Robert John Bryant MA (Cantab), PhD

Qualifications and experience

Dr Rob Bryant is a specialist business consultant, with over 25 years' experience in advising companies that produce or use fine chemicals. Since its foundation in 1992, his company, Brychem, has conducted confidential studies for companies operating within the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, food ingredients and the flavour and fragrance industries. It undertakes business development studies, techno-economic assessments, market surveys and has also advised investment companies on acquisitions.

In 1997, Dr Bryant acquired the US agrochemical publishing company, Ag Chem Information Services and re-launched it as Agranova. Providing books, databases and online services to a world-wide customer base, Agranova has become a leading provider of technical and commercial information to the global crop protection industry and its customers.

Between 2007-2012, Dr Bryant was a director at Development Chemicals Ltd, which develops fine chemical processes in partnership with an international group of laboratories and fine chemical operations. During this period, a number of processes were developed to produce anti-malarial APIs, with funding provided by Geneva-based charities, especially MMV.

Prior to becoming a consultant, Dr Bryant was a fine chemical development chemist and held senior positions in Macfarlan Smith (then part of Glaxo Group), Orsynetics (small independent producer, now part of Thomas Swan) and Sterling Organics (which is now a division within Strides Arcolab). He studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, England, where he obtained his MA and PhD (thesis on complex organic synthesis, especially prostaglandins). He undertook post-doctoral research in Heidelberg, Germany and Lyon, France. Prior to starting his industrial career, he spent two years at the University of Bangor, North Wales studying the biosynthetic pathways of anaerobic bacteria.

By providing a succinct, well-informed analysis of the technical and commercial factors relating to business development decisions, Brychem has won a solid reputation for the objectivity of its contributions.


Consulting / Publishing Experience

• Principal at Chem Systems Ltd, the major international chemical industry consultancy, where he headed up the fine chemicals practice.
• Founder of Brychem, which was set up to provide a specialised consulting service to companies that produce or consume fine chemicals.
• Acquired and re-launched a US-based agrochemical industry publishing operation.
• Co-founder of the Virtual Consulting Group, a group of industry specialists serving the pharmaceutical, food and chemical and allied industries.