Chas Bountra Lowy Cancer Symposium 2015

Chas Bountra

Chas Bountra is Head of the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), Professor of Translational Medicine, and an Associate Head of Medical Sciences at the University of Oxford. Prior to coming back to Oxford, Chas was Head of Biology at GSK. His group generated >30 clinical candidates, facilitated >20 clinical POC studies, and progressed 5 assets into more advanced clinical development. Chas built the biological rationale leading to the launch of Alosetron, and was the first to show that neurokinin NK1 receptor antagonists are anti-emetic. He has therapeutic expertise in neuro-psychiatry, gastro-intestinal, inflammation and cancer, and “know- how” of all stages of the drug discovery and development process. He has given over 300 invited lectures. In 2012 he was voted one of the “top innovators in the industry”. His current research is aimed at determining the 3D X ray structures of novel proteins, generating novel inhibitors, and using these to identify new targets for drug discovery. The SGC publishes all findings immediately (> one per week), works closely with >200 academic labs across the world and 10 pharmaceutical companies, and shares all reagents and expertise freely. Chas is an advocate for pre-competitive science, up to and including Phase IIa clinical studies.