Hugh has 20 years of experience in biotech and another 5 years in healthcare. He joined Octant as Compound Manager in 2023. Prior to Octant, he was Compound Manager at Vir Biotechnology in San Francisco, registering, inventorying and distributing small molecules and reagents for drug discovery while bringing database applications and automation online. He supported Vir and GSK’s collaborative success, bringing the monoclonal antibody drug Sotrovimab to patients all around the world via emergency use authorization at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before pharma, he specialized in tech transfer, development and preparation of molecular biology, assay and culture media in industrial biotech settings, such as Zymergen in Emeryville and Genencor (now International Flavors and Fragrances) in Palo Alto. During his long tenure at Genencor, he mentored over two dozen community college and high school interns in his media lab, and received a certificate of appreciation for his support of the San Mateo High School Biotechnology Program. During his first several years at Genencor he was a bioreactor operator in the small-scale fermentation lab and helped program the SCADA (factory control and monitoring applications).

Hugh had a non-traditional route to science, including acting school at the University of Colorado in Boulder and a stint in the Army as a medic. He studied biology, chemistry and mathematics at San Francisco State University and Foothill College, but learned most of what he knows on the job or by reading.

Helping bring new drugs to patients is his passion, but when not busy at that he enjoys traveling with his wife, or sampling the great television programming available these days, on the couch with their orange tabby. He is an avid swimmer, especially outdoor/wild swimming when possible.