A lot has happened over the last year but one of the high spots was the latest inductee to the 2020 RSC BMCS Hall of Fame. https://www.rscbmcs.org/awards/halloffame/

The BMCS is delighted to announce that David Rees PhD, FRSC, FMedSci, Chief Scientific Officer at Astex Pharmaceuticals, will be the 2020 inductee to its Hall of Fame, and the recipient of the associated medal. David is recognised internationally for his innovative use of chemistry in drug discovery. His research has forged bridges between academia and industry and he has held prominent positions in learned societies such as the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has led collaborations resulting in the discovery of three launched drugs, the anaesthetic agent Sugammadex which has been used in over 30 million patients in 60 countries, and the anti-cancer agents Ribociclib and Erdafitinib, both predicted to achieve blockbuster status. Much of Astex’s industry-leading productivity has been dependant on David’s chemical expertise. David is well known for his calm authority, scientific rigor and enthusiasm, and has over 140 publications and patents.

David gave a fabulous presentation at the 21st RSC / SCI Medicinal Chemistry Symposium in Cambridge and I'm delighted that this talk has been converted into an article published in RSC Medicinal Chemistry.

As many of you know I'm a keen advocate of looking at the number of patients treated rather than simple sales figures and David makes this point very eloquently.