Andrew Curl has been Director and Vice President of Smithkline Beecham, as well as Chief Executive of the EnViva Care group of healthcare charities.
His time at St David’s College Lampeter gave him his first taste of business experience, as he ran the Student Union bar. He also made a number of lifelong friendships. When Curl graduated from Lampeter in 1974, he knew he wanted to follow a business and leadership career in a major blue chip company. He joined Smithkline Beecham, one of the world’s leading healthcare companies and its largest provider of antibiotics and vaccines. Curl stayed there for the next twenty-seven years. During that time, he managed operations for the company in Latin America, Japan, the Far East, India and Europe. His last role there was as Director and Vice President, European Strategic Development.
Curl became deputy director general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry in 2001. His role focused on trade policy, commercial, economic and public affairs, especially those relevant to the United Kingdom.
His work with Professor Sir Mike Richards, the National Cancer Czar at that time, led to the formation of the Pharmaceutical Oncology Initiative Partnership. This developed an IT system, (C-PORT (Chemotherapy Planning Oncology Resource Tool), to address the fact that the uptake of new cancer medicines varied wildly across the country. C-PORT used statistical methods to predict how chemotherapy units would perform in different conditions; thus it enabled them to redesign how they delivered therapies as new medicines became available. It also demonstrated how the pharmaceutical industry could collaborate effectively with the NHS for the benefit of patients. Related to it, Curl was the global winner of the CIO Award for creating business value and technological innovation.
In 2006, Curl set up Pharma Partners to develop partnership programmes between pharmaceutical companies and the National Health Service. As its chief executive, he has established over twenty-five examples of innovative partnership working between the NHS and private companies in Britain.
Curl was the chief executive of the EnViva group of health care companies for nine years, between 2011 and 2020. This was a specialist provider of high quality, managed care in the home for people of all ages. It provided care ranging from companionship, support and dementia care for the elderly through to more complex conditions, including cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, stroke, spinal injury and other disabling conditions for both adults and children.
Curl has commented widely in the media issues relating to health care. In particular, he has appeared on BBC Breakfast, the Today programme, and Channel 4 News, and, further afield, on CNN. He has been interviewed on over twenty UK radio stations.
He has also been a member of the Partners Council of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, under the chairmanship of Sir Michael Rawlins. He is a Past Patron of the British Polio Fellowship and a former member of the Farnham Castle Centre for International Briefing’s Advisory Council. He is a member of the Council of University of Wales Trinity Saint David. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of the Institute of Directors, and the recipient of the Queen’s Award to Industry.
Sources
Curl, A. (2021). Andrew Curl Chief Executive at Pharma Partners Ltd [LinkedIn page]. LinkedIn. Retrieved March 19 2021 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-curl-5350b22/
University of Wales Trinity Saint David. (2021). Governance and management. Retrieved March 16 2021 from https://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/governance-management/governance/
Atkin, G. (2007). The NHS and pharma: let’s work together. Retrieved March 19 2021 from http://www.pharmafile.com/news/nhs-and-pharma-lets-work-together
ABPI – Appointment. (2001, October 27). Chemist & Druggist. Retrieved March 22 2021 from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.uwtsd.ac.uk/docview/274935123?accountid=130472&pq-origsite=primo
McKee, S. (2007, July 11). Top IT award for industry/NHS chemo project. PharmaTimes online. Retrieved March 22 2021 from http://www.pharmatimes.com/news/top_it_award_for_industrynhs_chemo_project_990373
EnViva Paediatric Care. (2016, March 8). EnViva Care Ltd. announces the launch of EnViva Paediatric Care Ltd. [Blog post]. Retrieved March 22 2021 from https://www.envivapaediatric.com/enviva-care-ltd-announces-the-launch-of-enviva-paediatric-care-ltd/
Curl, A. (2000). Profiles. Lampeter Link, 53
