Prior to commencing his role as MDC Chairman in 2018, Robin was Chief Executive Officer of KWS BioTest, a specialist immunology-based contract research organisation that was acquired by Charles River Laboratories in January 2018. Immediately before joining KWS, Robin spent eight years as a venture partner at Advent Healthcare Ventures (US) and was responsible for the scientific direction and corporate governance of a number of companies in their portfolio. Prior to this he was the Chief Scientific Officer of Devgen (acquired by Syngenta) and Galapagos NV.
Robin is well placed to lead a diverse Board of scientists, entrepreneurs and corporate governance specialists who are committed to supporting the UK’s SME biotech community and reshaping UK drug discovery.
In its first 5 years MDC has delivered tangible R&D impacts across the whole of UK’s medicines discovery sector from its base in the North-West; the nation’s second largest life sciences cluster. It also spearheaded the creation of the UK Lighthouse Lab network, which has tested over 109 million PCR samples and remains at the core of the UK’s pandemic response in PCR testing.
Robin, and the MDC Board, will help shape and oversee MDCs ambitious future endeavours with a plan that reflects MDC’s successes to date, supports the UK’s Life Sciences Vision for excellence in R&D and creates a nurturing business environment for UK companies and investors. They will also oversee the recently announced move to a sustainable private sector future for the Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab.
Although the past eighteen months have been highly challenging, for Robin, the pandemic has ushered in an exciting new era for the region’s life sciences sector and drug discovery more broadly.
He said: “The pandemic has shown the critical importance of the life sciences sector, which is why I’m delighted to be reappointed Chairman at such a pivotal time for both MDC and the industry.
“MDC pioneers the next generation of medicine technologies and drug discovery pipelines, which can otherwise be high risk for industry. We have applied unique collections of R&D assets, created new drug discovery coalitions, and helped the sector develop new software tools. All of which bring new investment into our sector.
“That impact will continue to reverberate upon the industry as we further mature and scale. I’m poised to continue guiding this unique organisation, and its many talented people, in its mission to bring better therapies to patients, faster.”
