PAREXEL Names Dr. Sy Pretorius Chief Scientific Officer
Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.
PAREXEL International has named Dr. Sy Pretorius its Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Pretorius currently serves as the Company’s Corporate Vice President and Worldwide Head of Early Phase, and will continue in that capacity in addition to assuming his expanded responsibilities.
As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Pretorius will enhance and lead innovation of clinical research methodologies, and help PAREXEL further integrate its offerings to meet growing industry demand for end-to-end drug development services.
He will focus on a variety of important capabilities, including clinical trial modelling and simulations, as well as adaptive trial designs.
Dr. Pretorius will also lead the Company’s study optimization services by aligning its considerable scientific and therapeutic expertise to provide valuable guidance to customers in clinical study design, with a goal of increasing study predictability while reducing costs and time to market.
“Customers are increasingly seeking a full spectrum of integrated clinical research services from a single provider to make drug development more efficient,” said Mark A. Goldberg, M.D., President and Chief Operating Officer, PAREXEL. “To help us meet these requirements, we have not only recently added new senior leadership to our ranks, but we have expanded the role of one of our current executives. Sy Pretorius has enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Company, and applying his expertise more broadly will benefit customers and PAREXEL alike.”
Thomas Senderovitz, M.D., Senior Vice President of Clinical Research Services at PAREXEL, added, “A unified approach to clinical drug development is central to our commitment to delivering integrated clinical services. By aligning our international expertise under Dr. Pretorius’ leadership, we can provide these services in a more effective, cross-functional manner.”
Dr. Pretorius is a board-certified medical doctor with master’s degrees in Clinical Pharmacology and Business Administration. In nearly 18 years at PAREXEL, he has held positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as head of Early Phase services. He will continue to lead PAREXEL’s global Phase I and IIa services. These services are provided via the Company’s hospital-based clinical network, which spans three continents, as well as its global Proof of Concept division.
“PAREXEL supports over 1,700 clinical projects in 20 therapeutic areas, and conducts trials in more than 100 countries,” said Dr. Pretorius. “I look forward to applying our scientific capabilities to meet the increasingly global and complex needs of our customers.”
