Dr. Eggleston is an internationally known and respected scientist and senior pharmaceutical executive. He enjoyed a highly successful 26-year career in positions of increasing responsibility in R & D with a major pharmaceutical company. During a seven year secondment to the United Kingdom, he built a new department that initiated new research areas and capabilities to support the drug discovery enterprise in partnership with Medicinal Chemistry for SmithKline Beecham and the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Centers for Excellence in Drug Discovery. As a member of a pharmaceutical research executive team that delivered transforming capabilities for lead generation and optimization to drug candidates, he led scientific groups that supported the progression of >150 new chemical series from initial identification through to clinical studies in the period from 2001 through 2007. His groups also were instrumental in indentifying and applying cutting edge technologies to the drug discovery enterprise. The MUX technology for high throughput, multi-channel LC/MS analysis, developed in partnership with MicroMass, is one example of the technological innovations that emerged from within those groups.
Dr. Eggleston used strengths in analysis, adaptability and team building combined with an entrepreneurial, hands-on and inclusive style to foster leadership and vision in drug discovery fueled and fulfilled by innovation, perseverance, resilience and teamwork. During his tenure as Vice President of Computational, Analytical & Structural Sciences for GSK he structured, managed, and nurtured the activities of 200+ scientists at six research sites in the USA, UK, and Italy supporting Discovery Research and each of the Centers for Excellence in Drug Discovery. He contributed strategically as a member of an executive team to define direction and components of a new pharmaceutical Discovery Research organization focused on transforming lead discovery and integrating processes to deliver a full pipeline of potential drugs. These activities included active participation on the Technology Investment Board for GSK and review of numerous investment opportunities for the company. He also helped to define and progress initiatives in Predictive Toxicology and ADME assessments for early stage lead optimization campaigns.
In collaboration with scientists from the Wellcome Trust and Genome Canada, Dr. Eggleston was a co-initiator of the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), the world's largest public-private partnership devoted to the determination of 3-dimensional structures for human proteins. He also served on the SGC Board of Directors for its initial four year phase.
Since retiring from GSK, and prior to helping found Innovalyst, Dr. Eggleston was a consultant for life science venture capital firms, drug discovery start-ups, the Wellcome Trust, and Genome Canada.
Please click here to download Dr. Drake Eggleston’s Resume.
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