James qualified in medicine at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1992 and worked as a hospital doctor in the North East of England for seven years before moving into the industry to work as a pharmaceutical physician. He worked as Senior Medical Advisor for Boots The Chemists in Nottingham, before settling in Surrey to take up the position of UK Medical Director at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. As part of this role, James led a medical team responsible for the scientific and regulatory review of a wide range of advertising materials, working closely with many external stakeholders, including creative and communications agencies, PAGB and MHRA.
After transitioning to a similar Medical Director role within the UK operating company of Johnson and Johnson, James moved to a global category role as Medical Development Director. During this time, he partnered with colleagues in marketing, research and development, and regulatory affairs to research, develop and launch new products, supported with robust safety data and powerful insight-driven, evidence-based claims.
Since 2017, James has worked as an independent scientific and medical affairs consultant, through his own company, Snakestick Ltd. Over the past 20 years, he has gained significant experience in medical affairs, clinical research and drug safety, and has worked on prescription and OTC medicines, medical devices, food supplements and diagnostics. James currently provides services to a wide range of clients within the pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare sector, across many therapeutic categories. He specialises in projects such as switching medicines from prescription to OTC, strategic launch planning, claims development, publications planning and writing, scientific advisory boards, specialist medical writing, and commercial and feasibility assessments.
