RRD International Hires Ulrich Thienel, M.D., Ph.D. As Chief Development And Medical Officer

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ROCKVILLE, Md., July 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- RRD International, a highly specialized product development company that provides expert-level strategic and operational support to biopharmaceutical companies and investors, announced today the appointment of Dr. Ulrich Thienel as chief development and medical officer (CDMO). Prior to joining RRD, Thienel served as vice president of asset strategy at Takeda. During his tenure at Takeda, Thienel led multiple global franchises including CNS, immunology, respiratory and inflammation. Thienel also held clinical development positions (phase 1 to phase 4) in immunology at Bristol-Myers Squibb and drug-device combination products at Johnson and Johnson.  

"Dr. Thienel is an ideal match for RRD and its growth needs as we continue to increase the scale and scope of our product development programs. His broad industry experience in multiple therapeutic areas and development expertise from early stage research to product commercialization make him a key resource for our company and critical to the future success of our Product Development Team (PDT) model," said Scott Tarrant, president of RRD International. "In his previous role at Takeda, Dr. Thienel oversaw a team of more than 300 staff and was responsible for a large portfolio of assets. This extensive therapeutic and management experience combined with his strategy-driven approach to development offers an invaluable asset to RRD and our partners."

As CDMO, Thienel will provide scientific, development and management leadership to PDTs formed between RRD and its partners as well as play a key role in developing strategies to expand RRD's business while ensuring the exceptionally high quality work and product outcomes for which the Company is known. In addition, Thienel will be involved in the advancement of RRD's ClearPath Development subsidiary. Designed to bring companies, products and investors together, the subsidiary creates unique development entities that utilize RRD's core infrastructure for the sole purpose of rapidly achieving human proof-of-concept (hPOC) and creating out-licensing opportunities. As an example, ClearPath and Astellas Pharma, Inc. formed a strategic partnership in late 2013 to build a portfolio of infectious disease vaccine products.

"What attracted me to RRD was its unique partnership model and the potential to significantly accelerate development of new medicines from preclinical to hPOC, which is a huge bottleneck for the industry," said Thienel. "The PDT model, combined with the exceptional team at RRD and the caliber of partners they've attracted creates an opportunity to have a high-impact on multiple, exciting programs and technologies at critical development stages. This type of opportunity just doesn't present itself in large pharma, which is why I am so excited to join the company."  

Thienel earned his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany and completed his residency in internal medicine at Ludwigsburg Hospital, Germany. He completed his fellowship in rheumatology at Columbia University in New York. In the past year, he completed executive training in sales and marketing at the Kellogg Institute, Northwestern University.

About RRD International: 
RRD International is a product development company that provides integrated, expert-level strategic, regulatory and operational support to biopharmaceutical companies and investors. The Company's unique Product Development Team model (PDT) provides an effective, asset-centric alternative to traditional industry practices. While comprehensive in value, structure and function – encompassing all aspects of a development program including strategic planning, management and execution – the PDT model is also highly resource efficient with an intense focus on minimizing cost, time and risk to achieve human proof-of-concept (POC). Since 2002, RRD has worked with more than 100 organizations across all major classes and therapeutic areas. For more information, visit www.rrdintl.com.

About ClearPath Development Company
ClearPath Development Company works with leading biopharmaceutical companies to expand product pipeline opportunities with complementary development and finance capabilities. ClearPath's business model provides biopharmaceutical companies with an alternative mechanism for accelerating product development. For more information, visit www.clearpathdevco.com.

SOURCE RRD International

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http://www.clearpathdevco.com/