The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Richard Butt, CEO, Apollo Therapeutics

Richard Butt, CEO of commercialisation fund Apollo Therapeutics, is a perfect example of an accomplished researcher becoming an influential investor.

Apollo was formed by Imperial College London, University College London (UCL) and University of Cambridge together with pharmaceutical firms AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson to inject $57m into the commercialisation of medical research.

Apollo’s remit is wide, covering everything from cancer and HIV to respiratory conditions, and from rare and infectious diseases to neurological and ophthalmological conditions.

Butt gained a PhD in cell biology and biochemistry from UCL in 1996, which launched a 20-year career at pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, during which time he led seven programs to the clinical stage and more than 30 clinical studies through to phase 2, execution and delivery.

Before Apollo lured him out of the corporate world, Butt was in charge of clinical translational strategy in the pain and neuroscience therapy area at Pfizer.