ICON Development Solutions Boosts Pharmacokinetic And Pharmacodynamic Expertise With New Appointments

ICON plc, a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, recently announced four key appointments that greatly enhance ICON's ability to assist clients with Pharmacokinetic (PK) and Pharmacodynamic (PD), Modeling and Simulation services. These services are increasingly central to the drug development process.

Dr. Roger Toothaker has joined ICON as Global Vice President of Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, Modeling and Simulation where he will oversee the strategic application of these areas to help pharmaceutical companies develop optimal drug development strategies. Roger joins ICON with over twenty years of experience in academic, pharmaceutical, and contract service organizations. Previously, Roger was Vice President of Clinical Development at Akros Pharma, and has also held senior positions at TAP Pharmaceuticals, Procter & Gamble, Parke-Davis and Pharmakon. Roger holds a Doctoral degree in Pharmaceutics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In his role as Vice President of Pharmacometrics, Dr. Robert J. Bauer will drive the design and development of PK/PD models, statistics and computational techniques to assist clients with modeling and simulation projects. Prior to joining ICON, Robert spent sixteen years with XOMA, a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies, where he held the position of Senior Director, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Bioinfomatics. Robert was also employed as a pharmacokineticist at Cetus Corporation after obtaining his Doctoral degree in Pharmacology from Wayne State University, Michigan.

Dr. Ekaterina Gibiansky has joined ICON as Senior Director, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, Modeling and Simulation and brings more than 15 years of pharmaceutical experience as a pharmacokineticist, pharmacometrician and biostatistician. Most recently, Ekaterina was the Director, PK/PD, Clinical Development at MedImmune Inc. and has also held senior scientific positions at MGI Pharma, GloboMax, Otsuka and Novartis. Ekaterina holds a Doctoral degree in Statistics from the University of London.

Dr. Nidal Al-Huniti has joined ICON as Principal Scientist and brings significant experience in PK/PD modeling, population PK/PD and statistics. Nidal has extensive knowledge of Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo Bayesian hierarchical modeling methods and their application in modeling and simulation. Prior to joining ICON, Nidal was a Senior Associate at Pharsight Corporation. He holds a Doctoral degree in Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics from the University of Iowa.

Commenting on the appointments, Dr. Thomas Frey, President, ICON Development Solutions, said, "We are delighted to boost the expertise and experience of our team with such high-calibre professionals. Pharmaceutical data analysis and methodology are critical factors in the drug development process; with these new appointments, we will be able to help our clients maximize the efficiency and impact of their clinical studies and development strategies."

About ICON Development Solutions
With expertise in clinical pharmacology, regulatory affairs, pharmacokinetics, pharmacometrics, biopharmaceutics and bioanalytical, ICON Development Solutions specializes in the strategy, management and execution of product development and early phase clinical development. ICON Development Solutions has conducted over 1000 clinical studies and has designed the product development plans for over 50 products.

For more information visit www.icondevsolutions.com/index.html

About ICON plc
ICON plc is a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. The Company specializes in the strategic development, management and analysis of programs that support clinical development - from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. ICON teams have successfully conducted over 5500 development projects and consultancy engagements across all major therapeutic areas. ICON currently has over 6150 employees, operating from 69 locations in 36 countries.

Further information is available at www.iconplc.com.

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