Dr Alan D. Borthwick Drug Design / Medicinal Chemistry Consultant at DrugMolDesign London, United Kingdom - My passion is designing drug molecules and advancing discovery leads into drug candidates to combat human disease. - I am an experienced independent consultant providing support and expertise in drug design and medicinal chemistry to academia, biotechnology companies, and the pharmaceutical industry. - I have accomplished project management of multidisciplinary research efforts, including hit-to-lead-to-candidate progression and project supervision in drug design and discovery. - I have significant experience in drug design and discovery, gained from 35 years in major pharmaceutical companies, including leadership of drug discovery teams. - As a Scientific Manager at Glaxo / GlaxoSmithKline, I achieved a breakthrough to an Exploratory Development Candidate in 5 therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, antiviral, antibacterial, CNS, and pre-term labor, through leadership, creativity, and persistence. - I designed the once-a-day antihypertensive Lacidipine and was co-inventor of the α2-adrenoreceptor antagonist Fluparoxan. I also designed and developed the first selective, orally active 2, 5-diketopiperazine oxytocin antagonist for preterm labor; helped develop the clinical candidate Retosiban; and designed the clinical candidate Epelsiban. - I have a proven ability in drug design, utilizing a wide range of medicinal chemistry techniques, including bioisosteres, prodrugs, substrates, structure, pharmacophore, and property-based design. - I am achievement-oriented: three successful drugs in the clinic; over 100 publications (33 as senior author), including 11 reviews; and inventorship on 38 patents. I have delivered lectures on drug discovery at 10 international conferences. - I have served as an expert advisor and consultant to the Wellcome Trust’s Expert Review Group. Specialties Property-based design, making hits/leads ‘drug-like’ to reduce the high risk and cost in drug design. Lead optimization and hit analysis; medicinal chemistry strategies and developability. Expert witness testimony in pharmaceutical patent litigation cases: JONES DAY (Australia) July 2014 - Oct 2015; Pinsent Masons LLP (Norway) Oct 2023 - April 2024.