Peter Tummino, PhD, is the President of Research and Development at Nimbus Therapeutics, where he leads the discovery, nonclinical and clinical groups. Dr. Tummino brings over 30 years’ experience in drug discovery across a range of therapeutic areas. Prior to Nimbus, he served as Vice President, Global Head of Lead Discovery at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, leading global discovery operations across multiple therapeutic areas. At GlaxoSmithKline, he held leadership roles including Head of Biology for the Cancer Epigenetics Discovery Performance Unit, progressing first-in-class epigenetic agents into oncology clinical trials. Earlier, he held scientific positions of increasing responsibility at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis, AstraZeneca, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals. He has published 85 peer-reviewed journal articles with over 15,000 citations. He earned his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts and his Ph.D. from the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan, completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis.
AI can speed up drug discovery and decrease attrition rates in the clinic, but it is important to recognize that both are tall orders. The companies that will benefit most are those that stay grounded, set realistic expectations, and keep experienced scientists at the center of decisions that require genuine creativity and judgment.