Andrew Lee Hopkins (born 1971) is a Welsh scientist who is the founder and former CEO of the pharmaceutical company Exscientia, which develops drugs using artificial intelligence. He was educated at

Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School ( Welsh: ''Ysgol Gyfun Dŵr-y-Felin'') is a comprehensive school in the Cwrt Herbert community of the town of Neath in South Wales, Wales. The school badge shows a watermill and mill stream in reference to the s ...

and Neath College in

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. He holds a first-class degree in chemistry from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, and a DPhil in biophysics from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. He worked for

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

for a decade, then became a professor at the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

in 2007, where Exscientia was founded in July 2012 as a spinout. Hopkins is married to scientist Iva Hopkins Navratilova. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 2016. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and Fellow of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academy, National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its ...

in May 2023. Hopkins was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

2024 New Year Honours The 2024 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

for services to science and to innovation. In February 2024, Hopkins was dismissed as CEO of Exscientia, with the company citing his inappropriate relationships with two employees in a press release. In late 2024 Hopkins founded a new biotechnology company, Xyme, focussing on enzyme design across several sectors of industrial and life science business.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Andrew Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Manchester People educated at Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School Living people Academics of the University of Dundee Year of birth uncertain Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire