The Award was presented to Dr. Jhoti by BIA Chair, Dr. Jane Osbourn.
| Cambridge, UK, 26 January 2018 - Astex, a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics for oncology and diseases of the central nervous system, announced today that Harren Jhoti Ph.D., co-founder of Astex and President and CEO of Astex Pharmaceuticals (UK) has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA). The Award was presented to Dr. Jhoti by BIA Chair, Dr. Jane Osbourn, at the BIA Gala Dinner, the BIA’s annual flagship event, which was held last night at The Brewery, in central London. The BIA Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest accolade awarded by the BIA, recognises outstanding contribution to the life sciences sector in the UK. The award is made in recognition of Dr. Jhoti’s scientific contributions to the UK life science sector, his entrepreneurial approach and his commitment to scaling and supporting UK biotech. Dr. Jhoti has steered Astex to become one of the UK’s most successful biotech companies. Employing some 130 staff at its research headquarters in Cambridge UK and over 200 worldwide, including at its clinical development and regulatory headquarters in Pleasanton, California, USA, Astex is today an independent wholly-owned subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, with a focus on cancer and diseases of the central nervous system. The Company has applied its leading fragment-based discovery platform and other technologies to the development of an internal pipeline of proprietary novel therapies and several partnered products are being developed under collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies. 2017 was a pivotal year for the company with Kisqali® (ribociclib, formerly known as LEE011), a drug co-discovered under a partnership with Novartis receiving marketing approval in the USA and Europe as a treatment for advanced (metastatic) breast cancer. On receiving the Award last night Dr. Jhoti commented, “As scientists we always hope that our discoveries will make a difference and as entrepreneurs we strive to build sustainable companies to translate those discoveries into significant new medicines for patients. At Astex we have been lucky enough to achieve both of these goals due largely to our highly talented team. These achievements have been made possible by playing an active part in the life sciences community in Cambridge and the UK, and I’m delighted and humbled to have received this award from the BIA. Jane Osbourn, BIA Chairman, said: “Harren’s contribution to the UK biotech sector recognises his combination of scientific and leadership skills, as well as his passion and determination to succeed. He has risen to the challenges of driving innovation, developing productive partnerships, raising investment capital and motivating a team. He makes an active contribution to initiatives in the UK biotech sector and provides a role-model for today’s entrepreneurs.” |
