Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based President operating in the Pharmaceutical space. If you think a President is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Shaun Grady
Vice-President Business Development Operations of AstraZeneca
Shaun Grady has responsibility for Global Business Development at AstraZeneca, leading the company’s transaction execution, due diligence and Alliance and Integration Management function including externalisation, licensing and partnering, M&A, and divestments. Shaun was appointed to his current role in 2013 with the creation of the Global Product and Portfolio Strategy (GPPS) unit. Prior to this, he was Vice President, Strategic Partnering & Business Development (2010-13) and Vice President, Corporate Business Development (2006-10). Shaun originally joined ICI as an attorney and held positions in the pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and legal departments. Following the demerger from ICI, he was appointed Assistant General Counsel, Corporate for Zeneca. Shaun worked on the merger of Astra and Zeneca, the merger of Zeneca Agrochemicals with Novartis Agribusiness to form Syngenta, and the creation of Avecia. Shaun also worked on the acquisition of Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), led the acquisition of Amylin, and subsequent buy-out of Bristol-Myers’ Squibb’s interest in the AZ-BMS Diabetes Alliance. In addition, he has spent time in the US business managing the legal function and also completed a two year secondment to HR, leading a global People Strategy change project. Shaun is an Honorary Fellow in Entrepreneurship at Cambridge Judge Business School and is a member of the Board of Cambridge United Football Club and Cambridge Arts Theatre. Based in Cambridge, Shaun enjoys rugby and football, and occasionally turns his hand to sports writing.
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About AstraZeneca: AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets prescription medicines.
Jeanne Bolger
Vice President Venture Investing of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation
Jeanne Bolger, MB BCh BAO, Vice President, Venture Investments, joined Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC) in 2013. She is based in London, UK. Dr. Bolger has over 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in management roles across R&D, Commercial and Business Development (BD). She spent 11 years in Licensing and Acquisition (L&A), most recently as Global Head of Scientific Licensing for Johnson & Johnson’s Pharmaceutical business, having joined Johnson & Johnson in 2005 from the Business Development group at GlaxoSmithKline. In 2009, Dr. Bolger became Vice President, Alliance Management at Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy, working with Pfizer and Elan. Dr. Bolger received her medical degree from University College Dublin. She also holds diplomas in Child Health (NUI) and in Finance and Accounting (ACCA). She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Ireland (RAMI). Dr. Bolger has served as the sole pharma industry representative on two Irish government taskforces seeking to enhance the commercialization of IP from Irish academic centres. She is a visiting lecturer on the MSc Pharmaceutical Medicine curriculum at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
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About Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Pulmocide: Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, a venture capital subsidiary, finances technology companies focused on patient health.
Alun McCarthy
Vice President of C4X Discovery
Alun has over 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, including drug discovery & development, genetics and biomarker research. Alun was co-founder and CEO of both Adorial (in 2014) and of PGXIS (in 2007). Former roles at GlaxoSmithKline include Head of Translational Medicine & Genetics for Psychiatry, Director of Clinical Pharmacogenetics, and Medical Strategy Head for CV/Metabolic Diseases. Alun has managed staff on a global basis, and has significant experience of engaging with regulatory authorities in the US, Europe and Japan. He holds a BA (Biochemistry) from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD (Biochemistry) from Trinity College, Dublin.
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About C4X Discovery: C4X Discovery brings a new dimension to drug discovery. Using its unique NMR-based technique to determine 3D molecular.
Martin Watson
Vice President of C4X Discovery
Martin was one of the first employees of the Company, coming from AstraZeneca plc where he had worked for 4 years in the industrial application of NMR to drug discovery. He has a first class masters chemistry degree from the University of Birmingham and a PhD from the University of Sheffield. He has applied NMR techniques across a wide range of drug targets.
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About C4X Discovery: C4X Discovery brings a new dimension to drug discovery. Using its unique NMR-based technique to determine 3D molecular.
Victoria Kitcatt
Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of Pfizer
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Dipankar Bhattacharjee
President & CEO: Generics Europe of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Mr. Dipankar Bhattacharjee was appointed President and CEO, Generics Europe in April 2013. Mr. Bhattacharjee joined Teva as Chief Executive Officer, Teva UK Limited in 2009. Prior to joining Teva, he served 15 years at Bausch + Lomb in various senior roles, including Vice President, Commercial in both Europe and Asia-Pacific regions, and Corporate Vice President and President, Asia Pacific Region. Mr. Bhattacharjee began his career at Nestlé SA and Bank of America. Mr. Bhattacharjee received a BA in Economics from St. Stephens College, University of Delhi, and a Masters degree in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, University of Mumbai.
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About Teva Pharmaceutical Industries: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the development, production and marketing of generic.
Martin Ducker
Vice President of Juvenescence
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About Juvenescence: Juvenescence is a biotech company that develops therapies and products to modify aging and help people live longer.
Anne Prener
President & CEO of Imbria Pharmaceuticals
Anne brings to Freeline over 25 years of experience in drug development and executive leadership across several therapeutic areas, with special focus on rare diseases and gene therapy. Anne most recently served as the CEO of Gyroscope Therapeutics, a preclinical gene therapy company focusing on ophthalmology, where she continues to serve as a non-executive Member of the Board. From 2014-2016, Anne was VP of Clinical Research Haematology and Global Therapeutic Area Head of Haematology in Baxalta, Boston, USA. In this role, she secured several new product approvals (US and EU). Before this, Anne held a number of senior leadership positions in a broad range of functional areas at Novo Nordisk, Denmark, leading global drug development programmes from research to commercialisation, and bringing several products to market globally. Anne has an MD from Copenhagen University and holds a PhD in Epidemiology.
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About Imbria Pharmaceuticals, Kaleido BioSciences: Imbria Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company with locations in San Diego, CA, and Boston, MA.
