EXTON, PA – Frontage Laboratories, Inc., an innovative provider of drug development services, announces the appointment of Jason Wu, MD, MS, MBA, as Sr. Vice President and General Manager of Clinical Services; Nick Zhang, PhD, as Sr. Vice President and General Manager of Frontage China; and Matt Harrington, MBA, as Manager, Marketing and Communications. These new hires highlight fast growth at Frontage, which has increased its number of skilled personnel 277% since 2008.
With 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, Dr. Wu most recently served as Executive Director of Product Development with Graceway Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for developing several assets acquired from 3M. Prior to Graceway, he worked as Sr. Clinical Project Director at Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, where he led development of a biologic product for orphan indications. Dr. Wu has also held senior clinical and medical affairs positions at Sanofi-Aventis and Pharmacia & Upjohn (Pfizer), where he led or contributed to the development of a new anti-fungal topical product and a new class of antibiotics. Dr. Wu holds 16 patents, and contributed to 14 NDA/BLA/NDS/EMEA filings and six product approvals in North America.
Dr. Zhang has over 18 years of drug industry research and development experience, most recently as Director of the Novartis R&D center in China, where he led CMC activities ranging from lead optimization to clinical drug product development. Prior to Novartis, Dr. Zhang was a director of OSI Pharmaceuticals in New York, where he was the global head of Analytical Development. Working at Pfizer from 1995 to 2005, Dr. Zhang held several managerial positions of increasing responsibility. Throughout his career, Dr. Zhang has contributed to eight IND/IMPD filings covering various solid and liquid dosage forms. He also played a key role in the successful filing of the NDA/MAA for Exubera, the first marketed inhalable insulin. A recognized CMC expert, Dr. Zhang serves on one of China’s State Food and Drug Administration working committees and received a 2009 Special Contribution Award from the agency.
With 13 years of experience in drug development marketing, Mr. Harrington brings new vision to Frontage as it continues to help more customers achieve their drug development goals. Mr. Harrington spent five years as Marketing Communications Manager with Molecular Devices, a leader in bioanalytical systems for drug discovery & development and life science research. He then founded a marketing consultancy and worked with top brands, including AstraZeneca’s CRESTOR and SYMBICORT, Johnson & Johnson’s TOPOMAX, and CSL Behring’s AFLURIA.
“Current and future Frontage clients will see substantial benefits from the broad experience Drs. Wu and Zhang bring from large and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies in the US and China,” said Song Li, PhD, Chairman and CEO of Frontage Laboratories. "In addition, with Mr. Harrington’s guidance, clients will experience improved information about the array of our services and technologies.”
About Frontage
Frontage Laboratories, Inc. is a global contract research, development and manufacturing organization, offering a full range of pharmaceutical R&D services. Frontage operates in the US and China, using one seamless GXP platform. Frontage runs three Phase 1 Clinical units, a 72-bed Phase 1 Unit in Hackensack, NJ, a 120-bed Phase 1 Unit in Zhengzhou, Henan Province China, and a-80 bed Phase 1 Unit in Changchun, Jiling Province China. Frontage has an AALAC certified preclinical animal facility in Pennsylvania, where it also maintains bioanalytical and CMC facilities. In Shanghai and Beijing, China, the company also operates bioanalytical and CMC facilities. As a rapidly expanding CRO with ten years of success providing high-quality GXP services, Frontage has established an international standard in pharmaceutical product research, development, quality and management systems.