Dr. Paul Leeson – General Advisory Board Member

UK based Dr Paul Leeson brings over 35 years’ experience as a medicinal chemistry consultant with major pharmaceutical companies including Merck Sharp and Dohme, Wyeth (USA), AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline. He has advised pharmas, startups and academia since 2014.

Dr Leeson has a PhD from the University of Cambridge, along with an honorary professorship at the University of Nottingham. Most notably, Paul was the Head of Medicinal Chemistry at AstraZeneca’s UK, Charnwood site from 1997-2011. In this role he led AstraZeneca’s Global Chemistry Forum, holding accountability for the company’s chemistry strategy. Paul has seen many drugs enter clinical stage testing at AZ, with drug discovery spanning cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation therapy areas.

Dr Leeson’s special interest in compound quality led to his being awarded the Nauta Award from the European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry in 2014.