Record growth continues at Boyds with expansion for Product Development team

Leading pharmaceutical and biotech product development consultancy Boyds has added two experienced product development experts to its team, amid growing demand for its specialist Product Development services from biotech and spinout businesses in the UK, Europe and the US.

Diane Shattock Ph.D., joins as Director of Product Development and Ian Hollingsworth M.Sc., as Associate Director of Product Development. Both are working alongside Boyds’ Vice President of Product Development, Nick Meyers Ph.D.

The hires are central to Boyds’ planned expansion of the Product Development team and its clear strategy of expansion into the US, specifically of its programme management and product development support to US-based clients via its expertise, support and guidance throughout the life-cycle of medicine development activities, from early-stage discovery to commercialisation.

Diane and Ian are the latest of 18 new starters since March, when Boyds embarked upon its current expansion. The consultancy has created the new roles to further enhance its expertise and also expand the business, in response to a 25% surge in turnover and sustained growth in demand for its services across the UK, Europe and the US.

The Product Development team works collaboratively with Boyds’ in-house regulatory affairs, clinical operations and medical teams to support clients from the earliest stages of drug development, through clinical trials towards product approval and launch, working closely with regulators in the UK, European and US.

With over 19 years’ experience in clinical drug development, Dr. Shattock is a Project Management Professional (PMP)-qualified programme director and before joining Boyds, was Project Lead at Freeline for its lead gene therapy programme in Fabry Disease, and Project Manager on its Haemophilia B programme.

Diane has a wealth of programme management experience from her work across many therapeutic areas and all phases of drug development, including as Global Project Manager at Takeda and leading a collaborative Phase I-stage programme for an antibody therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis for Eisai and Morphotek.

Ian Hollingsworth is PMP qualified, and has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. His career began as a research chemist at AstraZeneca before his move into project managing early-stage programmes. Ian has managed projects in production facilities as well as transnational drug development programmes, and most recently the UK initiative to establish Advanced Therapy Treatment Centres (ATTC) across the NHS.

Following their appointments, Boyds’ Nick Meyers said: “I am delighted that Diane and Ian have joined the group. As well as their scientific expertise, they bring a wealth of development and programme management experience from previous R&D roles across the sector, and importantly, provide us with a significantly increased capacity to support our clients and their programmes.”

Professor Alan Boyd, who founded the consultancy in 2005, adds: “Boyds is committed to supporting the development of medicines for patient benefit.

“The number of companies approaching us for support and guidance with taking their idea through the discovery and development pathway, has grown again this year, and in particular there has been significant surge in the number of biotech’s and spinouts seeking our expertise. Not only do we have the experts to deliver the relevant support and guidance to companies that don’t have the expertise or resource in-house with which to take their idea through the pathway from discovery to commercialisation, but we may also be able to help save them time and money, particularly when involved from an early stage.”

Last month (September) Boyds opened a US office in Pennsylvania, which is headed by Katy Rudnick, Vice President and Head of US Regulatory Affairs.

Since Boyds was established, the company has worked with companies across the globe to help them translate their ideas into medicines for the benefit of patients. The company’s global reputation for its work in advanced therapies has led to a steady increase in the number of companies approaching Boyds for this expertise, with over 60% of the company’s client base now in the US.