BRIEF—Healx appioints new CSO

Cambridge, UK-based rare disease specialist Healx has appointed a new chief scientific officer, Neil Thompson, to lead an expansion of the drug discovery and development team.

Formerly senior VP of biology at Astex Pharmaceuticals, Dr Thompson will build and lead a drug discovery team in-house to take drugs from prediction through to the clinical stage.

Chief executive Tim Guilliams said he expected Dr Thompson would be: “a major driver in building a pioneering team specialising in harnessing the power of AI and big data to discover treatments for rare diseases.”