Phillip Broadwith
Business editor, Chemistry World
As Business editor, my aim is to highlight to readers the exciting and innovative chemistry going on in the commercial sector, as well as keeping you abreast of trends and developments in the world of chemistry businesses.
From the point I left school, my aim was to join the pharmaceutical industry. A gap year and summer placements in company labs, and a PhD in organic synthesis followed.
But halfway through my PhD I entered a writing competition run by the Daily Telegraph. I managed to win – somewhat to my own surprise. That changed my perspective and made me think that I should consider writing more seriously as a career. I joined the Royal Society of Chemistry just before submitting my thesis, and luckily a position with Chemistry World came up a few months later. I sometimes miss the thrills (less so the spills) of lab work, but interacting with world-leading scientists and industrialists, as well as learning new things on a daily basis more than makes up for it.
BusinessWill HIV prevention get where it’s needed?
Gilead and its partners’ efforts to distribute generic lenacapavir could be derailed by cuts in international aid budgets
Business11 executives jailed over Italian PFAS pollution
Convictions relate to groundwater contamination around Miteni fluorochemicals plant
OpinionCritical metals supply strained
Conflict - both military and political - is having profound effects on supplies of a wide range of materials
OpinionThe future of oil refining in the UK
Can plants adapt to be compatible with a lower-carbon environment?
BusinessSanofi to buy Blueprint Medicines for over $9 billion
Blueprint has one approved drug and enhances Sanofi’s immunology portfolio
OpinionSafety is everyone’s responsibility
Maintaining culture and investment is key, especially in the absence of incidents
BusinessExplosion and fire at Chinese chemical plant kills five
Six others missing and 19 injured at Shandong Youdao Chemical
OpinionIgnoring women’s health shouldn’t be an option
Developing therapies for conditions that predominantly affect women is a neglected, but enormous, opportunity
OpinionRebuilding pharma supply chains
Multinationals are promising huge US investments, but it’s not all because of Trump’s policies
OpinionIran port explosion highlights issues of shipping hazardous chemicals
Intersecting regulations and jurisdictions mean rules can be accidentally or deliberately overlooked
BusinessAt least 70 dead in Iran port explosion and fire
More than 1000 people injured after cargo caught fire and exploded
BusinessMerck KGaA to buy cancer specialist SpringWorks
$3.9 billion deal boosts Merck’s pipeline as it faces patent expiries
BusinessGilead settles US HIV drug kickback lawsuit
Firm will pay $202 million to federal and state governments
OpinionGiving companies room to grow
Can shopping centres and offices become urban lab spaces for innovative companies to grow and scale-up?
BusinessAcceptable levels of (epi)genetic engineering
Amplifying or silencing genes may be preferable to permanently changing genetic code
OpinionTrump’s tariff stand-off
Piling cost and complexity to stretched global supply chains will hit industries hard
OpinionGetting into the weeds of the glyphosate debate
Assessments of the risk posed by the controversial herbicide depend on how the evidence is weighed
OpinionWeight loss drug supply races
With official shortages ended, but the first generics gearing up for launch, companies are looking for the next generation of drugs
OpinionWhy companies are rushing to flatter Trump
Pharma firms are among many pausing diversity programmes and promising domestic investment