Dr. David Rees

David joined Astex in 2003 to lead the chemistry team and in 2017 became CSO. He is associated with the discovery of three launched drugs, the anti-cancer agents ribociclib (Astex Novartis collaboration), erdafitinib (Astex Janssen collaboration), and the anaesthetic agent sugammadex (Organon, Merck) which has been used in over 50 million patients. In 2020 he was inducted into the RSC BMCS Hall of Fame and in 2023 received a Hero of Chemistry award from the American Chemical Society. Currently he serves on the Board of Directors of The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Parkinson’s Research Ventures, and Ashanti Development.

Opening Keynote: 25 Years of Thinking Small

Astex has been researching Fragment Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) for 25 years and has contributed to the discovery of three launched drugs for cancer patients, ribociclib (Astex Novartis collaboration), erdafitinib (Astex Newcastle University, then Astex Janssen collaboration), and capivasertib (Astex, AstraZeneca, and ICR collaborations). Astex have progressed several other projects from fragment-to-clinical trials.  This lecture will describe some of these projects, the lessons learnt, and opportunities for the future as we investigate the potential for CryoEM to impact on FBDD.