Hedley Rees is a passionate advocate of modernization in the drug industry - not tampering at the edges, rather advancing wholesale reform based on high- performing new product development methods and 21st century production systems.
Hedley is also author of Supply Chain Management in the Drug Industry: Delivering Patient Value for Pharmaceuticals and Biologics, J Wiley & Sons, NJ 2011. This was Hedley’s first book, and it has sold in over 70 countries. More recently, Taming the Big Pharma Monster was published (May 2019), an easy to read account of the massive systems failure in the industry, and how to go about raising standards through education to reverse the decline.
His day-job is managing director at PharmaFlow Limited, a UK based consultancy specialising in operations and supply chain management within the life sciences sector, which he founded in 2005.
Clients range from large pharmaceutical companies to emerging biotech, and also include investors, lawyers, other consultancies, facility design & build specialists and third-party logistics providers (3PLs). Prior to this, Hedley held senior positions at Bayer UK, British Biotech, Vernalis, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (a J&J Company) and OSI Pharmaceuticals (now Astellas). His early career was spent as an industrial engineer in the automotive, consumer durables and FMCG sectors.
He graduated from the University of Wales as a production engineer and holds an Executive MBA from Cranfield University School of Management. Affiliations and qualifications include:
- Advisory Board Member of the International Institute for Advanced Purchasing & Supply (IIAPS.)
- Member of the 2013/14/15 Expert Industry Panels for CPhI Worldwide (UBM plc).
- Editorial Board Member GMP Review (GMP = Good Manufacturing Practice).
- Former Consultant to Oxford BioMedica’s Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI), supplier of viral vector for Novartis’ Kymriah.
- Former member (2007 – 2011) of the UK Bio-Industry Association’s (BIAs) Manufacturing Advisory Committee.
- Former Advisory Board Member of Marken, the only supply chain service provider dedicated 100% to the pharmaceutical and life science industries (now part of UPS).
Hedley regularly delivers podcasts, webinars and speaks at international conferences, and was co-chair of the highly regarded FDA/Xavier University co-sponsored PharmaLink Conference (formerly Global Outsourcing conference), held in Cincinnati annually, from 2010 to 2014.
