As Head of Drug Discovery at Plexium, Simon oversees the company’s efforts to identify novel protein degrader drugs that address significant unmet medical needs. Simon joined Plexium in 2019 bringing more than 25 years’ experience of medicinal chemistry and small molecule drug discovery leadership experience. From 1995-2015, Simon held positions of increasing responsibility at Pfizer including leading the Diabetes and Oncology Medicinal Chemistry Departments. Subsequently, Simon was Head of Research and Global Pipeline Leader for Intercept Pharmaceuticals, leading the company’s programs from inception to Phase 2 in the area of fibrotic liver disease. Simon holds a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Manchester (Hibbert Prize) and completed postdoctoral studies under Prof. Leo Paquette at the Ohio State University. He obtained an MBA from the University of California San Diego (class valedictorian). Simon is a 2021 recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Hero of Chemistry award for his role in the discovery of Lorbrena™