Charles River Associates (CRA) Expands Life Sciences Practice In The U.S. And Europe

New Consultants Bring Experience Advising Life Sciences Companies In Such Areas As Product Launch Strategy, Pricing, R&D, and Licensing

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Charles River Associates (NASDAQ: CRAI), a worldwide leader in providing economic, financial, and management consulting services, today announced that Andrew Parece has rejoined the firm as a vice president in the Life Sciences Practice based in Boston. Mr. Parece specializes in competitive strategy, pricing, quantitative analysis, modeling, and market research, primarily in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and life sciences industries. He previously worked at Charles River Associates from 1996 to 2002.

“His consulting experience in such areas as pricing strategy, new product launches, and market research further strengthens CRA’s life sciences strategy consulting offering.”

“It is a special endorsement of our firm when alumni choose to return to Charles River Associates, and it is a pleasure to welcome Andrew Parece back to CRA,” said CRA’s President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Maleh. “His consulting experience in such areas as pricing strategy, new product launches, and market research further strengthens CRA’s life sciences strategy consulting offering.”

Mr. Parece has more than 30 years of consulting experience. His work in pharmaceuticals has focused on brand/franchise strategy, pricing, contracting, and market access. Throughout his career, he has managed competitive assessments and product launch strategy assignments for several high-profile products. Prior to rejoining CRA, Mr. Parece was a Senior Advisor as well as a Managing Principal at Analysis Group, Inc. He regularly speaks at professional conferences and writes about pharmaceutical and life science topics for such publications as Pharmaceutical Executive. He holds an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and a BA degree in Economics and Computer Science from Cornell University.

In addition to Mr. Parece, Principals John Cole and Alex Silver have recently joined CRA’s Life Sciences Practice in London and Boston, respectively.

Mr. Cole has more than 17 years of experience advising large and mid-tier pharmaceutical and biotech companies and academic institutions in such areas as strategy development and implementation. His areas of expertise focus on R&D, in particular R&D strategy, performance improvement, operating model design, and innovation management. He also has extensive experience assisting business development and licensing teams. Prior to joining CRA, Mr. Cole was the head of the Portfolio and Commercial Practice within the life sciences services business of Thomson Reuters. He holds an MSc degree in European Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a MA degree in Modern Languages (French and German) from St. Edmund Hall College, University of Oxford.

Mr. Silver specializes in researching target sectors, creating financial and operational analyses, developing business cases, and preparing business plans and model operations for life sciences companies. Most recently, he has been working in China advising global pharmaceutical and healthcare firms. His consulting experience includes brand strategy, commercial and retail sales force management, consumer and trade marketing, and growth and investment strategies. Prior to joining CRA, Mr. Silver was a member of the business development team at Crosswave in Shanghai, where he managed early stage life science ventures. He was previously the Business Unit Director for OTC Pharmaceuticals at Bausch + Lomb China. Fluent in Mandarin, Mr. Silver holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a BA degree in Philosophy from McGill University.

Group Vice President and Life Sciences Global Practice Leader Greg Bell said, “We’re excited to welcome Andy Parece as a vice president, and John Cole and Alex Silver as principals. Their expertise bolsters our strategy consulting capabilities to assist life science clients with achieving competitive advantage and optimal performance. We are particularly pleased to see continuing growth in our R&D strategy capabilities.”

About CRA’s Life Sciences Practice
CRA helps pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical devices companies achieve optimum performance across key aspects of their business including innovation, commercial success, organization, and reputation, all for the long-term benefit of patients, clinicians, employees, and stakeholders. The team operates from offices across the United States and Europe, and works with life sciences businesses directly as well as with their legal counsel, industry associations, government organizations, and advocacy groups.

About Charles River Associates (CRA)
Charles River Associates® is a global consulting firm specializing in litigation, regulatory, financial, and management consulting. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its unique combination of functional expertise and industry knowledge, and for its objective solutions to complex problems. Headquartered in Boston, CRA has offices throughout the world and is celebrating its 50^th year anniversary in 2015. Detailed information about Charles River Associates, a registered trade name of CRA International, Inc., is available at http://www.crai.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

Statements in this press release concerning the roles of Andrew Parece, John Cole, and Alex Silver, the Company’s litigation and strategy consulting offering, including in life sciences, any future business Andrew Parece, John Cole, and Alex Silver may generate for the Company, the future business, operating results, and financial condition of the Company and statements using the terms “continuing growth,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “should,” “prospects,” “target,” or similar expressions are “forward-looking” statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon management’s current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties. Information contained in these forward-looking statements is inherently uncertain, and actual performance and results may differ materially due to many important factors. Such factors that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements made by the Company include, among others, the failure to generate engagements for us; dependence on the growth of our litigation or strategy consulting practice, including in life sciences; the potential loss of clients; the demand environment; global economic conditions; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; and intense competition, as well as other potential factors that could affect our financial results are included in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including risks under the heading “Risk Factors.” We cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievement. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date of this press release, and we do not intend to do so.