Interview: From lab bench to leader

When Richard Weaver joined AstraZeneca R&D in Charnwood, Leicestershire in 1997 as a lab bench-based researcher within Discovery DMPK, he thought he had found his perfect job. The pharmaceutical industry was on the crest of a wave and there was plenty of money. He also had excellent qualifications, including a PhD in chemistry, and over the next 14 years developed an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of in vitro and in vivo DMPK from hit identification to candidate drug nomination and beyond and progressed to Team Leader.

But the ‘golden age’ of Big Pharma had begun to lose some of its lustre by 2002–2003 and the industry started slowly to change. R&D spend had doubled over 20 years, the patent cliff was looming for blockbuster drugs, and the industry couldn’t keep spending money for little reward. A massive reduction in headcount in the research departments of Big Pharma began, together with a move to more outsourcing to cut costs. Weaver found himself caught up in the changes.

I started to question what we were outsourcing – was it capability or creativity?

‘I was asked to assess potential outsourcing partners in the Far East and we went through due diligence. But I felt there were many cultural differences between the Far East and the UK – for example, in the East, you don’t often challenge your peers, whereas in the UK there is often robust discussion about scientific methods and results. I could never find out exactly what the Chinese researchers had been doing. The challenges that we found could have been owing to cultural differences or to a lack of real-world drug discovery experience but I started to question what we were outsourcing – was it capability or creativity?’

‘The “bean counters” had a shortsighted view, in my opinion. They weren’t changing the process, they were just cutting costs,’ says Weaver.

In 2011, when AstraZeneca decided to close the R&D plant in Charnwood, Weaver was offered another job within the group at Alderley Park in Cheshire, but he didn’t want his fate to be in the hands of something that he felt wasn’t sustainable and so he decided he would do something different. ‘I wanted to take control of the situation,’ he says.

Weaver says he’s always had an entrepreneurial spirit and the steady decline of Big Pharma was becoming ‘blindingly obvious’ to him. One of the results of this demise was the opportunity for entrepreneurial scientists to create something of their own. In financial terms, Weaver had a cushion of 12 months as a result of redundancy payment before he needed to find a job, so he decided to take a risk.

The “bean counters” weren’t changing the process, they were just cutting costs

He knew that the department that he was part of at AstraZeneca was world class in the DMPK field and had a proven and internationally recognised track record of delivery in drug discovery. He also recognised that identifying poor compounds early through scientific rigour is key in preventing progression into more expensive preclinical tests. Even a minor improvement in early-stage drug failure prediction will result in significant time and cost savings for the R&D process.

In addition, the application of chemistry knowledge in the DMPK sector was crucial for success. Furthermore, he could see that there was a huge demand for contract research organisations (CROs) and that he, with a small group of his former colleagues, had something unique. He therefore founded XenoGesis with a clear five-year plan. ‘I called the company XenoGesis, which is derived from two Greek words: Xenos (foreign), which in our field of drug discovery refers to xenobiotics i.e. substances foreign to the body such as drug molecules; and Exegesis, which stands for the critical review and interpretation,’ he explains.

The company, based at BioCity, Nottingham, was set up in 2011 with three full-time employees. Another four people have since joined and in 2013 it expanded with an additional laboratory and office space. The team has a balance of skills and combines bioanalytical capabilities with expert pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) data interpretation services. Their laboratory tests demonstrate how the human body might affect the way a drug behaves, backed-up with advice on how to modify the chemical structure of a compound to make it more ‘drug-like’.

The company has clients that are virtual, as well SMEs, mid-sized pharma companies, and academic institutions. ‘Running my own company is completely different,’ says Weaver. ‘It’s refreshing.’

In a small company, you can measure the deliverables and success daily, which is exciting

He is adamant that Big Pharma is a great training ground and he learned a lot about managing people, but ultimately he felt that the ‘corporate stuff was increasingly getting in the way of the science and progress’ and became ‘more cumbersome with time’. Ultimately this is demotivating to entrepreneurial scientists, he believes, even though you’re well paid. ‘In a small company, you can measure the deliverables and success daily, which is exciting,’ he adds. ‘A small team is nimble, and you can make decisions in an instant.’

Over the next five years, Weaver wants XenoGesis to grow. He proudly states that since the company was established in November 2011, it has been generating revenue every month. ‘We have seen steady growth since day one. In year two, our revenue doubled and the team grew from three to seven people. We have followed a scientifically-led path.’

XenoGesis’s main areas of therapeutic expertise are respiratory diseases and those concerning inhalation and inflammation. The company has a loyal client base of many of the UK’s leading R&D companies. ‘Part of our reputation comes from our history,’ says Weaver. ‘We were known of as individuals and word of mouth has helped. We also speak at conferences to get our name known and try to forge alliances with key people if it’s beneficial to both parties.’

The company is also gaining an international reputation, especially in the US. ‘I think speaking English has helped,’ says Weaver. ‘US companies like to work with us – it’s also easy for British companies to do business with firms on the East Coast of America. ‘The experience we’re getting is brilliant,’ says Weaver. ‘There’s real teamwork. Everyone wants to grow the company.’

After getting a kicking, you retain the most important bits of what you have learned and use them to push yourself on to do something better

Having witnessed the ‘personal and family carnage caused by a site closure’, he is most proud of the fact that he has been able to form a company and employ some of the people affected and preserve their skills and reputation of being the top scientists in their field. ‘With hindsight, I might have set up my own company earlier, but in terms of my life – after getting a kicking, you retain the most important bits of what you have learned and use them to push yourself on to do something better.’

He admits that how to remain competitive and profitable will always be a challenge. ‘But you just have to be on your toes; it drives the science and patient benefits. Better science means better drugs.’ In the past, Big Pharma held all the purse strings. Ultimately, Weaver does not think the traditional pharma business model is sustainable. Instead, he believes CROs have more chance to drive new medicines and challenge the system. ‘Drug discovery has to be fresh and entrepreneurial,’ he says.

The hurdles are getting higher and more difficult to jump over

Although he believes Big Pharma will remain rich for a long time to come, he doesn’t think the industry will ever be as it used to be. ‘The hurdles are getting higher and more difficult to jump over,’ he says. Because of this, he believes there will be more partnerships and sharing of information in the industry going forward. On a personal note, Weaver says he likes being in control of his own destiny and although he could have stayed with AstraZeneca or joined another large pharmaceutical manufacturer, there is less job security in Big Pharma these days, even if there is an impression of safety in numbers.

Not that it isn’t challenging to strike out on your own. ‘Setting up your own business is massively scary, but there’s the fear and the thrill of the unknown, which is exciting. Everything we have done has been very carefully thought out and risk-assessed. ‘By definition setting up something new is hard, but being able to provide employment to some talented people is very attractive.’