pat - give something back. Cambridge chemistry was unable to complete the business turnaround, as terns change, and returning to older drugs such a good training programme for life – the issues we found meant deep restructuring where resistance has not built up, can provide so many skills have been transferred to the was required, and I got the chance to do it therapeutic options. Then there are questions workplaces I’ve been in. I’m not sure I use the myself. So I went from being a board member such as whether the new generations of chemistry I learnt in James Keeler’s Part 1A lec - representing the investment company to chief antipsychotic drugs are really better than the tures directly in my daily life but, in a way, I do, executive, moving my family to Germany and older ones? So we are taking rights in discon - as the skills you learn from those courses – and then Switzerland. tinued drugs, and are looking to bring them not throwing paper aeroplanes at him – are Over the three years I led that business, sales, back to the market for the benefit of patients. really important. 2 Chem@Cam Spring 2013 Reluctant reactions Letters Fighting fires Identity crisis eChem@Cam Dear Editor Dear Editor, The death of Dan Brown prompts me I enjoy reading Chem@Cam . However, Chem@Cam is now being sent out by email to those to write to you, as I probably should I sometimes have difficulty with the who have asked for a pdf version rather than a hard have done before, and provide you photo captions. They could be part of copy in the mail. with some background on him, and the puzzles section! If you would like to swap your paper magazine for an also Herchel Smith. On page 13 of the Autumn 2012 e-version, then please send an email with the subject line Dan and I went to Cambridge issue, it helps to identify people by their ‘eChem@Cam’ to [email protected], and we’ll start to together in 1948 to work with Lord gender, but as I don’t know the people send you the mag electronically from the next issue. Todd, and we spent most of the next in the groups of three men, the captions Don’t forget to tell us your postal address so we can three years sharing digs, registered seem to be mixed up. Similarly, on page check that the correct person is being removed from the lodgings and rooms in Christ’s. Of 14 of the Spring 2012 issue, it was dif - mailing list for the paper magazine. course, we had known each other ficult to assign names to subjects in If you’re not sure what it will look like, you can check out much longer before that. We gradu - some of the photos. e-back issues on the newly redesigned department ated from Glasgow in 1944, and Best wishes, website, www.ch.cam.ac.uk moved to London – he to the Chester Peter Scott Beatty Institute, and I to the National Editor’s note: it’s always a balancing act Don’t worry if you still want to receive a paper copy – Institute of Medical Research in between squeezing in pictures, names, and we’ll continue to print and mail the magazine for the Hampstead, in 1945.