Dr Ben Butler joined the University of Wolverhampton in January 2021, as a Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy, at the University of Wolverhampton.

Ben Butler graduated from the University of Kent with a BSc (Hons) that included a placement with Chemical Development of GlaxoWellcome. He then carried out research with Professor Nigel Simpkins at the University of Nottingham on using chiral lithium amide leading to a PhD. 

Ben then started work at Galapagos based in Mechelen, Belgium preparing compounds to be used on their propriatory screening technologies. He then joined GlaxoSmithKline working in the manufacturing division at their Dartford and Worthing sites, involved in the manufacture of HIV and chemotherapy drugs. 

My research interests are in synthetic organic chemistry, focusing on two main areas;

1) The synthesis of natural products and biological activity molecules.

2) The development of new chemical reactions for the synthesis of potentially biologically active molecules.

PhD

University of Nottingham

Desymmetrisation of cyclic 1,3-diketones using chiral lithium amide bases.

BSc (Hons)

University of Kent

Pharmaceutical Chemistry with a Year in Industry (GlaxoWellcome)

Chiral Base Mediated Transformation of Cyclic 1,3-Diketones, B. Butler, T. Schultz, and N. S. Simpkins*, Chem. Comm., 2006, 3634–3636

GlaxoWellcome (Dartford, Kent)

Placement year within chemical development.

Worked on the development of routes of manufacture of API.

Sonocrystallisation of 

Galapagos NV (Mechelen, Belgium)

Synthesis of biologically active compounds on the 10 – 100 mg scale 

Assisted in establishing the discovery laboratories and working with staff at the University of Antwerp

GlaxoSmithKline (Dartford, Kent)

Lead chemist on multiple projects
• Chemistry Lead on continuous and single campaign length projects, including transfer of manufacture to external and internal sites.
• Laboratory work to GMP standard on the 5 – 50 g scale
• Generation of technical documentation according to all regulatory body standards
• Mentor of laboratory based chemists
• Chemistry consultant-shift support to manufacture

Internal responsibilities
• Departmental safety committee representative
• Laboratory Supervisor
• Line Manager of Graduate Exchange Students
• General Risk Assessor
• Deviation management during plant manufacture
• Technical investigator during raw material deviation events. Worked with suppliers to resolve supply issues.

Liason with R&D and secondary manufacturing sites

GlaxoSmithKline (Worthing, West Sussex)

Technical troubleshooting of pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. Working with chemical engineers, plant operators, quality assurance and quality control. As well as secondary manufacture.

Required drafting of technical documentation, adherence to GMP standards. Ensuring manufacture adheres to regulatory submissions in all markets