Harren Jhoti Explained

Harren Jhoti
Birth Place:India
Fields:Drug discovery
Structural biology
Workplaces:Astex
GlaxoWellcome
University of Oxford
Thesis Title:X-ray structural studies on transferrins (1989)
Known For:Astex Pharmaceuticals
Awards:UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) Lifetime Achievement Award (2018)
European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry Prous Institute-Overton and Meyer Award for New Technologies in Drug Discovery (2012)
Royal Society of Chemistry Entrepreneur of the Year (2007)

Harren Jhoti (born 1962) is an Indian-born British structural biologist whose main interest has been rational drug design and discovery.[1] [2] He is president and chief executive officer (CEO) of biotechnology company Astex Pharmaceuticals ("Astex") which is located in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Career

Jhoti co-founded Astex with Tom Blundell and Chris Abell in 1999.[3] He pioneered the development of fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD),[4] [5] an approach now widely used in industry and academia, which identifies small molecules with potential therapeutic potential as part of the drug discovery process. Jhoti was Astex's chief scientific officer until November 2007 when he was appointed CEO. In 2013, Astex was acquired for around USD $900 million[6] and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Prior to Astex, Jhoti was head of structural biology at GlaxoWellcome (now GSK). Before founding Astex in 1999, he was head of structural biology and bioinformatics at GlaxoWellcome in the UK (1991-1999). Prior to GlaxoWellcome, Jhoti was a post-doctoral scientist at the University of Oxford.

Jhoti received both his BSc (Hons) in biochemistry in 1985 and PhD in protein crystallography in 1989 from the University of London.

Honours, fellowships and awards

Jhoti's scientific achievements have been recognised by the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Royal Society of Biology and the Academy of Medical Sciences.[7] He has also received the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA)'s Lifetime Achievement Award (2018)[8] and the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry's Prous Institute-Overton and Meyer Award for New Technologies in Drug Discovery (2012). Jhoti has previously been recognised as the Royal Society of Chemistry's Entrepreneur of the Year Entrepreneur of the Year (2007). He has also served on the board of the BIA between 2013-2015.[9]

Jhoti has been published in Nature and Science, and was featured in Time magazine after Astex was named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum in 2005.[10]

Jhoti was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to cancer research and drug discovery.

References

  1. Web site: Anon. 2018. Dr Harren Jhoti FRS. Royalsociety.org. Royal Society. London. https://web.archive.org/web/20180514144016/https://royalsociety.org/people/harren-jhoti-13821/. 2018-05-14. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
  2. Web site: Prous Institute - Overton and Meyer Award for New Technologies in Drug Discovery..
  3. Web site: Houlton. Sarah. 2008. Keeping it simple - Personal Profile. Royal Society of Chemistry.
  4. Web site: Brackley. Paul. 2018. How Astex founder Dr Harren Jhoti has changed the drug discovery process.. Cambridge Independent.
  5. Jhoti. Harren. Williams. Glyn. Rees. David C.. Murray. Christopher W.. 2013. The 'rule of three' for fragment-based drug discovery: where are we now?. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. En. 12. 8. 644–645. 10.1038/nrd3926-c1. 1474-1776. 23845999. free.
  6. Web site: 4 September 2013. Japan's Otsuka to buy Astex Pharma for about $900 million: Nikkei.. 14 April 2021. Reuters.
  7. Web site: Dr Harren Jhoti - The Academy of Medical Sciences. Acmedsci.ac.uk. 23 May 2018.
  8. Web site: 2018. Harren Jhoti receives BIA Lifetime Achievement Award at gala dinner.. 5 May 2021. Manufacturing Chemist.
  9. Web site: Harren Jhoti, Appointments. 25 May 2021. Companies House.
  10. Web site: 2004. Astex chosen by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer for 2005.. 25 May 2021. Astex.