USC School of Pharmacy Announces Quintiles Gift Supporting Pharmaceutical and Regulatory Innovation

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Southern California School of Pharmacy has received a gift from Quintiles to establish the Quintiles Chair in Pharmaceutical and Regulatory Innovation and the Quintiles International Lecture Series, both to be housed at the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC.

"The Quintiles Chair will allow USC to recruit a world-class faculty expert with the interdisciplinary knowledge of both health economics and regulatory policy," said USC President C. L. Max Nikias.  "As USC builds collaborations between these two vital areas, the Quintiles gift will advance the university's research and scholarship in ways that will significantly shape the future of health care."

The Schaeffer Center at USC, a collaboration between the USC School of Pharmacy and the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, offers an ideal home for the Quintiles Chair. Recognized as one of the nation's premier centers for innovative, independent research contributing to health policy development, the Schaeffer Center at USC aims to promote health and value in health care through rigorous research and analysis. The Quintiles Chair allows for the recruitment of a world-class expert in regulation and health policy to promote more efficient health care delivery.

Dennis Gillings, CBE, founder and Chairman of Quintiles commented, "The Quintiles Chair and International Lecture Series have the potential to drive true innovation and create exciting new dialog in global health. I'm delighted that we are able to support the Schaefer Center and USC School of Pharmacy in this worthwhile endeavor."

In the last decade, the regulatory environment for biopharmaceutical products has greatly shifted as a truly global marketplace has emerged. The gift provides an opportunity to look at potential efficiencies that facilitate the arrival of products to market in a cost-effective way while still ensuring safety.

The USC School of Pharmacy houses the International Center for Regulatory Science, offering the world's only professional doctorate in the discipline as well as a master's degree. The program is directed by Frances Richmond, professor at the USC School of Pharmacy, who will also work with the eventual holder of the Quintiles Chair, in addition to other faculty and students in the program as well as those at the Schaeffer Center at USC.  

"This is a gift that will allow USC to take two disciplines in which we are currently leaders – health economic policy and regulatory science – and meld the thinking to come up with real-world solutions to today's challenges," said USC School of Pharmacy Dean R. Pete Vanderveen.  "This will be further enhanced through the lecture series."

The Quintiles International Lecture Series will be directed by Dana P. Goldman, director of the Schaeffer Center at USC. The series provides a high-level international forum addressing pharmaceutical economics policy and regulatory issues.  The intent of the series is to provide an open dialogue among international leaders who will work together in forming new methodologies that streamline the regulatory process and accelerate innovation.

"The Quintiles gift puts the Schaeffer Center at the forefront in understanding the long-term consequences of regulatory reform, both in the United States and abroad," notes Dana Goldman, the Norman Topping Chair in Medicine and Public Policy at USC.

The series will launch in Beijing, China, in June 2012 with a two-day conference on "Pharmaceutical Regulation and Innovation."  The first day of the conference will focus on policy followed by a day on research. Co-sponsor of the conference is Peking University's Guanghua School of Management. A comprehensive search for the Quintiles Chair is currently underway.

About Quintiles

Quintiles is the only fully integrated biopharmaceutical services company offering clinical, commercial, consulting and capital solutions worldwide. The Quintiles network of more than 20,000 engaged professionals in 60 countries works with an unwavering commitment to patients, safety and ethics. Quintiles helps biopharmaceutical companies navigate risk and seize opportunities in an environment where change is constant. For more information, please visit www.quintiles.com/.

About the USC School of Pharmacy

The USC School of Pharmacy is nationally recognized as an innovative, progressive pharmacy school, playing a key leadership role in the advancement of the pharmacy profession.  Its cutting-edge research enterprise is internationally known, especially for work focusing on the design, discovery, targeting and delivery of novel therapeutics and on pharmacoeconomics.  The School is home to the USC International Center for Regulatory Science and a partner in the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. The USC School of Pharmacy is ranked #2 in National Institutes of Health funding for pharmacy schools nationwide. To learn more, please visit pharmacyschool.usc.edu.

USC School of Pharmacy:
Kukla Vera
[email protected]
(323) 442-3497 (office) or (310) 795-5552 (cell)

Quintiles:
Steve Brechbiel
[email protected]
(919) 998-2548 (office) or (919) 641-0901 (cell)

SOURCE USC School of Pharmacy