CXO Profile
Ricerca Biosciences, LLC

Company Details
Ricerca Biosciences, LLC
7528 Auburn Road
Concord, OH 44077
Phone: (888) 742-3722
Fax: (440) 354-6276 website: http://www.ricerca.com/

Company Profile
Originally named Ricerca, Inc., a privately owned company, was founded in 1986 to operate as a research and development center focused on analytical and process chemistry and toxicology. Originally, set up to focus on the development of agricultural products, in 1990, Ricerca, Inc. was acquired by Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha and shifted its focus to providing pharmaceutical research services. By 2002, the company had changed its name to Ricerca Biosciences, LLC to reflect its growing biology and biotechnology capabilities for the preclinical development of pharmaceutical and biotechnology products. Sustained by successful customer relations and partnering relationships, Ricerca Biosciences has grown to employ approximately 850 employees in the US, France and Taiwan (http://www.medcitynews.com/2010/03/ricerca-biosciences-completes-35m-buy-of-mds-pharma-units/), with 265 employees stationed at the Concord facility and 585 employees in the US and abroad. The current focus of Ricerca Bioscience is to offer a well-balanced integration of biological and medicinal chemistry services for the development of pharmaceutical and biotechnology products through the pre-clinical stage to the IND stage. Ricerca also provides continued support in CMC development, late stage non-clinical toxicology and metabolisms studies, and clinical sample analysis (http://www.ricerca.com/page12919.asp).

Leadership Team
R. Ian Lennox-Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Lennox was appointed Chief Executive Officer position at Ricerca in February 2008 and has been a member of Ricerca’s Board since 2006. Mr. Lennox has spent over 30 years in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, holding several senior and executive level positions. Between 1999 and 2004, he held positions as President and Chief Executive Officer of MDS Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Markets and Phoenix International Life Sciences. Mr. Lennox was also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Drug Royalty Corporation, Inc. from 1996 through 2003. Mr. Lennox’s career began in at Monsanto Company where he held several leadership positions in both the US and International operations. Mr. Lennox earned his B.S. and MBA from the University of Western Ontario, London. He has also attended Columbus Business School (http://www.bioportfolio.com/biotech_news/Ricerca_Biosciences_5.htm).

Gerald Jacobson-Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Jacobson joined Ricerca in 2008 as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Ricerca, Mr. Jacobson served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Harlan Sprague Dawley, Inc. and Chief Operating Officer of Harlan Europe from 1999 to 2005. From 1994 to 1998, he served as Senior Vice President and Division Manager of LaSalle National Bank; and from 1985 to 1993 served as Senior Vice President/Vice President of NBD/American National Bank. Mr. Jacobson graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, IL and holds a certificate in political economy from the Adam Smith School of Economics in Glasgow, Scotland. He received his MBA from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2008_Sept_2/ai_n28049930/?tag=content-inner;col1).

Mark T. Crane-Vice President of Business and Marketing
Mr. Crane joined Ricerca in June 2007 as Vice President of Business Development and Marketing. He has served many years in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in various leadership roles. Prior to joining Ricerca, Mr. Crane served as Bridge Global Pharmaceutical Service’s and Quest Pharmaceutical Service’s Vice President of Global Business Development. He has also held positions at MDS Pharmaceutical Services, MDS Panlabs, AVANTEC, Inc., and the Perkin Elmer Corporation. Mr. Crane earned his B.S. in health education/community health from Western Connecticut State University at Danbury (http://www.ricerca.com/page12922.asp).

Dr. James R. Szabo-Vice President of Biology Services
Dr. Szabo joined Ricerca in June 2007 as Vice President of Biology Services. He duties include oversight of all biology relate departments including Toxicology, Pathology, Bioanalytical, and Metabolism. Dr. Szabo has held various senior level positions at Bridge Global Pharmaceutical Services from 2004 to 2007. From 1996 to 2004, Dr. Szabo was a Research Leader at Dow Chemical Company. He earned his B.S. and Ph.D. in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Illinois. Dr. Szabo is also an active member of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (http://www.ricerca.com/page12922.asp).

Dr. Richard Donaldson-Chemical Development
Dr. Donaldson was appointed Vice President of Chemical Development at Ricerca in 2006 with responsibilities for Process Chemistry, Radiosynthesis, Process Development and Engineering, and Analytical Chemistry. From 2004 to 2006, Dr. Donaldson was the Director of the Process Chemistry group at Ricerca. Prior to joining Ricerca, he held numerous positions at Dow Chemical from 1995 to 2004. Between 1981 and 1995, Dr. Donaldson held several Process Research Scientist positions for Marion Merrill Dow. Dr. Donaldson earned his B.S. and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Purdue University (http://www.ricerca.com/page12922.asp).

James A. Ault-Vice President of Quality & Regulatory Affairs
Mr. Ault was appointed Vice President of Quality & Regulatory Affairs at Ricerca in February 2007. He has held several positions at Ricerca including, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs (2005-2007), Vice President of Biology Services (2003-2005), and Director of Regulatory Affairs (2001). Prior to joining Ricerca, Mr. Ault was with ABC Laboratories, Inc. and held various positions in Chemistry, Quality Assurance, Administration and Human Resources, from 1977 to 1993. Mr. Ault has a B.A in Chemistry from Columbia College and his MBA from Lincoln University (http://www.ricerca.com/page12922.asp).

Dr. Heidi B. Nelson-Keherly-Director of Client Services
Dr. Nelson was appointed the Director of Client Services at Ricerca in 2007. Prior to this, Dr. Nelson was the Business Manager for Bioanalytical and Analytical Chemistry at Ricerca. From 1997 and 2005, Dr. Nelson held numerous positions at Lark Technologies. Dr. Nelson earned her B.S. in Biology from Duke University and her Ph.D. in Cell & Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin (http://www.ricerca.com/page12922.asp).

Services Offered
As one of the major independent contract research organizations in the US, Ricerca offers a wide range of preclinical services aimed to small- and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies.

Ricerca’s drug development services include: IND-enabling toxicology and DMPK studies, bioanalytical method development and sample analysis, analytical services, process chemistry and scale-up, API preparation and manufacture, and regulatory support, which includes protocol development and completion of CMC documents.

Analytical chemistry services include a full range of GLP and GMP manufacturing, characterization, and validation studies. Ricerca also is licensed to handle radioactive materials.

Biology services at Ricerca include: IND-enabling toxicology/PK studies, in vivo oncology, viral, and diabetic animal models. Ricerca’s regulatory support services help clients draft and prepare clinical protocols and complete CMC documents.

Ricerca also specializes in optimization programs that require medicinal chemistry, in vitro ADMET, in vivo ADMET, metabolite ID, bioavailability assessments, efficacy models and preformulation expertise (http://www.ricerca.com/page12885.asp).

Contracting/Partners
There is not any information about the type of companies that Ricerca contracts with except it is clear that they target small- to medium-sized pharmaceutical companies that are not vertically integrated and must outsource a portion of their research. My organization, which is extremely small (