Veteran Business Development Executive J. Scott Tarrant Joins RRD International as Chief Business Officer

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Apr 05, 2010, 10:47 ET

Tarrant to Oversee Strategic Growth Initiatives and Drive Market Adoption of Asset-Centric Development Model

ROCKVILLE, Md., April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- RRD International, a strategy-driven biotech and pharmaceutical product development company, announced today that J. Scott Tarrant has been hired as Chief Business Officer. Having held senior executive positions at both early stage and publicly traded life-science companies, Tarrant brings 20 years of technical sales, marketing and business development experience to the RRD and their clients. Tarrant was previously engaged by RRD to help chart the Company's growth strategy and implement its asset-centric business model.

"We're pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Tarrant as RRD's Chief Business Officer," said Charles (Chuck) Finn, Ph.D., President, CEO, and Co-Founder of RRD International. "This is a strategic hire for RRD because our engagements can range significantly in scope and scale. Not only will Scott play a pivotal role in supporting our growth strategy and managing market expansion initiatives, but he also offers a unique knowledge resource to clients in terms of product positioning for investment and ultimately, commercialization. Scott's diverse skills and experience make him an outstanding asset for us and our clients."

RRD International delivers tactical, regulatory-driven product development support to companies and investors in the life sciences industry. Leveraging its in-house strategic and operational expertise, the Company helps clients better plan, manage and execute product development -- enabling companies to reduce costs, achieve rapid proof of concept, and accelerate the value creation curve. RRD International's asset-centric development model offers investment efficiencies compared to conventional approaches as it enables companies to build product value instead of costly infrastructure as well as mitigate development and execution risk. The Company's fully integrated development team has successfully completed more than 50 product development engagements with a wide range of organizations.

"The life sciences industry is in a state of change as past practices have proven inefficient and economically unsustainable long term. Market data suggest growing trends to eliminate fixed-cost infrastructure and strategically align with external partners," said Scott Tarrant, Chief Business Officer, RRD International. "With life science companies and investors now seeking alternative development models which move drug candidates through proof of concept faster, more cost effectively, and with a greater likelihood of success, RRD's scalable, flexible and optimized platforms are well positioned to capture this opportunity."

Prior to joining RRD International, Tarrant held executive and sales management positions at Gene Logic, TherImmune Research Corporation and Nalco Chemical Company. As a partner and co-founder of Catenate, LLC, Mr. Tarrant has worked closely with a number of early stage life science companies, developing and supporting their corporate and business strategies. He also served as Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for UK-based Xceleron, Ltd and led the formation of its US subsidiary in Maryland.

Tarrant is a former combat engineer officer in the United States Army. He received his B.S. in Biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Syracuse University and is a 2008 graduate of the International Executive Program in General Management at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France and Singapore.

About RRD International

Founded in 2002, RRD is a strategy-driven product development company. The Company's development model enables rapid proof-of-concept for biotech and pharmaceutical clients to accelerate value inflection points; reduce costs; and mitigate development as well as execution risk. RRD offers two distinct types of client engagements: TacDev® and DevCo®. The TacDev® model adds development bandwidth and expertise for defined products in companies with minimal infrastructure. The DevCo® model creates external product development companies where investment is in asset optimization rather than traditional infrastructure. For more information visit www.rrdintl.com. RRD International: Accelerating the Right Development; Creating Lasting Value.

SOURCE RRD International