Harren Jhoti receives BIA Lifetime Achievement Award at Annual Gala Dinner

Harren Jhoti, co-founder of Astex and President and CEO of Astex Pharmaceuticals, was awarded the BioIndustry Association (BIA) Lifetime Achievement Award at the BIA’s annual Gala Dinner last night. Over 700 life science professionals gathered at The Brewery in London for the premier bioscience networking event of the year, including Lord O’Shaughnessy, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care.
 
Presenting the award, 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.”
 
On receiving the Award Harren 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.”

 
Notes to Editors
 
Bio for Harren Jhoti PH.D.
 
Harren Jhoti co-founded Astex in 1999 and was Chief Scientific Officer until November 2007 when he was appointed Chief Executive Officer.  He also served as President and member of the Board of Directors of Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc., following the merger of Astex with SuperGen Inc., (subsequently renamed Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc.) in July 2011.

Dr. Jhoti was elected a Fellow of Royal Society of Biology in 2017, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2016, and of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2015.  He was awarded the Prous Institute-Overton and Meyer Award for New Technologies in Drug Discovery by the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry in 2012 and was also named by the Royal Society of Chemistry as “Chemistry World Entrepreneur of the Year” for 2007.

He has published widely including in leading journals such as Nature and Science and has also been featured in TIME magazine having been named by the World Economic Forum a Technology Pioneer in 2005. He has served on the board of the BIA, the UK BioIndustry Association and currently consults for life science venture capital firms.

Before founding Astex in 1999, he was head of Structural Biology and Bioinformatics at GlaxoWellcome in the United Kingdom (1991-1999).  Prior to Glaxo, Dr. Jhoti was a post-doctoral scientist at Oxford University.  He received a B.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Protein Crystallography from the University of London in 1989

BioIndustry Association
 
Established over 25 years ago at the infancy of biotechnology, the BioIndustry Association (BIA) is the trade association for innovative enterprises involved in UK bioscience. Members include emerging and more established bioscience companies; pharmaceutical companies; academic, research and philanthropic organisations; and service providers to the bioscience sector. The BIA represents the interests of its members to a broad section of stakeholders, from government and regulators to patient groups and the media. Our goal is to secure the UK's position as a global hub and as the best location for innovative research and commercialisation, enabling our world-leading research base to deliver healthcare solutions that can truly make a difference to people's lives. 
 
For further information, please go to www.bioindustry.org and twitter.com/BIA_UK
 
Contact
Farhan Mitha
 
Communications Executive, BioIndustry Association
 
Email: [email protected]
 
Phone: 020 7630 2183