David Charles Rees

David Charles Rees (born 1958) CChem FRSC FMedSci is a chemist recognised internationally for his innovative use of chemistry in drug discovery. He is Chief Scientific Officer of biotechnology company Astex Pharmaceuticals, which is located in Cambridge, UK. Career Rees joined Astex in 2003 to lead its chemistry team. He became Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) in 2017.  In 2013, Astex was acquired for around USD $900 million and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Rees is associated with the discovery of three launched drugs: ribociclib (Astex-Novartis collaboration), erdafitinib (Astex-Janssen collaboration) as well as the anaesthetic reversal agent sugammadex (Organon, Merck), which has been used in over 30 million patients in 60 countries and had global sales of US$1.2 billion in 2020. Rees has a BSc from the University of Southampton and PhD from the University of Cambridge.