Former Sunderland student makes incredible £5m donation to University to help tackle world's most deadly diseases

Following the donation, the University of Sunderland has announced plans to create the John Dawson Drug Discovery and Development Research Institute on its City campus.

The facility will will focus on the discovery of new medicines for the “treatment of rare inherited metabolic diseases”, research into the most effective ways medicines can be administered and the development of new technologies for early disease detection.

The Institute will work closely with the NHS and pharmaceutical industry to provide “innovative and life-changing therapies”.

After graduating from Sunderland Polytechnic in 1970, John built a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry, founding the prescription medicines and consumer healthcare company, Alliance Pharma Plc in 1996.

His company emerged as an international pharmaceutical powerhouse with sales exceeding £100m and employing over 200 people.

After stepping down as CEO in 2018, John decided to give something back to the institution which helped launch his successful career.

He said: “Fifty years on from graduating in Pharmacy at Sunderland, and having developed a career in the pharmaceutical industry, I was pleased to reconnect with the University a couple of years ago.

“I was immediately impressed by the developments that had been achieved and was keen to assist the University continue its development, particularly in the health arena.

“I’m therefore delighted to facilitate the University’s new Drug Discovery and Development Research Institute and look forward to working with the team as they bring projects to fruition.”

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The institute will be housed in the university’s Sciences Complex, which will be renamed The John Dawson Sciences Complex.

The development follows on from the graduation of the university’s first cohort of doctors and last year’s opening of a £5m anatomy centre, with Vice-Chancellor Sir David Bell striving to help establish Sunderland as a “national healthcare zone”.

He said: “I’m enormously grateful to John and his wife Sam for their immense generosity in supporting this new Research Institute in the crucially important fields of drug discovery and development. The fact John is ‘one of us’ is an added bonus as his life and career demonstrate the good our graduates do in so many different walks of life.”