David joined Astex in 2003 to lead the chemistry team and in 2017 became CSO.

David is associated with the discovery of three launched drugs, the anti-cancer agents ribociclib (Astex Novartis collaboration) and erdafitinib (Astex Janssen collaboration) and the anaesthetic agent sugammadex (Organon, Merck) which has been used in over 50 million patients and 95 countries.

David is one of the few industrial scientists to have served as President of the Organic Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and was elected to be a Trustee Director of the RSC (2015-2019). He has held visiting professorships at three UK universities and sits on several scientific advisory boards of not-for-profit organisations. In 2020 he was elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and was inducted into the RSC BMCS Hall of Fame. He received a Hero of Chemistry award from the American Chemical Society in 2023. David serves on the Board of Directors of The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Parkinson’s Research Ventures, and Ashanti Development.