Adelaide, Australia | Raleigh, North Carolina, USA – Avance Clinical, the award-winning Australian and North American market-leading CRO for biotechs, announces two key appointments in the US to support its continued global growth.
Kevin Leach joins as Senior Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, based in Massachusetts, USA. Kevin has a background in the biopharma industry with experience in early and late-stage drug discovery and development.
Madison Esely-Kohlman has joined as a Director of Business Development based in Salt Lake City, Utah and is focused on partnering with biotech companies on their Phase I-III clinical trials.
In welcoming both Kevin and Madison, CEO, Yvonne Lungershausen said they bring significant expertise that will support Avance Clinical’s expanding US and Australian operations as well as our global growth plans.
“We are seeing increasing demand for our biotech-specific services such as ClinicReady and GlobalReady which are designed for pre-clinical, early phase and later phase clinical development. GlobalReady is a unique offering enabling biotechs to start rapidly and cost effectively with Avance Clinical in Australia and transition with our team in the US for later phase trials, with all the benefits of retaining the one CRO,” she said.
Kevin Leach PhD, DAB: Senior Vice President, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs
Kevin Leach has more than 20 years of experience working in drug discovery and development in the pharmaceutical industry and will provide exceptional knowledge and experience to Avance Clinical’s biotech clients. He has a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Medical College of Virginia and completed his Post Doctoral Fellowship in Biological Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“Previously, I was on the client-side working with Avance Clinical. As we were considering the best CRO for our non-clinical and clinical programs Avance was consistently suggested to us as the premier partner in Australia. Once we started working together it was clear to me that the Avance team had a wealth of experience and expertise broadly in drug development and that we were in good hands at Avance.
“I joined Avance because I wanted to be part of an organization that was considered the gold standard in their field, and I felt comfortable that I would be working with highly intelligent, motivated, and experienced colleagues in our shared mission of bringing transformative medicines to patients.
“I am looking forward to applying my past experiences by working with the Avance team to enable sponsors developing diverse medicines of various molecular platforms, for different disease indications to deliver therapies that change and enrich the lives of the patients,” Kevin said.
Madison Esely-Kohlman: Director of Business Development
Madison Esely-Kohlman has considerable experience working in specialty drug development services, including in vitro DMPK testing and regulated bioanalysis, and GLP preclinical studies. Madison’s expertise includes engaging with clients early in their clinical development journey and supporting them into clinic. In her new role at Avance Clinical, she is looking forward to assisting clients navigate their clinical programs.
“Clinical trials bring not just tangible and thoroughly vetted medicines into the world; they can bring hope to families and individuals. Clinical trials run with expertise and efficiency mean faster access for those patients, and by joining Avance I am part of an organization dedicated to that outcome,” she said.
Madison is motivated by assisting US biotech companies to understand and take advantage of the benefits afforded by the Australian clinical pathway.
“A game-changer that really drew me to Avance Clinical as a CRO specifically is their ability to support sponsors in the longer term. The GlobalReady offering empowers our customers to maximize benefits of the Australian clinical network and transition into a global program with teams in the US and elsewhere in the world. My goal is to connect those companies to the resources and expertise available at Avance Clinical, so they have a trusted and capable partner in their programs,” Madison said.
Meet Madison in-person at COG West Coast on 7-8 November in Burlingame, CA.
About Avance Clinical
Avance Clinical is a full-service CRO for biotechs with a proven track-record for delivering clinical excellence in Australia, New Zealand, and North America. As the largest premium full-service CRO in Australia and North America, Avance Clinical specializes in delivering top-tier clinical trials that yield globally accepted data.
Award-winning CRO for Biotechs
Avance Clinical has been recognised for the fourth consecutive year by Frost & Sullivan in 2023, being awarded the Best Practices Customer Value Leadership for Biotech’s award, for its continuous exceptional performance.
Pre-clinical through to Phase I and Beyond
Avance Clinical offers pre-clinical consultancy services with their experienced ClinicReady team right through to Phase I and beyond clinical services leveraging significant Government incentive rebates of up to 43.5% and rapid start-up regulatory processes that are available in Australia. With experience across more than 110 therapeutic indications, Avance Clinical can deliver world-class, high-quality, internationally accepted data suitable for FDA and EMA review.
Technology
Avance Clinical uses state-of-the-art technology and gold-standard systems across all functional areas to provide clients with the most effective processes. Medidata, Oracle, Zelta, Veeva and Medrio are just some of Avance Clinical’s technology partners.
