Wesley Blackaby

Wesley has over 25 years’ industrial experience in drug discovery gained in the pharmaceutical and contract research sectors. Formerly VP of Chemistry at STORM Therapeutics (2017 – 2021), Wesley joined Servier, a global and independent pharmaceutical Group, in February 2021 to lead global Chemistry and Analytical Sciences activities within Servier Research.

Wesley began his industrial career within process chemistry at Glaxo-Wellcome in Dartford before moving to Merck Sharpe and Dohme (MSD) in 1996. At MSD, Wesley worked on several programmes which reached clinical trials for schizophrenia and anxiety disorders. On leaving MSD in 2006 he joined BioFocus, part of the Galapagos group, advancing in project leadership roles culminating as Senior Director in Medicinal Chemistry, and was responsible for maintaining large multidisciplinary collaborations, overseeing the delivery of multiple drug discovery projects and pre-clinical candidates.

Wesley has extensive experience across a wide range of therapeutic areas and drug target classes in lead identification, lead optimisation and candidate nomination. Wesley completed his BSc in Chemistry at the University of Southampton followed by PhD studies under the joint supervision of Prof. Chris McGuigan (University College Cardiff) and Prof. George Attard (University of Southampton). Wesley has co-authored over 50 patent applications and papers.