Alleyn Plowright obtained his PhD in organic chemistry with Professor Gerald Pattenden at the University of Nottingham, UK in 1999, and continued with postdoctoral studies in chemical biology with Professor Andrew Myers at Harvard University, USA. In 2002, he joined AstraZeneca and in 2008 he became Associate Director Medicinal Chemistry leading the Lead Optimisation section driving new programs to the clinic. In 2012, Dr. Alleyn took on the role of Senior Principal Scientist and Project Leader in the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Innovative Medicines unit leading multidisciplinary research, including phenotypic screening and driving new projects into and through the drug project portfolio. In 2017 he moved to Sanofi, taking on the position as Head Integrated Drug Discovery Germany leading a cross-disciplinary research unit driving projects from target validation through to pre-clinical development. He has been instrumental in delivering a number of compounds into the clinic, including two compounds currently in phase 2 clinical trials, and has authored more than 50 publications and patents.