Magnus Johansson

I am a Principal Scientist and a Medicinal Chemist within the early Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism team. My focus is on synthetic chemistry where I, together with my team develop tools to make routes for our difficult-to-make compounds.

My area of expertise is C-H functionalisation, which is revolutionising how we design molecules within medicinal chemistry. By functionalising C-H bonds, we can save up to 20 steps in making molecules, which not only saves time but also has a positive sustainability impact, for example through using less reagent. 

In 2020, I was honoured to be awarded Associate Professor at the Institution for Organic Chemistry, Stockholm University. I have a longstanding research collaboration with the university around C-H functionalisation in drug discovery and I look forward to this continuing in my new role.

I am passionate about working with and helping to develop early talent. I am inspired and proud by the commitment of the Postdocs and PhD students I supervise – past and present, and the impact their research has made in advancing medicinal chemistry.

I also have a global responsibility for AstraZeneca´s academic collaborations and strategic decisions in the field of organic chemistry.