Farid Khan
Dr. Farid Khan is a remarkable biotech serial entrepreneur and innovator, who obtained a PhD in protein folding from the University of Cambridge and previously worked for GlaxoSmithKline in drug discovery. He has developed technologies and therapies for diseases in the developed and the developing world. In 2011, he founded Protein Technologies Ltd, a multi-million state of the art contract research organisation working in industrial biotechnology and genetic engineering to produce recombinant therapies for a number of diseases. In 2012, Dr. Khan founded Pharmakure Ltd, a spin out from The University of Manchester, which has developed a blood test for the diagnosis and drugs for Alzheimer's Disease. In 2013, he founded Pill Connect Ltd, which measures medication adherence using a wireless pill dispenser and has been successfully used in a clinical proof-of-concept study showing that Tuberculosis (TB) patients can use it with acceptable reliability. In 2019 Dr. Khan co-founded Bright Biotech Ltd, a recombinant growth factor company for the production of cultivated meat and tissue engineering and regenerative therapy.
He has published on the discovery of new repurposed drugs for malaria and rare diseases such as alkaptonuria (or 'black bone disease') and Multiple Systems Atrophy (a neurological disease). He has secured £multi-million funds from private and government sources (such as InnovateUK), formed key interdisciplinary collaborations with industry, academic institutions and charities (such as the Wellcome Trust). In 2013 Dr. Khan was awarded an Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Salford, in recognition of his work in science and engineering and in 2014, he was awarded by the Muslim News the Fazlur Rahman Khan award for excellence in engineering, science and technology which was presented by Prime Minister David Cameron.