Drugs discovery innovator sets sights on “huge opportunity” with seven new board members

The Medicines Discovery Catapult, a new life sciences hub based in Cheshire, has welcomed a raft of international names to drive its aim of making the UK a global leader in the development and launch of new medicines.

Located at the Alderley Park development in the heart of the Northern Powerhouse, the MDC, which works with businesses, academies and regulatory bodies to uncover and verify new ways of discovering medicines, this week appointed seven new faces to its board as non-executive directors.

Entrepreneur and pharmacologist Dr Clive Dix, who has over three decades of experience in research-based and commercial roles, has joined the MDC alongside journalist and political analyst Peter Kellner, who formerly worked as the president of market research firm YouGov.

Sir Alex Markham, a professor of medicine at the University of Leeds and the director of its MRC Medical Bioinformatics, is also among the newly appointed board members, as is Chris Reilly, a professional with experience in the discovery and development of new medicines.

Lastly, the MDC has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of engineer Kate Bellingham, a fellow of the Women’s Engineering Society; Carole Longson, who works in the identification and assessment of innovative medicines; and Prof. Clive Morris, a pharmaceutical medicines specialist.

The chairman of the MDC, Prof. Graham Boulnois, said he believes the organisation now faces “a huge opportunity” to pioneer improved approaches for discovering breakthrough drugs with the new board members in place.

He said: “I’m delighted that these seven outstanding colleagues have chosen to join us on the journey towards making the UK a world-leader in this work.

“Their combined skills give us unrivalled expertise across a portfolio which includes small molecules, biologicals, cell and gene therapy, and platform technologies.

He added: “I am looking forward to working with our new non-executive directors and to making the Catapult a hub for transformational approaches to drug discovery.”

The newcomers will take up their new roles in May.