The Research and Development Society

Tuesday 29 September 2009, 5.30pm - 7.30pm
Hosted by Clyde & Co LLP, 51 Eastcheap, London, EC3M 1JP - map and directions

Register now - see below for details

This seminar will ask questions about the nature of industrial research coming out of Asia and its direction, and the R&D roles companies should assign to the region.

It will examine the current state and future potential of R&D in China / Asia, both by local firms looking to internationalise and by foreign firms looking locate R&D activities in the region.

Chaired and introduced by Professor Simon Collinson, the meeting will range from the recent experience of the global pharmaceutical company, GSK, to the stimulating perspective outlined by an expert in Asian business strategy, Peter Williamson.

The speakers for the event are:

• Professor Simon Collinson, Professor of International Business and Innovation, Warwick Business School (Chair)
  • 'Foreign Direct Investment into and out of China: the impact of global R&D "value chains"'
• Dr Jackie Hunter, Senior Vice President, Science Environment Development, GlaxoSmithKline R&D
  • 'Establishing a Drug Discovery facility in Singapore - the GSK Experience'
• Professor Peter Williamson, Professor of International Management at Judge Business School and Fellow of Jesus College, University of Cambridge
• 'Re-thinking Innovation in Recessionary Times: What We Might Learn From the Chinese Dragons? '

About the Asian Innovation seminar series

The Asian Innovation seminar series is run by the Asia Pacific Technology Network (APTN) and the R&D Society. It covers the general area of "Asian Innovation". These seminars will range across sectors and countries within the region, and will focus on the issues thrown up by the emergence of world-class scientific centres in Asia.

• What kinds of innovation are we seeing in Asia? What is the balance between imitation (catch-up) and genuinely cutting edge innovation? ... and what other varieties of innovation are found in the region?
• What are the comparative paths to innovation taken by the various Asian countries?
• What are the barriers facing Asian innovators?
• What is the quality of the scientific and educational institutions underpinning the innovators?
• What contribution do entrepreneurs and venture capitalists make to the health of Asian innovation?
• How do Asian innovators interact with the innovation systems of Europe and the USA?
• Where are the most promising sectors for collaboration, and what are the areas of potential friction

Biographies of the speakers

Professor Simon Collinson, Professor of International Business and Innovation at the Warwick Business School

Head of the Marketing and Strategy Group at Warwick Business School, Simon previously was Lead Ghoshal Fellow in the ESRC/EPSRC-funded Advanced Institute of Management (AIM) Simon sits on the AIM Board of Directors and has held the role of Associate Dean (MBA) at WBS, was a visiting researcher at the NISTEP in Tokyo, Australia Graduate School of Management in Sydney, and visiting professor at the Kelley School of Business in Indiana. Awarded research funding from ESRC, the DTI Industrial Competitiveness Unit, the Royal Society and DGXII of the CEC. Research, consulting and executive teaching experience with firms such as ABB, British Aerospace, Corus, Diageo, HSBC, ICI, Lloyd's Register, Nippon Steel, Philips, Prudential and Sony, . Formerly at Edinburgh University Management School and Assistant Director of the Japanese-European Technology Studies (JETS) Institute.

Dr Jackie Hunter, Senior Vice President, Science Environment Development, GlaxoSmithKline R&D

Dr Jackie Hunter has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years, after carrying our post doctoral research at St George’s Hospital Medical School in London. For most of her industrial career she has focused on the discovery of drugs for serious neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. She has worked for Glaxo, Astra Pharmaceuticals (now Astra-Zeneca), Smith Kline and French, SmithKline Beecham and is currently at GlaxoSmithKline based in the UK. In 2002 she was appointed SVP and Head of the Neurology and GI Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery (CEDD). In this role she was responsible for 350 scientists (medicinal chemists, DMPK personnel and biologists) and clinicians based in the UK, Singapore and USA. The CEDD was focused on the discovery and development of new therapeutics for neurodegenerative disease, pain and gastrointestinal disorders.This resulted in the CEDD producing over 15 proofs of concept in 5 years and several transitions to full development. In addition she was the Harlow Site Head for GSK R&D. in 2007 she oversaw the transition of neurodegeneration projects to the new GSK R&D China business unit.

Dr Hunter has published over 130 scientific papers and served on a number of industrial and academic boards. She is currently on the Board of Molecular Medicine Ireland and on the BBSRC council. In 2008 she became the SVP & Head of External Science Development with a remit to develop a more open and transparent global R&D architecture. This includes new ways of working with academia and other publicly funded bodies world wide. In her current role she is actively involved in driving forward the Innovative Medicines Initiative for Europe and is an IMI Board member and chair elect of the EFPIA research Directors Group.

Professor Peter Williamson, Professor of International Management at Judge Business School and Fellow of Jesus College, University of Cambridge

Peter has been actively involved with business and research in Asia for more than two decades and in China since 1983. He has held professorships at London Business School, Harvard Business School and INSEAD (in Singapore). Formerly with The Boston Consulting Group, he serves on the boards of several companies. He holds a PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University.

His latest book, Dragons at your door: how Chinese cost innovation is disrupting global competition, was published by Harvard Business School Press in 2007. His other recent books include: Winning in Asia: Strategies for Competing in the New Millennium (2004) and From Global to Metanational: How Companies Win in the Knowledge Economy (2001). His article in the MIT Sloan Management Review “Is Your Innovation Process Global?” received a Sloan-Price Waterhouse Coopers Award honouring articles that have contributed most to the enhancement of management practice.