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.
OpinionSpin-out support is stretched thin
University entrepreneurs need more consistent help to bridge the gap betweeen ideas and businesses
OpinionGoing round in circles over skills
Closing skills gaps in key professional groups requires collaboration between government, industry and educators
BusinessAt least 16 dead in factory and chemical warehouse fire in Bangladesh
Smoke and gas from chemical fire trapped and killed factory workers
OpinionTrump steps up pharma tariff threat
Taxing branded drug imports could hit biotech innovators hardest
OpinionA global petrochemical shift
China’s rapid capacity expansion fuels global oversupply, leading plant closures in Europe and elsewhere
BusinessFatal incidents at chemical plants in the US, India and Norway
Hydrogen and acid explosions, a fluorochemicals plant gas leak and a heavy lifting incident claimed at least four lives
OpinionIs UK pharma really ‘uninvestable’?
Merck & Co, AstraZeneca (AZ) and Eli Lilly pulling UK projects highlights the precarious position of the country’s life sciences industry
BusinessTwo workers killed in fire at fertiliser plant in Gujarat, India
A second fire the same day in Gujarat was tackled without casualties
OpinionUK biofuels burning out
With UK plants facing closure, what are the options and issues around different renewable fuels?
OpinionDeadly fentanyl contamination exposes drug safety challenges
Bacterial contamination in medical fentanyl has killed at least 51 people in Argentina, highlighting pressures on generic drugmakers
BusinessWill oral weight loss drugs challenge injectables?
Pills may offer convenience for manufacturers, but it’s not clear they will overtake existing drugs
OpinionCheap virgin plastic limits recycling potential
Global plastic treaty negotiations risk being derailed by minority opposed to production caps
BusinessMerck & Co to cut 6000 jobs, Moderna to cut around 500
Both firms aiming to make significant reductions in annual costs by reorganising
OpinionIntergovernmental panel on chemicals, waste and pollution needs diverse input
Balancing industrial expertise against unwanted commercial influence is not easy but shouldn’t be discounted
OpinionLosing sleep over pesticide exposure
Managing exposure risks poses questions about the extent of producers’ and regulators’ responsibilities for safety
OpinionChina’s drug development charge
Reforms and state support have fuelled domestic and foreign investment in pharmaceutical
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