Page 8 - Periodic Issue 04

C hemistry Careers that Change the World

Chemistry is the central science that helps to solve a huge
range of global challenges, from drug discovery to clean

energy. Two of our alumni, Dan Long and Adam Healy, talk to
Periodic about their careers.

Dan Long (BA 1995, DPhil 1998) is Vice President, synthesizing compounds
Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Theravance and learnt all I could about
Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company located in medicinal chemistry. I
San Francisco, CA. Raised in Solihull UK, he found took on roles of gradually
increasing responsibility,
organic chemistry fascinating under the tutelage of working on projects for gastrointestinal (GI) disease,
Prof Steve Davies and following his Part II with pain, Hepatitis C, as well as cardiovascular targets and GI
Prof George Fleet he decided to stay on at Oxford inflammation.
to do a DPhil in the same lab. Dan overlapped with
Oxford Profs Ben Davis and Martin Smith, his then In my 15 years at Theravance, the company has changed
significantly but at its core has always been interesting
housemate and later best man at his wedding. science and great people. We have experienced turbulent
times and were affected by the recession in 2008. The
What made you go into industry? team recovered superbly and have had many notable
My DPhil studies were funded through an EPSRC CASE successes highlighted by the approval of the antibiotic
award with GSK. I enjoyed the placement at GSK’s Vibativ® (2009) and, in collaboration with GSK, both the
Stevenage site where I collaborated with a former Oxford combination inhaled respiratory medicines Relvar®/Breo®
chemistry graduate, Dr. Dan Marquess. After that, I Ellipta® and Anoro® Ellipta® (2013). In my current role, I
thought industry might be a decent place to work and am responsible for a chemistry team of approximately 25
make a successful career doing something I enjoyed. First, internal and 30 external chemists executing on approaches
I did an industrial post-doc at CombiChem, Inc in San for our next generation of programs focused on targeted
Diego US. drug delivery to tissues in the lung and GI tract.
In 2000, I was set to return to the UK and pursue my
career there. However, Dan Marquess, whom I had kept in How has being an Oxford chemist helped you
touch with, had recently joined Advanced Medicine (the along the way?
former name for Theravance) and invited me to interview. Foremost, Oxford Chemistry provided me with fantastic
I was really impressed by the incredibly smart team training in synthetic organic chemistry, the foundation
(including founders Dr P. Roy Vagelos and Prof George of any good medicinal chemist. Obviously, Oxford
Whitesides), the ambitious science of multivalency they University itself is a well-recognised and respected
were all so passionate about and the financial backing institution. Having a background there very quickly
they had secured. My girlfriend loved San Francisco, so we establishes professional credibility. Although I have
decided to embark on a 3-year plan which is still in effect been based in the US, I have been able to leverage many
and has taken in the birth of our three boys Jake, Sammy of my Oxford connections and hosted many excellent
and Zac. seminars at Theravance from Profs Fleet, Smith, Davis
and most recently Darren Dixon. Now, as head of
Can you tell us a bit about your time at department, I am eager to further exploit this whether it
Theravance? be through scientific lectures or more substantial research
I joined as an entry level PhD scientist in 2001 and collaborations.
for the first few years worked really hard in the lab

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Periodic The Magazine of the Department of Chemistry