The Board

A member since 2002, Andrew was appointed Chair of PLG in October 2022.

Andrew is also currently serving as Vice-President of the International Partnering in Life-Sciences Society (IPLS), the umbrella group for similar Business Development groups across Europe.

Dr Toby Richardson is Senior Director, External Scientific Innovation, EMEA for Johnson & Johnson.

20+ years of business development experience, including in large pharmaceutical companies (AZ and J&J) and in the UK’s top ranked academic research centre, the ICR (as Head of Business Development and Licensing).  Experienced lead negotiator who has closed several major licensing deals, including to enable the acquisition of Yellow Jersey Therapeutics for $1.25bn, and concluded over 100 successful negotiations with companies, academic institutes, charity funders and CROs. 

Significant experience in leading all aspects of business development projects including valuation, negotiation, closing and alliance management

Dan is a senior healthcare executive with 25 years international business development and commercial operations leadership experience in pharma, CRO, clinical diagnostics, biotech and life science research.

Dan has worked in Canada, Germany and France and graduated from Brunel University in Applied Biochemistry. In 2011 Dan won the PLG/AstraZeneca BD Executive of the Year award.

Bethan Jacobs, our Treasurer, was formerly a Manager at NatWest Bank. For the last five years, she has worked as a Manager at Citizens Advice Bureau.

Keith Smith, PhD, is PLG’s Head of Professional Development. He has worked on collaborations and licensing in various industries including fine & heavy chemical, forestry, music, food, biotech, large pharma and consultancy as well as 4 business start-ups.

He is also a professional touring musician.

Dee is a Corporate Development professional with expertise in Corporate Strategy, M&A, and Business Development & Licensing. With a career spanning both industry and advisory roles, Dee has held corporate development positions at LifeArc, Oxford Biomedica (OXB), Rosemont Pharmaceuticals, and AMCo (Advanz Pharma), as well as roles in PwC’s Transaction Services, Equity Research at Piper Jaffray (Piper Sandler) and R&D at Pfizer and Nektar Therapeutics.

She has recently led acquisition and licensing deals relating to antibody and oligonucleotide discovery platforms, and the evaluation and execution of high-impact company acquisitions that enhanced geographic expansion and operational capabilities.

Adrian is a seasoned IP lawyer who relishes immersing himself in his client’s technology, product roadmap and patent/IP strategy. He is regularly involved in the negotiation and drafting of technology licence agreements and other contracts with a heavy IP element, such as R&D collaborations, joint ventures, grant funding agreements and other commercial arrangements. He also advises on the EC and UK competition law aspects of these agreements, and issues relating to technical standardisation, essential IPR and patent pooling.

Adrian has a wealth of experience in handling the IP aspects of University spin-outs, IPOs and other major corporate transactions and disputes, including for FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 corporations. He is also a valued patent litigator, having recently advised on disputes involving pharmaceuticals, somatic cell therapy, semiconductor chip design, inkjet printing technology, digital compression algorithms, LCD flat-panel technology, telecoms and pharmaceuticals. He also frequently helps clients with disputes involving confidential information, database rights, trade marks, copyright and designs.

Adrian publishes and speaks regularly on a variety of intellectual property issues.

Campbell has served on the PLG Board since 2004 and was Chairman from 2010 until February 2016. He worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 35 years, the last 25 of which were at AstraZeneca where he held several senior business development positions. Campbell has experience of all aspects of business development but his main focus has been on transactions where he has completed over 50 deals.

Campbell has a BSc in pharmacology from Edinburgh University and a PhD in cardiovascular pharmacology from the University of Wales. He was formerly with Beecham Pharmaceuticals (now GSK) before joining ICI Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca) in 1989. He took up his first business development role in 1996.

Campbell has been an independent business development consultant (Wilson BioPharma Consulting) since early 2014. He is also Senior Pharmaceutical Advisor to Frontier IP.

Puja has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with extensive expertise in mergers & acquisitions, in-licensing, and project management across a wide range of therapy areas, geographies, and product types, including Rx, OTC, Gx, and late-stage development. She has managed end-to-end business development processes from target identification through to post-deal execution, successfully leading due diligence, negotiations, and cross-functional teams in international and multicultural settings.

Throughout her career, Puja has built a strong track record in deal-making and project leadership, complemented by excellent team-building skills and the ability to deliver results in complex global environments.

Chris has over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, spanning R&D and strategic business development roles. Currently serving as Executive Director of Business Development Transactions at GSK, Chris acts as the transaction lead for global deals to access innovative medicines, novel science, and cutting-edge platform technologies. He has a proven track record of structuring and executing high-impact transactions that deliver significant value to R&D pipelines. Prior to GSK, Chris was Director of Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer, with responsibility for business development activities associated with in-licensing, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and out-licensing.

Chris holds an M.B.A. as well as a first-class honours degree in pharmacology.

Matthew is a seasoned pharmaceutical executive with over 20 years of experience in commercial and business development roles. As Senior Director of Business Development & Licensing at Grünenthal, he leads transactions across Europe, CIS, Asia, and the Middle East, specializing in out-licensing and strategic partnerships. Matthew has a proven track record of delivering high-value deals and fostering long-term collaborations.

Prior to joining Grünenthal, he held key business development positions at Norgine and AstraZeneca, where he was responsible for in-licensing, out-licensing, acquisitions, and partner management.

Sally is Transactions Director at AstraZeneca’s Business Development Operations team who are responsible for AstraZeneca’s clinical and on-market asset transactions. Before this role Sally spent five years at AstraZeneca’s Business Development and Licensing team of Biopharma R&D, focusing on preclinical asset, platform and technologies deals.  

Prior to joining AstraZeneca Sally worked at the University of Edinburgh technology transfer office where her responsibilities included the development and commercialisation of IP from the College of Medicine. Sally has also worked as a business analyst at PharmaVentures, a life sciences deals consultancy firm providing strategic intelligence to pharma and biotech clients. Sally holds a PhD in protein-ligand docking.

Simon is a pharmaceutical professional with more than 30 years’ experience in the industry. Simon is a diligent and creative deal maker with a particular interest in Pharma technology licensing, having worked on a range of deals on both the buy and sell side of the table,
from small licensing transactions to company acquisition.

Simon also has experience covering all aspects of the pharmaceutical development process with a particular interest in orally inhaled and nasal drug products (OINDP).