A Dundee scientist has won a major life sciences award from the Scottish Government’s economic development agency.
Professor Andrew Hopkins won the entrepreneurial business leadership prize in the annual Scottish Enterprise event.
The awards recognise the achievements of Scotland’s internationally renowned life sciences sector in innovation, investment, community engagement and collaboration.
They also focus on the work of Scottish Enterprise and its partners to develop a sustainable, globally competitive life sciences sector in Scotland.
The industry contributes more than £3 billion a year to the Scottish economy, with some 650 organisations employing around 35,000 people. It is globally recognised for its translation of ideas and research into novel treatments and world-leading therapies.
Professor Hopkins is founder and chief executive of ex scientia Ltd, a Dundee University spin-out company which pioneers the development of more effective medicines for a wide range of diseases.
He has raised a total of £30 million for academic and commercial research in Scotland in the past two years through his work at ex scientia and Kinetic Discovery Ltd.
He said: “I am naturally delighted to receive this award from such a distinguished body. It was also for my team, whose work and skills were most worthy of recognition.
“Praise is also due to Dundee University, who created an environment for entrepreneurship, showing it is a forward-thinking university.”
Ex scientia recently signed a $4.8m (£3m) deal with US pharmaceutical company Sunovion Pharmaceuticals to produce medicines for sufferers from psychiatric disorders. It was the biggest the company has won in its two-year life.
Kinetic Discovery offers drug discovery services, and Professor Hopkins is also director of the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance and chairman of Medicinal Informatics at Dundee University.
Ex scientia was Young Business of the Year at the 2014 Courier Business Awards.
Dundee University had a share in another award at the SE event. The innovative collaboration prize went to a Glasgow University consortium that included Aridhia, a health and biomedical informatics company founded at Dundee in 2008 by Dr David Sibbald and Professor Andrew Morris, former dean and professor of medicine and now chief scientist at the Scottish Government Health Directorate.
Biological sciences research at Dundee was rated top among UK universities last year. It is the central hub for a multi-million-pound biotechnology sector, which accounts for 16% of the local economy, employing more than 900 scientists, research students and support staff and attracting funding in excess of £50m a year.
Julia Brown, senior director of life and chemical sciences at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Once again the quality of the candidates was outstanding and reinforced the strength of the skills pool that makes up the Scottish life sciences industry.”