Dublin, Ireland, October 13th, 2009. ICON plc, (NASDAQ: ICLR; ISIN:IE0005711209), a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced the company’s Bioanalytical Sciences leadership team, following the acquisitions of Prevalere Life Sciences and Veeda Laboratories Ltd. The leadership team includes the appointment of Dr. Ray Briggs as Vice President of LC/MS Services.
Dr. Mario Rocci, Executive Vice President, will oversee ICON’s globally expanding Bioanalytical Sciences group, incorporating LC/MS/MS, immunoassay and biomarker service offerings. Dr Rocci has over 29 years of experience in the industry and joined ICON as former CEO of Prevalere Life Sciences Inc., which ICON acquired in 2008. Dr. Rocci is a past president of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) and serves on many industry leading scientific boards.
Dr. Ray Briggs joins ICON as Vice President of LC/MS Services, overseeing the bioanalytical (small molecule) services of ICON globally. Dr. Briggs has over 25 years of experience in this sector. Prior to joining ICON Dr Briggs was a consultant to leading pharmaceutical companies and had previously served as Director of Clinical Bioanalysis at both Pharmacia and Daiichi Sankyo. Dr. Briggs has served on committees of the Joint Pharmaceutical Analysis Group of the RSC and RPSGB and the UK Pharmaceutical Analytical Sciences Group.
Dr. Paula Jardieu, Senior Vice President, will lead the global immunoassay and immunogenicity services for ICON. Dr. Jardieu has over 23 years of experience in biotechnology, having served as Senior Vice President of Development Sciences at Genentech, Inc. While at Genentech she was responsible for the Analytical Sciences, Pharmacokinetics, Toxicology, Clinical Pharmacology and Process Development divisions and oversaw 8 IND filings and provided non-clinical support for numerous Phase II-IV programs. In 2002, Dr. Jardieu joined Prevalere Life Sciences Inc. and has grown the biotechnology (large molecule) services group over the past 7 years.
John Allinson, Vice President, heads up the global laboratory biomarkers group within ICON Development Solutions and brings over 37 years of experience in developing and working with novel biomarkers for use in drug development across all therapeutic categories and phases of development. Before joining ICON, Mr. Allinson managed the Central Laboratory for Covance in Harrogate before leading the biomarker laboratories at BAS International and more recently Veeda Laboratories which ICON acquired in July 2009. Mr. Allinson was part of the AAPS Ligand Binding Assay Bioanalytical Focus Group (LBABFG) Biomarker Committee which published the first consensus white paper on biomarker assay validation requirements.
“We are very excited about the new global senior management team leading our bioanalytical sciences group,” commented Dr. Thomas Frey, President, ICON Development Solutions. “With the increasing focus on adaptive design in early phase research and seamless delivery throughout the drug development cycle, our team of experts can work with clients to speed the development of novel medicines. Our breadth of expertise in the areas of LC/MS/MS, immunoassay and biomarker analysis enables us to provide study sponsors with significant added value in the design and delivery of the bioanalytical program for their potential drug candidate portfolios.”
About ICON plc
ICON plc is a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. The Company specialises in the strategic development, management and analysis of programs that support clinical development - from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. ICON currently has over 7,100 employees, operating from 71 locations in 38 countries.
Further information is available at www.iconplc.com
