A former Dundee University student whose career took him to some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies has returned to his alma mater as a professor to inspire the next generation.
Anthony Quinn was appointed the university’s honorary professor of molecular and clinical medicine last year.
Since leaving Dundee for life in the USA more than 20 years ago, he has had a number of roles with major biotech firms.
He was a member of the board at Kaleido Bioscience until last June, and was president and chief executive of Aeglea Biotherapeutics until last summer.
From Harris Academy to the world
Mr Quinn explained more about the journey that took him from Harris Academy to some top pharmaceutical firms.
“Once I left university in Dundee, I pursued a career in academic medicine in the UK, became professor of dermatology at St Barts Hospital in London.
“From there I developed an interest in drug discovery and moved into the private sector in the UK initially and was then headhunted over to California.
“I think it shows that my training and the degree I got in Dundee has provided me with the opportunities.
“The world is your oyster, especially if you are willing to step out of your comfort zone a bit.”
Opportunities and challenges from Covid
Mr Quinn said the Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the pharmaceutical industry.
He said it had a huge positive impact on companies who were able to develop vaccines, but for others, the pandemic presented huge challenges.
“For companies that were able to develop vaccines, it was transformational. We’re very fortunate the technology was there, and that it worked for that disease.
“But for other companies looking at other diseases, it was really tough few years. It affected employees in terms of their ability to work as a cohesive group together.
“It also made doing clinical trials really difficult. It’s important we don’t forget the negative side of Covid on the industry.”
Mr Quinn said the biotech industry’s biggest challenge at present is the capital market.
“The ability to raise cash at the moment is really difficult. That has meant there has been a big reduction in the value of biotech companies.
“For the next 12 to 18 months, it may be difficult to raise capital to get some ideas off the ground because of the capital markets.
“It has been a very challenging landscape. This has probably had a bigger impact on the industry than Covid did.”
‘Honour’ of Dundee University appointment
Mr Quinn said his appointment as an honorary professor by the university he studied at in the 1980s feels like he’s come “full circle”.
He said the appointment was a “great honour”.
“Dundee has an amazing reputation for life sciences and it has a great medical school.
“There’s a lot of potential and I’m very excited about trying to help with all the great things going on.”
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