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CIT Appoints Dr. François Spézia as Head of its Reproductive Toxicology Department
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CIT, has announced the appointment of Dr. François Spézia as head of its reproductive toxicology department. This appointment is a response to growing demand from CIT’s clients for reproductive toxicology studies. These generated 10 per cent of the company’s revenues in 2010, up 25 per cent on 2009.
CIT is one of the few CROs in Europe to have a department devoted solely to reproductive toxicology. The department is staffed by a team of 11 people who are highly experienced and have conducted 183 reprotoxicology studies since 2005.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. François Spézia as head of our reproductive toxicology department, since his expertise is recognized by peer specialists in this field around Europe,” said the managing director of CIT, Sophie Baratte. “François has more than 20 years’ experience, mainly acquired in the pharmaceutical industry, and he will make a valuable contribution to our customers’ development programs.”
François Spézia, 49, holds a Ph.D. in fundamental and applied toxicology from the University of Paris (1990), for which he produced a thesis on the inter-species differences in teratology. His first job was with Hoechst Marion Roussel, after which he joined Pfizer as a reproduction toxicologist. From there, he went on to Novexel, and more recently worked for Chanel in more general capacities.
In the course of his career, François Spézia, who is a European Registered Toxicologist, has developed and validated several in vitro and in vivo models for evaluating adverse effects on reproductive functions (e.g. embryotoxicity, fertility). He also participated in the production of an international glossary on the terminology of development anomalies in laboratory animals.
“I am very pleased to be joining CIT at a time when evaluating the toxic potential of drug candidates, especially biologics, and chemicals (the REACH program) on reproductive functions requires very particular, integrated expertise for evaluating the risk,” said Spézia.
