Cetero Research Announces Executive Appointments and New Company Name

CARY, N.C., June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cetero Research announced the completion of a major milestone in its reorganization efforts. Following the company filing for reorganization under Chapter 11 and the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court's approval of the sale of Cetero to its investor group, led by Freeport Financial, the sale of the company was finalized on June 20, 2012.

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Over recent months, Cetero has engaged with lenders and stakeholders to plan a growth-filled future for the company. As a first step in this process, the board of directors has named three executive appointments to lead operational, financial and new business initiatives.

James Carlson, Pharm.D, has been named Chief Executive Officer, based on his extensive background in the Phase I research space and reputation for entrepreneurial leadership. Dr. Carlson is a life science industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience in early phase research. He co-founded and served as CEO of a legacy operation of Cetero Research, based in Fargo, ND, from 1983 to 2006, where he oversaw the conduct of more than 450 studies per year across a wide range of therapeutic indications and study types. A 250,000 square-foot clinical pharmacology unit with specialization in cardiac safety and healthy participants for bioavailability, bioequivalence, preclinical and clinical dermatology studies, this facility is the largest Phase I unit in the world.  As part of the new ownership structure, the company's headquarters will move from Cary, NC, to Fargo, ND, and the company has been renamed PRACS Institute.

Mark Ubert, CPA, MBA, has been named Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Ubert joined Cetero in 2009 as corporate controller, bringing extensive experience in financial leadership, corporate treasury, mergers and acquisitions, accounting and operational performance improvement within the life science and healthcare industries. In his new position, Mr. Ubert is responsible for the overall financial operations of the company, including corporate finance, treasury, financial planning and analysis, tax, accounting internal audit and risk management.

John Pottier has been named Executive Vice President, Business Development. With more than 20 years of industry experience, Mr. Pottier brings significant expertise in early phase clinical knowledge and R&D business requirements. Joining PRACS from Worldwide Clinical Trials, Mr. Pottier previously served in business development roles at Novum Research, Cetero Research and PRACS Institute, Ltd., after beginning his career at the Clinical Research Foundation, now part of Quintiles Transnational.

"This is an exciting time for our new company. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we look forward to strengthening our organization and integrating service offerings," said Dr. Carlson. "We will continue to uphold the company's commitment to the delivery of reliable, quality data and on-time study results, as well as the safety of our study participants," he added.

As biopharmaceutical companies seek new ways to help manage drug costs and navigate the rising complexity of early phase development, sponsors are starting to rely more heavily on niche providers like PRACS, who is well positioned to serve the generic, innovator and dermatology markets.  PRACS has the flexibility and capacity to accommodate the expected increase of bioavailability and bioequivalence studies following near-term patent expirations. 

About PRACS Institute

A leading early-phase contract research organization, PRACS has conducted more than 20,000 clinical pharmacology studies ─ more than any other CRO. With facilities across North America, PRACS offers flexible, quality clinical development services in a range of therapeutic areas.  For more information, visit PRACS.com.

About Freeport Financial

Founded in 2004 by a group of experienced corporate finance and capital markets professionals, Freeport Financial is a leading provider of capital and leveraged finance solutions to middle market companies.  

SOURCE PRACS Institute