Lord Paul Drayson FREng FMedSci

Originally trained as an engineer, Lord Drayson is a versatile entrepreneur and advocate for science who has worked in diverse industries and taken on multiple scientific challenges. He has made major contributions to the UK biotechnology industry as co-founder of PowderJect Pharmaceuticals - one of the UK’s largest vaccine manufacturers - and more recently through his company Sensyne Health which uses machine learning to detect hidden patterns in anonymised patient data, accelerating the development of new medicines.

Paul Drayson’s early passion for motor sports fuelled an interest in the sciences, particularly in physics and he obtained an undergraduate degree in Production Engineering at Aston University – having become the first person in his family to go to university. During this time, he also gained experience in the industrial sector which led him to pursue a PhD in Robotics, which he completed at Aston in 1986.

Following his PhD, Paul Drayson worked at Rover for a few years. He then took on a new challenge as Managing Director of the Lambourn Food Company - a subsidiary of Trebor, where he demonstrated a keen eye for innovation, developing new technology to produce shaped snacks. Under his leadership, the company flourished, weathered a management buy-out and was eventually sold in 1991. On the lookout for his next venture, he met Professor Brian Bellhouse of Oxford University and together with Professor Bellhouse’s daughter Elspeth, they co-founded PowderJect Pharmaceuticals in 1993. The company embarked on the development of new needle-free systems of drug delivery but ultimately specialised in vaccine production. So successful was this branch of the company that PowderJect became the sixth largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, producing vaccines for a range of important diseases: from tetanus, to hepatitis B.

As he transitioned into the pharmaceutical industry, Paul Drayson increasingly became a champion for science - serving as Chairman of the BioIndustry Association in 2001 and 2002 where, having been personally targeted by animal rights activists as CEO of PowderJect, he was active in supporting the industry’s campaign to tackle animal rights extremism. Previously, pharmaceutical leaders had not spoken out on this issue. Passionate to improve public engagement with science, Paul responded to the personal threats he received by explaining and supporting the use of animals in medical research. He continued to champion this `openness’ agenda during his later role as Science Minister.

Between 2003 and 2005 Paul applied his business acumen to the teaching of entrepreneurship to MBA students as Science Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Said Business School in Oxford. He was appointed to the House of Lords as a Labour Peer in 2004 and became a Member of the Lords Science and Technology Committee. Having been involved in both industry and academia, he was well placed to understand the roles and needs of differing science sectors. He proved to be a versatile leader, taking on several roles in government including Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for Defence Procurement in 2005 and Government Spokesman for Defence in the House of Lords.

In 2007, Paul Drayson left government and took a sabbatical in the US where he competed in the American Le Mans Race Series. He was on the race track when he took the call from Gordon Brown inviting him to come back as Science Minister. He returned to government in 2008 as Minister of State for Science and Innovation where his responsibilities included the UK’s science research budget; innovation policy and the space programme. As a Minister, Lord Drayson was an outspoken advocate for investment in science and committed to enabling more opportunities for innovation and training of the next generation of scientists. During this time he introduced sector leadership councils, including the Space Leadership Council. These councils provided a platform for politicians, civil servants, academics, and those in the private sector to discuss together future changes and technologies in their sector.

Paul achieved much in government – but it was not all plain sailing. When the Chair of the Government’s Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs was dismissed in 2009, Paul, as Science Minister, was under pressure to back the Home Secretary’s decision. Instead, he took the opportunity to speak out publicly in defence of the integrity of independent scientific advice and went on to lead a review inside government which reset the rules to protect independent scientific advice.

Following the 2010 General election, Lord Drayson returned to the backbenches and went back to running Drayson Racing Technology. This company was another pioneering enterprise, working to improve racing car efficiency and reduce carbon emissions through innovative electric and fuel technologies. As a result of his many contributions and commitment to the sport, Lord Drayson was made Honorary President of the Motorsport Industry Association in 2011. In 2013, he drove his Lola B12 Le Mans Prototype car to a new world record: 204 mph, the fastest ever speed for an electric vehicle.

More recently, Paul founded Drayson Technologies in 2015, focusing on three areas: digital health, wireless charging technology, and software for creating sensor networks, including networks that measure air pollution. Sensyne Health, created to develop digital-health products and clinical AI algorithms, floated on AIM in August 2018. Its digital health products, licensed from the University of Oxford, help clinicians deliver better patient care while curating vital-sign data. The company’s machine learning algorithms enable life sciences companies to accelerate their R&D processes by harnessing the power of the longitudinal patient datasets that only the NHS can supply. Paul has developed a unique business model which creates value from the analysis of anonymised patient data in an ethical way and provides a return to the NHS.

Lord Drayson’s entrepreneurial and engineering achievements were recognised in 2011 by his election to a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering. His continued advocacy for science, his commitment to improving health and access to medicines, and his pioneering innovation have undoubtedly been of major benefit to UK biomedicine. With over three decades of experience in science and innovation, Lord Drayson is a brilliant exemplar of how science can, and should, be harnessed to solve the diverse and significant challenges facing our society today.