Biotech entrepreneur at The Heath wins prestigious chemistry award

Dr Paul Colbon, CEO and co-founder of a flourishing bio-tech company based at The Heath Business and Technical Park, has won a prestigious award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to chemistry.

Dr Colbon studied at the University of Liverpool’s Faculty of Science and Engineering for his PhD and Masters Chemistry degrees before co-founding chemistry company Liverpool ChiroChem (LCC) in 2014 whose products are used by 100 customers around the world to discover treatments for diseases such as cancer and dementia.

Over the years he has raised millions of pounds to scale the business which now employs 26 staff and has its research and development facility located at The Heath in Runcorn, Cheshire.

As a University of Liverpool Masters Graduate and Bio-Tech Entrepreneur, Dr Colbon has won the 2024 Potts Medal, named in honour of distinguished chemist Harold Edwin Potts (BSc Chemistry 1906, MSc 1907). It was established in 1933 to recognise outstanding contribution to Chemistry with the winner chosen each year by members of the University’s student Chemistry society, ChemSoc.

Receiving his honour at a ceremony earlier this month, Dr Colbon said: “It was very special to receive the Potts Medal, as it gave me an opportunity to thank the hundreds of people that have supported me in my career and the development of LCC into a global company. It also gave me the chance to share my entrepreneurial learnings with students and academics at the University of Liverpool. I keep in close contact with the chemistry department, and I know the world-leading research they’re undertaking in digitisation and automation of chemistry will have a wide-reaching impact on drug discovery, materials science and the green economy.”

LCC has retained its important links to the university through talks on entrepreneurship to undergraduate students, giving advice to the Intellectual Property (IP) Committee on how best to support future start-up and spin-out companies, mentoring students considering starting their own company and sponsoring awards for the best performing undergraduate students.

John Lewis MBE, the head of SOG Group, owner and operator of The Heath, said: “Our business and technical park is renowned for the unique facilities and level of specialist support that we offer to the many scientific-related businesses that operate from here. These companies are doing immensely important ground-breaking research to benefit us all. I am delighted to see that Paul Colbon has received this very prestigious accolade in recognition of his personal contribution to science, an area where the UK are global leaders in research and development.”

About The Heath
The Heath Business and Technical Park is a phenomenal regeneration success story. Formed in 2000, its owner and operator, SOG Ltd, has transformed a once single occupancy corporate facility into a thriving independent business park. The Heath now provides office and laboratory accommodation for more than 120 individual organisations, ranging from business services and IT specialists to those at the cutting edge of science, research and advanced manufacturing. Around 2,000 people are employed at the site. For further information, telephone 01928 515988 or visit www.theheath.com

For more information, please see:
www.theheath.com

PAUL SMITH ASSOCIATES
28th March 2024