Martin Lachs
Vice President Global Project Management of ICON plc
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About ICON plc: ICON is a global provider of outsourced drug development services to biopharma, medical device, biosimilar and generic organizations.
Pablo Graiver
President and Founder of Antidote.me
Pablo Graiver is Co-Founder of Antidote Technologies Ltd. (a/k/a TrialReach Ltd.) and serves as its Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director. Pablo Graiver served as Vice President of Business Development, Europe of Kayak Software Corporation. He has over 12 years of entrepreneurial and management experience in the online industry. He was an early member of NetJuice, one of the largest Internet incubators in Europe; MD at Donde Comprar.com, the first e-commerce directory in Spanish; and later co-founder and Vice President of Strategy at Kelkoo, acquired by Yahoo! in 2004. Pablo Graiver set up and launched Kayak.com in Europe, and served as European Sales Director at ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK). He studied Biology and Business Administration at UAM in Madrid.
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About Antidote.me: Antidote is a digital health company that accelerates and improves medical research by combining technologies, data, and business models.
Christopher Vann
Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of Autolus
Christopher Vann leads commercial activities for Autolus. An industry veteran with 30 years’ experience in both development and business roles, he joined Autolus from Hoffmann-La Roche’s Swiss headquarters, where he was latterly responsible for leading the lung cancer commercial team and general management of the Tarceva brand. He has extensive experience of global lifecycle management of oncology products as well as implementing marketing strategy at a regional and national level. This includes launching several oncology, immunology and transplant products in countries such as China, Japan, Romania, Russia, South Africa, the UK and the USA. He gained his degree in toxicology and pharmacology from the School of Pharmacy, University of London.
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About Autolus: Autolus is in T-cell programming and manufacturing technology.
Arif Shivji
Senior Vice President, Business and Corporate Development and Development Operations of Drugabilis
Dr Shivji is a co-founder of Ziarco and was previously Vice President of Development Operations and Business Development. Dr Shivji has a broad experience of drug discovery, development and commercialization and has contributed to bringing 10 commercially available products to the market, through various leadership roles in pharmaceutical sciences and global project management. Prior to Ziarco, he was in Pfizer’s Business Development group. In this role, he was responsible for in-licensing, out-licensing and research collaborations with universities, medical research institutions, governments and companies for Pfizer’s Allergy and Respiratory and Anti-Infectives businesses. Dr Shivji has a degree in Pharmacy, and a PhD in Biophysics from the University of Nottingham, under the direction of Professors’ Martyn Davies, Saul Tendler, Clive Roberts and Phil Williams. His post doctoral research was sponsored by Glaxo SmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals and focussed on understanding the role and mechanism of beta amyloid deposition in Alzheimer’s Disease. Dr Shivji has authored and co-authored a number of scientific papers, abstracts and patents and regularly contributes to scientific and business development meetings. He is currently also a visiting professor at the University of Reading.
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About Drugabilis: Drugabilis specializes in solid form characterisation and formulation development for human and animal health.
Robert Zimmer
President & Chief Science Officer of ImmuPharma
Dr. Robert Zimmer was the founder and chief executive officer of both ImmuPharma Switzerland and ImmuPharma France. He is an expert in clinical pharmacology and life cycle management. He was instrumental in developing a substantial number of products for clients including Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott, Searle, Sanofi-Aventis and Lilly. He began his career in Roche’s headquarters in Basle as coordinator of clinical pharmacology and international clinical leader. He subsequently joined Jago Pharma, the drug delivery company, and became a director and head of research and development at SkyePharma after it acquired JAGO. He obtained his MD at Strasbourg Medical School and his PHD at the University of Aix-Marseille.
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About ImmuPharma: ImmuPharma plc is a United Kingdom-based drug discovery and development company. The Company is focused on developing drugs.
Nick Child
Vice President of Stablepharma Ltd
Nick Child – Vice President & Co Founder Experienced company leader, business developer, multi-disciplined & experienced in UK & International markets, manufacturing & distribution. Initiated various start-ups, acquisitions, & funding rounds.
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About Stablepharma Ltd: An innovative Biotech, developing a wide range of reformulated thermostable and fridge free StablevaX vaccines
Debasish Talukdar
President, Global Head of Advisory of Prescient Healthcare Group
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About Prescient Healthcare Group: Prescient Healthcare Group was founded in London in 1995, originally specializing in competitive insights.
Rakesh Verma
President of Prescient Healthcare Group
Rakesh is the President of our EMEA and APAC businesses. After earning a degree in veterinary medicine, he completed his Master’s and doctoral degrees in immunology at Imperial College, School of Medicine, London. He was then recruited by oncology biotech firm Antisoma, which specialized in the development and out-licensing of monoclonal antibodies. He joined Prescient in 2007. His renowned expertise in the development and commercialization of biologics makes him an extremely valuable asset to our oncology, immunology and biosimilar clients.
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About Prescient Healthcare Group: Prescient Healthcare Group was founded in London in 1995, originally specializing in competitive insights.
Alfredo Boni
Founder & President of Creabilis
Alfredo Boni was the CEO of a large service company, Boni S.p.A, which has operated since 1964 across Europe within many industries in the field of general maintenance, cleaning and sterilization. He was also the founder of a consortium of more than 150 companies devoted to global service for various institutions including hospitals. His industrial, financial and administrative experience in founding and acquiring companies and his entrepreneurial spirit are now being devoted to the world of biotechnology.
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About Creabilis: Creabilis, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on dermatology, discovers and develops new medicines for a range of skin disorders.
Nicholas Lakin
Vice President, Advisory Services of Kinapse
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About Kinapse: Kinapse provides advisory, capability building and operational services to the life sciences industries.
