Paul Workman (scientist)

Paul Workman, FRS, FRSC, FMedSci (born 30 March 1952) is a British scientist noted for his work on the discovery and development of new cancer drugs. As of 2016 Workman is Harrap Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR), previous Head of its Division of Cancer Therapeutics and Director of its Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit (1997 – Jan 2016).

Paul Workman

Workman was born on 30 March 1952 in Workington, Cumbria, England. He was educated at Workington County Grammar School, Cumbria, and completed his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at the University of Leicester and his PhD in Cancer Pharmacology at the University of Leeds. He later received an Honorary DSc from the University of Leicester, in 2009.

The early part of his career (1976–90) was spent establishing and leading the Pharmacology and New Drug Development Laboratory at the Medical Research Council's Clinical Oncology Unit at the University of Cambridge, where he developed new treatments to exploit hypoxic cells in solid tumours and elucidated the enzymes involved in the activation of hypoxia-targeted drugs.

In 1990 Workman spent a sabbatical period in the Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Stanford University and SRI International, California, USA where he continued his work on tumour hypoxia funded by a Fellowship from what was then the International Union Against Cancer. In collaboration with scientists at SRI International he was co-inventor of an imaging agent to detect tumour hypoxia., for which he later demonstrated proof of concept in the clinic.

In 1991 Workman was appointed as a Cancer Research Campaign (CRC) Life Fellow, Professor of Experimental Cancer Therapy, University of Glasgow and Director of Laboratory Research in the CRC Department of Medical Oncology, CRC Beatson Laboratories, Glasgow. Here he extended his research on tumour hypoxia and molecular targeted therapies. Workman also continued his service for the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) as Chairman of the EORTC Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanisms Group. Member of EORTC Board and Council as Chairman of the EORTC New Drug Development Coordinating Committee.

In 1993 Workman joined Zeneca Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca) where he was responsible for the Cancer Bioscience Section , establishing new drug discovery projects and leading the kinase research collaboration with Sugen Work in this role led to the development of one of the first targeted medicines gefitinib (Iressa™), which was later approved for use in non-small cell lung cancer in 2003.

Workman joined the ICR in 1997 to develop its Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit. Workman's team collaborates with The Royal Marsden to bring new treatments to patients through clinical trials. Prostate cancer drug abiraterone, which was approved for use in the US and Europe in 2011, was developed by Workman's Cancer Therapeutics Unit. Overall, since 2005, the Cancer Therapeutic Unit has discovered 17 drug candidates, seven of which have progressed to the patient trial stage. Workman has attributed this record to "taking early academic risks, combining academic and pharmaceutical expertise, and implementing strong leadership and project management. Other contributing factors include running multiple projects on a competitive scale, establishing long-term financial support and – most important – selecting productive and timely industrial collaborations." Income from these drugs has helped push The Institute of Cancer Research into second place, behind the University of Cambridge, for income earned from intellectual property. Adjusted for size, the organisation ranks first among UK higher education institutions for IP income.

Workman was appointed Deputy CEO of the ICR in March 2011 and became Chief Executive in November 2014.

He has published over 560 research articles, and, together with his team, was awarded the American Association of Cancer Research Team Science Award in 2012 for achievements in drug discovery. Workman received the Royal Society of Chemistry 2012 Chemistry World Entrepreneur of the Year Award for his success at taking pioneering cancer drugs from the laboratory into commercial development.

Research on Phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitors, led by Workman and Dr. Florence Raynaud at the ICR, was selected as one of 16 studies to have had the greatest impact on patients, according to the American Association of Cancer Research journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. The leading PI3 kinase drug discovered in their collaboration with Piramed was licensed to Genentech as GDC-0941 (pictilsib) and is undergoing Phase II clinical trials.

Workman is currently working on drugs that block molecules essential for the growth and survival of cancer cells, in particular, molecular chaperones such as Hsp90. The leading Hsp90 inhibitor was discovered by Workman's team at ICR in collaboration with Vernalis. It was licensed to Novartis as AUY922 and has demonstrated activity in Phase II clinical trials in non-small cell lung cancer and HER2 positive breast cancer . Workman's research on HSP90 work led to his receiving the 2010 Royal Society of Chemistry George and Christine Sosnovsky Award in Cancer Therapy and the 2013 CRUK Translational Research Prize.

He is also founder of biotechnology companies Chroma Therapeutics and Piramed Pharma, which was sold to Roche in 2008.

Awards and honours