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A day in the life

Kreshnik Hoxha

Director of CMC Drug Development
10 February 2022   |  
X minutes
In this series, we spotlight different people in our team and learn what a typical day at Healx is like for them.

07:20

"Today is the day when I simulate office life and work from our shared office work space in Westminster. This is one of a few dotted across the city for those looking for a change from the joys of home working. As I get ready, I know that chances of getting a seat on the train are vanishingly small, but I find that the half hour spent commuting even on a poorly socially-distanced London train is refreshingly equilibrating for the day ahead. I am a hopeless multitasker, but answering work emails while listening to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on a train is my one exception."

09:00

"I lead the development and manufacture of new drug products to be used in our rare disease clinical trials. This includes overseeing the testing of them to demonstrate that they are of high quality and stable. My first meeting is with our Preclinical team. They share the latest data from our in vivo testing, which looks promising, but there are some questions we still need to resolve around absorption of the drug. It goes without saying, if a drug is not absorbed, it won’t do its job."

"My task will be to solve this challenge by formulating the product in a way that makes it more soluble. I absolutely love this part of my job - where my mind is set free to come up with strategies to solve a problem and create something new from scratch through scientific method. Healx not only promotes thinking out of the box, but has the virtue woven into its cultural fabric."

10:45

"An email I was expecting arrives. It has suggested dates for auditing the facilities of our manufacturing partner. It is imperative that we ensure the facilities where our drug is manufactured meet the stringent and high quality standards for human use. I get excited because this, in the static pandemic world, means going on a business trip - that thing we used to do before a microorganism forced us to embrace video calls."

11:05

"The excitement of a potential business trip is slowly neutralised and replaced by laser focus attention as I start to review drug development dossiers to be submitted to the FDA and the MHRA for getting permission to run clinical trials. This is the part where the story is woven together and all of the science is consolidated and justified with data in order to demonstrate to the regulatory authorities that the development is sound and robust."

12:30

"It’s time to break for lunch. When at home, I practice the rather bad habit of eating while reading emails (Hey, another way I can multitask!). But today I shall enjoy my lunch overlooking the Thames and listen to some 60s rock."

15:00

"I am booked to attend a webinar on nasal drug delivery. While typically most drug development starts with oral tablets or capsules, there are times when one needs to consider alternative delivery routes. The webinar is very informative and serves as food for thought for future molecules in our pipeline. Before I know it, I am reading up on the anatomy of the nose and intricacies of drug delivery via this route."

18:05

"By now, I’ve spent the past two hours crunching data to see how our drug is being released in different formulations. The results are positive and the drug is being released exactly how we had targeted. My joy from seeing the data collides with me feeling peckish. It’s time to meet friends for a bite and a pint at the pub (clearly not a gym day today). Next stop after that is heading to the West End to see a play that I had been waiting for."

Careers

We’re a diverse team of talented people working to revolutionise the way rare disease treatments are discovered and developed.

Our team has a broad range of expertise, experience, and perspectives but what unites us is our drive to make a positive difference to rare disease patients and their families.

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