Certara®, the global leader in model-informed drug development,
regulatory science, real-world evidence and market access services,
today announced four senior executive appointments in its Simcyp
division. Simcyp is the leading provider of innovative mechanistic
modeling technologies used to inform drug development, including
physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK), quantitative systems
pharmacology (QSP) and quantitative systems toxicology and safety (QSTS)
approaches. For example, the Simcyp Simulator has been used to inform 50
novel drug applications, including more than 200 label claims made
without the need for clinical trials.
Rob Aspbury, PhD, joins Simcyp as Chief Operating Officer; Frederic Yves
Bois, PharmD, PhD, is the division’s new Senior Scientific Advisor and
Head of Mechanistic Modeling; Will Redfern, PhD, is Vice President,
Quantitative Systems Toxicology and Safety; and Noriko Okudaira, PhD, is
Senior Consultant/Scientific Advisor supporting Certara’s clients
locally in Japan.
“I am delighted to welcome Rob, Frederic, Will and Noriko to the Simcyp
team. It is a testament to the major scientific and technological
advances that Simcyp continues to make that we are able to attract staff
of this caliber,” said Steve Toon, PhD, Simcyp President and Managing
Director. “Focusing on safety and efficacy, the team will build on
Simcyp’s position, delivering confidence in drug development, drug
target selection, and drug label enrichment.”
Dr. Aspbury brings more than 17 years’ commercial and scientific
leadership experience with Covance to Certara. Dr. Aspbury was appointed
Global Finance Director for Covance’s Clinical Pharmacology Services
Division in 2003 and was rapidly promoted within the division to
Managing Director, then Vice President, Europe, and later Vice President
and General Manager, Global. His most recent appointment was Vice
President of Covance Strategic Solutions, Biosimilars.
Dr. Bois was Research Director of the French National Institute for
Industrial Environment and Risks (INERIS) before joining Certara. For
six years, he also served in parallel as Professor and Chair of
Mathematical Modeling for Systems Toxicology at UTC and INERIS. Dr. Bois
is a recognized expert in Bayesian calibration of complex differential
equation-based models. He has also served as a public health policy and
regulatory risk assessment consultant to the US FDA, EPA and OSHA, the
European Commission, and the French Ministry of the Environment. Dr.
Bois is author or co-author of more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and
recipient of the American Statistical Association’s Outstanding
Statistical Application Award, and the French Epidaure Prize for
Environmental Health Research.
Dr. Redfern is an international key opinion leader with more than 30
years’ experience in in vivo central nervous system and
cardiovascular safety pharmacology. He joins Certara from AstraZeneca
R&D in Cambridge (UK) where he was Principal Scientist for Safety and
Mechanistic Pharmacology. Dr. Redfern is author or co-author of 36
peer-reviewed articles, six book chapters, 91 conference proceedings
abstracts, and two drug patents. He is a past president of the Safety
Pharmacology Society and has received both the organization’s
Technological Innovation Award and its Distinguished Service Award.
Dr. Okudaira comes to Certara from Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. where she
served as Director of the Clinical Pharmacology Department. Prior to
that, she was Senior Researcher and later Senior Director of Daiichi
Sankyo’s Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetic Research Laboratories.
About Certara
Certara enables superior drug development and patient care
decision-making through model-informed drug development, regulatory
science, real-world evidence solutions and knowledge integration. As a
result, it optimizes R&D productivity, commercial value and patient
outcomes. Its clients include hundreds of global biopharmaceutical
companies, leading academic institutions, and key regulatory agencies
across 60 countries. For more information, visit www.certara.com.
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