This month’s announcements of appointments, partnerships, expansions, and mergers include Curia, Thread, TFF Pharmaceuticals, and other notable companies.
This month’s announcements of appointments, partnerships, expansions, and mergers include Curia, Thread, TFF Pharmaceuticals, and other notable companies.
Decentralized trial tech specialist Thread has appointed Kim Boericke to the position of chief delivery officer. A 2021 Stevie Award winner for Female Executive of the Year, she brings more than a quarter century of operations experience within the drug development industry.
“Our customers are focused on designing, operating and scaling the most patient-centric research,” said Boericke. “I am thrilled to join Thread's team of experts focused on helping our customers deliver studies that reduce patient burden, better support sites and provide a more inclusive study design for patients around the world.”
Thin-film freezing specialist TFF Pharmaceuticals has announced plans to expand its manufacturing capacity with a new R&D facility in Austin, Texas. The 3,500-square-foot facility adds a dedicated lab for downstream processing of products created with the company’s thin-film-freezing technology.
John Koleng, vice president of product development and manufacturing, said, “The Austin facility will enable us to increase testing capacity so that we can run a larger number of feasibility studies, including a focus on biologics where demand has continued to grow. Additionally, as many of our partnered programs move to clinical evaluation, the ability to scale-up manufacturing in parallel becomes mission critical. We expect the new Austin facility will allow us to meet the current growing demand for thin-fim freezing-based products.”
Curia has appointed Niall president of its manufacturing division. He will oversee operational delivery of the company’s commercial manufacturing services and products, including active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug product.
“I’m excited to be joining Curia with its mission of life-changing life science,” said Condon. “The CDMO industry is dynamic and Curia is uniquely positioned to serve customers with its innovative portfolio of solutions and products spanning R&D through manufacturing. I’m looking forward to meeting its talented community of colleagues and making an impact for our customers and the patients they serve.”
A US District Court has dismissed a trade-secret misappropriation lawsuit against Veeva Systems, filed by Medidata (a Dasssault Systemes company). Citing a lack of evidence, the judge ruled against the suit, which was originally filed in 2017.
Judge Jed Rakoff noted in his ruling that Medidata’s filing indicates “they seem to think that just about anything in the world can be a trade secret. And that, of course, would mean that you could never hire away an employee from another company because anything they said — one word out of their mouth — would indirectly reveal something they had learned at their prior employment…and both the statutes here involved, and also legislative history make clear that that was not the intent of the legislators...”
Oncology-centered real-world data analytics firm COTA has named Noel Alaka vice president of life sciences. Alaka will be charged with forming and growing partnerships with life sciences companies looking to adopt RWD and RWE evidence in cancer drug development.
“Like far too many other people, cancer has hit close to home on more than one occasion; these personal experiences with cancer have helped guide my career,” Alaka said. “I take great pride in building strategic relationships with life science companies that are looking to adopt the latest tools and technologies aimed at helping to reimagine innovation for the benefit of cancer patients."
Centricity Research has announced its merger with contract research organization Aventiv Research. The move reportedly expands the company’s reach and capabilities across the US and Canada.
“I am thrilled to have Aventiv join Centricity Research; they will further strengthen and solidify our reputation of prominence and importance within the industry,” said Jeff Kingsley, CEO of Centricity Research. “Aventiv shares our passion for customer-centric and team-centric thinking and promises to be the perfect addition as we continue to revolutionize research and change lives.”
Contract research organization Crown Bioscience has named Michael Prosser to the newly created position of chief business officer. Prosser has been with the company for more than a decade, most recently serving as senior vice president of commercial and strategic development.
“It’s an honor to be asked to lead the next stage in Crown Bioscience’s commercial growth,” Prosser said. “Our success to date is directly attributable to our relentless focus on customer experience, product innovation, and setting new industry-leading quality standards, and I’m excited to be working closely with the new team and structure as we strive to continuously improve in all these areas.”
Contract research organization Dr. Vince Clinical Research (DVCR) has announced it has appointed two people to leadership roles on its Phase I research team: Michelle Neaderhiser, director of study management; and Chris Hardage, director of clinical trial services.
“With these additions we have positioned ourselves as one of the most experienced early phase clinical research companies in the country, allowing us to provide smarter, faster data to our biopharmaceutical clients,” said CEO and medical director Brad Vince. “Our organization continues to make significant investments in our employees and leadership team.”
Bioanalytical services specialist Alliance Pharma has acquired the Drug Development Solutions contract research organization from LGC. The transaction is expected to expand the bioanalytical, analytical material testing and laboratory capabilities internationally.
“Together, Alliance and DDS will partner with customers on a global basis to provide advanced bioanalytical and analytical material services for both large and small molecules, particularly supporting many emerging bioanalytical and analytical science areas the industry needs right now,” said Dave Patteson, Alliance’s chairman of the board. “Alongside Alliance’s bioanalytical expertise, DDS adds an unrivalled breadth and depth of expertise in bioanalysis and analytical and materials science as well as two state-of-the-art analytical labs in Cambridge (Fordham), UK, and Sandwich, Kent, UK. Their Cambridge facility is one of the largest bioanalytical centers in the world with about 270 employees.”
Kelai Phamraceutical has partnered with contract research organization Nutrasource Pharmaceutical to support its early-stage drug development program. The company specializes in botanicals, including the kava plant and its derivatives.
“Navigating the regulatory pathway for a new drug is no simple task,” said Jacqueline Jacques, Kelai Pharmaceutical CEO. “Kelai is happy to have an FDA regulatory partner with significant expertise in both natural compounds and pharmaceuticals to support us in plotting this course. This will let us be laser-focused on the most important tasks – minimizing our risk and optimizing our efforts from the earliest stages of development.”
Care provider network POCN has named Bill Braswell business unit president. He will lead the business development team and help expand strategic and channel partnerships in pharmaceutical and life sciences.
“I am passionate about healthcare and love to work in an industry that helps to improve healthcare outcomes—and by advocating for APPs, POCN is doing just that,” said Braswell. “NPs and PAs are vital to the future of healthcare and I’m excited to continue to elevate POCN’s strategic partnerships in this new role.”
