Royal Society of Chemistry recognises Astex Scientists
Cambridge, UK, 22nd April 2008
Cambridge, UK, 22nd April 2008. Astex Therapeutics announced today that Dr. Harren Jhoti, Founder and CEO and Dr. David Rees, VP Medicinal Chemistry, have both been recognised with prestigious awards from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). The RSC is the largest organisation in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences.
Dr. Harren Jhoti has been named as Chemistry World Entrepreneur of the Year 2007, an accolade which recognises his role in starting and building Astex into one of the leading biotechnology companies in the sector. Astex has pioneered fragment-based drug discovery, a new approach for discovering small molecule drugs that is now regarded by the pharmaceutical sector as one of the most innovative new technologies to be established in the last 5-10 years. The Award was presented to Dr. Jhoti at the annual awards ceremony dinner held at Burlington House, London, on 17th April.
“I’m delighted to receive this award on behalf of the whole Astex team. This achievement confirms the talent and commitment of our staff and underlines our position as one of the true pioneers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry,” stated Dr. Jhoti.
Dr. David Rees is a co-recipient of the Malcolm Campbell Memorial Prize 2007 for groundbreaking work on the anaesthesia drug sugammadex, undertaken during his time at Organon Research Scotland. This prize is given by the RSC to recognise outstanding work which makes a significant contribution to the fields of biological and medicinal science. Organon has subsequently progressed sugammadex into phase 3 clinical evaluation and has recently submitted a new drug application.
“I am honoured to be a member of the team of scientists who received this chemistry prize,” stated Dr. Rees.
For more information on the awards, please visit the RSC website at:
http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/AwardsAndFunding/Innovation/innovationawards2007.asp
http://www.rsc.org/Membership/Networking/InterestGroups/BMCS/Activities/CampbellAward.asp
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Contacts
Astex Therapeutics Limited
Romaine Miles
Corporate Communications
Email: r.miles@astex-therapeutics.com
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 226200
Web: www.astex-therapeutics.com
About Astex
Astex Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops novel small molecule therapeutics. Using its pioneering fragment-based drug discovery platform Pyramid™, Astex has built a pipeline of five molecularly-targeted oncology drugs, of which two are currently being tested in clinical trials, one has IND approval, and two are in pre-clinical development.
In addition to its proprietary research programmes, Astex’s productivity in lead discovery has been endorsed through numerous partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, AstraZeneca, and Boehringer Ingelheim.
For further information on Astex Therapeutics please visit the Company’s website at www.astex-therapeutics.com