David Roblin

David Roblin (born 25 September 1966). is a British physician and scientist specialising in drug discovery, pharmaceutical research, and translational medicine. He has held leadership roles in biotechnology and academia, contributing to the development of new therapeutics.

Early life and education Roblin was born on 25 September 1966 in Neath, Wales. His parents were both secondary school teachers in Neath. He attended Cwmtawe Comprehensive School in Pontardawe.

He was educated at St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London, where he obtained a BSc in Biochemistry (First-Class Honours) in 1987 and an MB BS (Honours) in Medicine in 1991.

Roblin has chaired the research director’s group of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), and was a co-founder of the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a public-private partnership with the European Commission. He left Pfizer in early 2011, and has been Chief Medical Officer and a Non-Executive Director to a number of Biotechs. During his time leading scientific translation he contributed to the creation of 11 spinout companies, collectively raising over £350 million in investment and employing more than 300 people.

In 2015, Roblin led the Crick’s first open science collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), embedding industrial scientists within research teams to accelerate drug discovery. He described this as: "A landmark agreement in open science... Together, we shall accelerate breakthroughs in understanding human health and disease". He retained a role at the Crick, becoming a Senior Scientific Translation Fellow, advising the Crick Executive Committee and Board on commercial translation, and chair of the Crick's Translation Advisory Board.

In 2020 Roblin joined Juvenescence as Chief Operating Officer of the parent Corporation and CEO of the pharmaceutical division.

Relation Therapeutics In 2022 Roblin became Chief Executive Officer of Relation Therapeutics, a pioneer of drug discovery using active-graph machine learning. He had been involved in Relation since its founding.

Academic and advisory roles Roblin holds honorary professorships at St George's Hospital Medical School (2015–present) and Swansea University Medical School (2013–present). He has also served on committees and boards for the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research and King's Health Partners Ventures.

Awards and honours Roblin has been elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) (2017), a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) (2004), and a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (FFPM) (2014), and a Global Fellow of Medicines Development of the International Federation of Associations of Pharmaceutical Physicians (2020).

Personal life Roblin is married to Dr Sallyanne Roblin, and they have two sons and a daughter.