Advanced Clinical Announces Bernice Welles as a Core Member of its Strategic Advisory Ecosystem

Advanced Clinical, a leading provider of clinical research services, announces Bernice Welles as a core member of its strategic advisory ecosystem.

Bannockburn, Ill. (Vocus) September 30, 2010

Advanced Clinical, a leading provider of clinical research services, announces Bernice Welles as a core member of its strategic advisory ecosystem.

As a strategic advisor, Bernice Welles has contributed to Advanced Clinical’s Industry Leading R&D Performance (ILRDP) framework that seeks to make the “business of R&D” more effective and efficient for Life Sciences companies. Bernice has been a key driver in the development and regulatory approval of drugs, biologics, devices as well as combination therapies across multiple therapeutic areas. “Moving a drug and/or biologic from development to approval is, possibly, the hardest earned process in the Life Sciences industry,” says Bernice Welles, Advanced Clinical Strategic Advisor.

Welles’ accomplishments span several leadership roles in companies at different stages of growth. At Genentech, Welles was appointed to several management positions to drive the drug and biologics development portfolio across multiple therapeutic areas. Two of Welles positions included: Senior Director of the Specialty Therapeutics Unit and Vice President of Product Development. One important program that Welles progressed was the Lucentis injection for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is a disease of the eye that is the leading cause of blindness in older Americans and causes loss of the ability to see straight ahead and may make it more difficult to read, drive, or perform other daily activities. By moving forward this program, several thousand patients were able to be treated.

Welles held a Venture Partner position at MPM Capital LLP, where she participated in discussions on medical devices and helped assess device instruments. At MPM, Welles also took the lead on several investments and helped portfolio companies such as CoTherix maneuver the regulatory process leading to an early approval for Ventavis®, a new therapy for pulmonary hypertension.

Welles currently holds executive positions as CEO of Alquest Therapeutics Inc. and Vice President, Clinical and Regulatory, of Enject Inc., both innovative biotechnology startup companies.

With years of experience heading teams across functional areas, Welles credits integration as being one of the keys to her success. Using her capability to integrate the knowledge she has gained during her career, Welles is able to pull together all of the elements of clinical and regulatory as well as leverage the science behind development programs to create a significant, positive impact on the Life Sciences industry.

“I am proud to be working with Advanced Clinical,” said Bernice Welles. “Being part of this expert strategic advisory team allows me to continue to work with a topflight team to create new levels of R&D Productivity for companies in Life Sciences and bring much needed treatments to the market for those who need them.”

About Advanced Clinical: Advanced Clinical provides consulting services, strategic sourcing (CRO), talent management, and technology solutions to the Life Sciences industry. With 15+ years of experience, Advanced Clinical is an established presence in the clinical research field, providing services specifically for Pharmaceutical, Biopharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Medical Device organizations. Advanced utilizes a value-based, “One Team” approach. To learn more, visit http://www.advancedclinical.com/.

Contact:
Rosemarie Truman
rtruman@advancedclinical.com
1200 Lakeside Drive
Bannockburn, IL 60015
Ph: 202-438-2208

Big Pharma aims for reinvention

With some of his most profitable medicines going off patent, and the uncertainty of replacement drugs continuing to rise, US healthcare reform has been the least of Andrew Witty’s recent worries.

When the chief executive of GlaxoSmith­Kline presented his company’s most recent financial results last month, he gave a sense of how the UK’s biggest drugmaker – and the industry more generally – is responding to structural pressures: diversify to survive.

For his company, he says, this means a shift away from “white pills in western markets”, with the proportion of traditionally core patent-protected, chemically based drugs, which are sold mainly in North America and western Europe, falling to just more than a quarter of total sales.

For many years, large companies such as GSK have relied on a handful of typically high-priced, mass-market “blockbusters” that generate billions of dollars a year in sales. But as patents expire on drugs such as Lipitor, Pfizer’s anti-cholesterol medicine that is the biggest selling medication in history, big pharma is having to rethink its business model.

Most large pharmaceutical companies have adopted four principal strategies to diversify. First, expand the range of products in the research and development pipeline and the use of external as well as in-house scientists to discover them. Second, expand geographically, especially into emerging markets. Third, increase sales of products other than patented prescription medicines. Fourth, experiment with greater flexibility in pricing in different countries and with ways to ensure drugs provide value for money.

Read the rest of the article -- FinancialTimes.com

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