The Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation

Wednesday 22nd October, 2003 Institute Appoints Industry Leader as Director

Mr Thorning, 38, has more than 14 years experience working in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in manufacturing, marketing, consultancy and senior executive roles. He was formerly director of Stratalyst, which offered consultancy services within the pharmaceutical industry to optimise the lifecycle and profile of ‘blockbuster’ drugs.

Mr Thorning said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead the Institute which, I believe, will become a global centre of excellence for the advancement of pharmaceutical products.

Picture: Paul Thorning in front of the new IPI building

“This truly is a world-class facility, and I am excited to be part of it.”

The 6m institute will use advanced artificial intelligence, computational simulation and analytical techniques to accelerate the development of new drugs. The institute will house a powerful parallel-processor computer, modern laboratories, as well as incubation facilities for innovative bioscience start-up companies.

After graduating in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Manchester Institute for Science and Technology, Mr Thorning joined ICI where he led the commissioning of a number of large production plants.

In 1992, after managing two manufacturing-scale research facilities, he joined Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. He managed a team responsible for developing global packaging for pharmaceutical products before moving into the international marketing team as a senior business analyst. Mr Thorning was then appointed director of business and market research with AstraZeneca where he established a new team, and provided commercial leadership to in-licensing global pharmaceutical products.

Professor of Pharmaceutical Analysis and Associate Dean of Research and Innovation at the University, Professor Brian Clark, said: “Paul brings to the IPI a wealth of organisational and marketing business knowledge in large pharma- and international health support projects.

“He will provide exciting higher level management direction at the business-academic interface, and further establish our international research projects and focused research team in computational modelling and data manipulation – designed to provide the industry with enhanced drug development possibilities.”

Away from the pharmaceutical industry, Mr Thorning spent three years in Tanzania, Africa, where he led a team of 1,500 staff running hospitals, health programmes and community services for 140,000 Congolese refugees.

Mr Thorning is married to Lisa, a GP, and speaks English, French, Italian and Swahili. He holds an MBA and professional membership of the Institute of Marketing and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Media Note:

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