05.18.10

Michael E. Placke, Ph.D., Joins Ricerca as Senior Vice President and General Manager

(Concord, OH; May 18, 2010) – Ricerca Biosciences, a uniquely integrated preclinical contract research organization (CRO) providing services to the biopharmaceutical industry, announced today that Michael E. Placke, Ph.D., DABT, will join Ricerca as senior vice president and general manager at their Concord, Ohio, facility on May 24, 2010.

In this position, Dr. Placke will be responsible for the operations and business performance of Ricerca’s Concord site and will be working with the executive team participating in the global integration of Concord, Ohio, based services to the recently acquired DSA services in Lyon, France, and the pharmacology/DMPK services in Bothell, Washington, and Taipei, Taiwan.

“We are pleased to welcome Michael aboard the Ricerca team,” stated Chairman and CEO of Ricerca Ian Lennox. “Michael brings over 25 years of pharmaceutical and contract research experience including small molecules, biologics, vaccines and drug delivery systems in multiple therapeutic areas. Michael has an impressive scientific background, strong people management skills, a dedication to client satisfaction and regulatory expertise.”

Prior to this position, Dr. Placke served as vice president, drug safety, at Wyeth Research (now Pfizer) in Chazy, New York. Dr. Placke was responsible for leading all non-clinical drug safety evaluations and support of Wyeth’s drug development portfolio from candidate selections through post-marketing assessment. Before joining Wyeth, Dr. Placke was with Battelle Pharma, Inc., in Columbus, Ohio, where he was vice president, pharmaceutical development, and chief scientist from 1999 to 2003. In these positions, he was responsible for the development of new pharmaceuticals and technologies, including product development program design and managing the integration of scientific operations. Dr. Placke held various positions at Battelle Memorial Institute from 1983 to 1999.

Dr. Placke received his Bachelor of Science in animal science and his Master of Science in physiology from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and his Ph.D. in pathobiology from the University of Connecticut located in Storrs, Connecticut.

About Ricerca Biosciences
Ricerca Biosciences offers a comprehensive suite of discovery and preclinical services to support drug candidates from discovery through IND on a global scale, including capabilities in discovery and medicinal chemistry, API process chemistry, cGMP manufacturing and scale-up, IND-enabling toxicology, molecular profiling, pharmacology/DMPK and drug safety assessment services. With facilities in Concord, Ohio; Bothell, Washington; Taipei, Taiwan; and Lyon, France, Ricerca offers scientific excellence through reliable, cost-effective strategies to accelerate your drug discovery programs.