![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Charles-Woler.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCharles Woler joined Sygnature\u2019s board back in January, so it seemed like the right time to catch up with our new Chairman and pick his brains on all things drug discovery\u2026<\/p>\n
Spend just a few minutes with Charles and you\u2019ll soon understand why he\u2019s had such an impressive, varied career in our industry.<\/p>\n
His passion for drug discovery is remarkable. It\u2019s matched only by his enthusiasm for talking about the importance of developing new treatments, which clearly excites him as much today as at any stage of his working life.<\/p>\n
We began our chat by looking back at what the industry used to look like and thinking about what\u2019s changed in recent decades \u2013 a great deal, Charles believes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there have been two periods in drug discovery,\u201d Charles said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one before tools like computational chemistry, big or targeted libraries of compounds, high throughput screening, artificial intelligence and other technological developments, and then the one we\u2019re currently enjoying.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore, the productivity of drug discovery was a combination of smart chemistry bench work based, of course, on scientific rationale, but also reliant on a degree of serendipity and with a lot of chance at play.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the digital transformation of drug discovery and all the powerful new technologies that have been implemented as a result, the productivity has increased \u2013 and we have also seen a decrease in drug failures in the later phases of development, especially in preclinical or clinical development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe likelihood of success thanks to virtual in silico work has increased, and there are now also predictive toxicology tools to help get rid of molecules that could have certain organ toxicities at an earlier stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrucially, chemists have become more specialised, with a deeper understanding, but also more enriched through collaboration with their colleagues in bioscience and other departments.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Charles, that greater collaboration has been fundamental to how success rates have improved.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrug discovery has become much more integrated; there\u2019s a lot more interaction between chemistry, bioscience, DMPK and in vitro<\/em> and in vivo<\/em> pharmacology,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThese scientists cannot work independently from each other or in silos. There must be constant co-operation all along the drug discovery process, and I think that\u2019s something that Sygnature is very good at doing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re able to attract the best scientists in each vertical of the drug discovery value chain, offer them all the intellectual tools they need to engage with their peers and all the latest equipment they need to produce and test molecules quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cI really believe that drug discovery requires a dynamic, productive scientific and technical environment, with scientists giving the best of themselves to serve our customers as well as they possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n As Charles is keen to point out, the rewards of this integration to customers can be significant.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone wants the best drug candidate and to move it to the next stage as quickly as possible \u2013 to get to that target product profile efficiently,\u201d Charles said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you spend years in the sector like I have, including on the other side of things as a customer of CROs, you witness some of the challenges that can come with transitioning compounds from one scientific discipline to another.<\/p>\n Charles in conversation<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cMoving them from one place to another can be disruptive, costing you time and therefore money.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if everyone involved is working together and collaborating in one location, you overcome that, which can be critical.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0Every month you gain from doing things smartly is another month in which you can achieve sales, after all.\u201d<\/p>\n With customers looking to increase productivity and reduce their timelines, Charles sees this trend continuing.<\/p>\n \u201cBig pharma is putting substantial finance into research and development, and many companies are deciding to subcontract part of their drug discovery work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSubcontracting is the name of the game for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are financial reasons behind that, but it\u2019s also a chance to inject some new R&D blood into your programmes, benefit from some different perspectives and access dynamic, bright young scientific minds from outside your organisation.<\/p>\n \u201cSmaller companies and biotechs often subcontract most of the drug discovery work up to phase III clinical development; this kind of semi-virtual model is, I think, the best way to dramatically reduce the financing of non-productive infrastructure at the expense of productive drug discovery work.<\/p>\n \u201cPlus, Covid has substantially increased both public financing into the R&D space and private investment from venture capital firms and the like \u2013 so the subcontracted market is growing.\u201d<\/p>\n Charles is evidently excited about the future of drug discovery. But what does he think it will look like?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very interesting question,\u201d he said. \u201cSmall molecules comprise up to two-thirds of the drugs discovered to date, which proves that their future is bright (along with biologicals).<\/p>\n \u201cBut there are so many new targets being discovered at the moment, so small molecules that can block, enhance or mitigate the biological cascade are in high demand \u2013 especially in oncology, inflammation, immunology and neurology.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking forward, the goal must be to transform acute diseases with poor short-term prognoses into sub-chronic or chronic ones that can be well tolerated with lifelong treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cA good example is HIV, which moved from a deadly disease to a chronic one in about 15 years thanks to tri-therapy.<\/p>\n \u201cTomorrow, hopefully we can do the same with cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a stirring, optimistic proposition \u2013 but then that seems to be the very nature of a conversation with someone like Charles.<\/p>\n His new role is another huge source of excitement, too.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve known about Sygnature for quite a long time, having first met Simon (Hirst, CEO) in the US many years ago,\u201d Charles said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s driving a very professionally run organisation, successfully delivering the vision to build a world-class drug discovery company in deliberately selected therapeutic areas and attract the very best scientists, wherever they come from \u2013 and I find that absolutely thrilling.<\/p>\n Charles with Sygnature CEO Simon Hirst<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cAs Chairman, I believe we have three major objectives here at Sygnature.<\/p>\n \u201cFirstly, to sustain our growth and deliver a first-class service to our customers, we need to attract and retain skilled scientists in all specialities of the drug discovery value chain.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a people business; our people are our best assets, which means providing a great experience at work, training in new tools and concepts, and fostering a brilliant culture of teamwork.<\/p>\n \u201cSecondly we must keep leading with the latest technologies and leverage our potential with things like AI, machine learning and deep learning, all with the single-minded goal of speeding up time to drug candidate selection.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd thirdly, we must keep the fantastic innovative spirit that spans our organisation and deliver to our clients first-in-class or best-in-class molecules to address unmet medical needs and prevent diseases or provide better treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n Above all else, it\u2019s unmet medical need that seems to give Charles his drive and determination.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I were a young scientist, I would be so excited to work somewhere like Sygnature, where the mission is to develop new therapies or improve treatments,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cThe experience you get from working in a team on molecules that make it to the clinic always informs the work you do on the next one and helps you grow.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd because we have such a strong record of getting molecules into the preclinical or clinical trials, customers will always want to work with our scientists on exciting projects \u2013 the mindset we have here is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n So what is about working at Sygnature that Charles is most enjoying?<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s most rewarding to me today is watching a team succeed and seeing young scientists hit on something meaningful.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially because when you hit on something meaningful in healthcare, and especially drug discovery, the results can be truly fantastic.<\/p>\n \u201cI love what I do and I\u2019m inspired by working with motivated people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If our conversation is anything to go by, it seems sure Charles will do some inspiring of his own at Sygnature, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":17069,"template":"","category":[29],"class_list":["post-17067","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-categorise"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Charles](\"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Charles-Woler-Sygnature-Discover-HS-008-21.jpg\")
Outsourced. Inspired.<\/h2>\n
New targets and big ambitions<\/h2>\n
Driving continued success<\/h2>\n
![\"Simon](\"https:\/\/www.sygnaturediscovery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Simon-Hirst-and-Charles-Woler-Sygnature-Discover-HS-007-21.jpg\")
Embracing new opportunities<\/h2>\n