Neil was previously Senior Vice-President, Discovery, at UCB S.A., overseeing an integrated portfolio of small molecule and antibody therapeutic projects in the areas of immunology and neurology. Neil and his teams have been responsible for transitioning 33 new chemical entities into development in immunology, oncology, bone and neurology.
Neil was one of the inventors of the drug Cimzia®, a novel pegylated anti-TNF. Prior to his role at UCB, Neil was Head of Discovery at Celltech R&D in the UK, during which time he was involved in the discovery and development of antibody and antibody fragment-based drugs including the first dual signalling domain chimeric receptor now known as second generation CAR-T.
Neil received a BSc in Biology from Edinburgh University and a PhD at the Institute of Biotechnology, University of Kent at Canterbury studying metabolic flux through amino acid biosynthesis pathways. Neil served as chair of the board of Beryllium BioSciences and is a non-exec member of the boards of the RNA Medicines company and Ondek. Neil chaired the UK ABPI innovation board from 2012 to 2018.
