David Rees (organic chemist)
British chemist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
British chemist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Charles Rees (born 1958) CChem FRSC FMedSci is a chemist recognised internationally for his innovative use of chemistry in drug discovery.[5] He is Chief Scientific Officer of biotechnology company Astex Pharmaceuticals, which is located in Cambridge, UK.
David Charles Rees | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 1958 (age 65–66) |
| Alma mater | University of Southampton (BSc), University of Cambridge (PhD) |
| Known for | Astex |
| Awards | Royal Society of Chemistry, Malcolm Campbell Award 2007[1]
Royal Society of Chemistry BMCS Hall of Fame 2020[2] Royal Society of Chemistry BMCS Lectureship 2021/2022[3] Fellowships Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2020) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Drug discovery, Medicinal chemistry, Organic chemistry |
| Institutions | Astex, AstraZeneca, Organon |
| Thesis | A new approach to the synthesis of aspidosperma alkaloids using tricarbonylcyclohexadienylium iron intermediates[4] |
| Website | astx |
Rees joined Astex in 2003 to lead its chemistry team. He became Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) in 2017.[6] In 2013, Astex was acquired for around USD $900 million[7] and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
Rees is associated with the discovery of three launched drugs: ribociclib (Astex-Novartis collaboration),[8] erdafitinib (Astex-Janssen collaboration)[9] as well as the anaesthetic reversal agent sugammadex (Organon, Merck),[10] which has been used in over 30 million patients in 60 countries and had global sales of US$1.2 billion in 2020.[11]
Rees has a BSc from the University of Southampton and PhD from the University of Cambridge.
Rees is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). He is one of the few industrial scientists to have served as President of its Organic Division (2010-2013), and was later elected to the RSC Board of Trustees (2015-2019).[12]
Rees has held visiting professorships at three UK universities, and sits on several scientific advisory boards for not-for-profit organisations. In 2020 he was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and inducted into the RSC BMCS Hall of Fame.[13] He has over 140 publications and patents.
Rees is also a Director of Ashanti Development, a charity that promotes clean water and sanitation in Ghana.
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
