ENLIGHTEN SCIENTIFIC is a technical consultancy founded by me — John F. Miller — in early 2017. After 24-years of working in the pharmaceutical industry I decided to retire from the only company I had worked for — GlaxoSmithKline. I began my GSK career in 1993 working on the Phase III formulation and device development of metered-dose inhalers (MDIs). This is one of the most — if not the most — complex delivery platforms. In the early 2000’s I became the CMC leader for one of GSK’s new block-buster MDI products for the North American market — ADVAIR® HFA Inhalation Aerosol — and a key technical contributor to the life cycle management of its Rest of World equivalent — Seretide® MDI. I steered the product through NDA submission and, through my various areas of expertise, the product was approved in mid-2006.

Following launch, I remained within Product Development but became increasingly involved in life-cycle maintenance of not only ADVAIR but other MDI products manufactured globally. Although I found the late Phase III and early post-launch activities stimulating and challenging, the last few years became more repetitive with fewer opportunities to fully apply my skills. A series of organizational changes in the mid-2010’s led to my transfer out of R&D and into the manufacturing company. I began to question whether I would remain with the company or seek an alternative path that would allow me to apply my expertise in the most productive and valuable ways possible. The uncertainty of my future led me to review my career with GSK. I noticed common features of the activities that gave me the most satisfaction and provided most value to the company, and those that least interested me.

By 2016, it was clear to me that the opportunities simply did not exist within the manufacturing organization to deploy me in the most productive manner for the company or me. During my time with GSK, I learned a tremendous amount about product development and manufacturing, and my own differentiating skills. It was at this time when I decided to leave GSK and establish my own company so that I could find more varied and interesting challenges to exercise my skills and expertise.