Leadership
About Us
Functional areas are supported by experts in the field, each with decades of experience developing major products, that include many well recognized medicines on the market generating sales of up to $6B annually. The wider team and leadership hold extensive hands-on experience in drug development to help biotech companies navigate the complicated journey to successful drug registration and are equipped to take on challenges that require innovative approaches.
Dr. Parviz Ghahramani
CEO & Founder
Dr. Parviz Ghahramani holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Pharmacology, Pharm.D, M.Sc. in Statistics and MBA. With over 26 years of drug development experience, Dr. Ghahramani specializes in clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, modeling and simulation. He has a proven track record of executive leadership and strategy roles within major pharma companies, including Pfizer, Roche, AstraZeneca and Abbvie (formerly Forest Laboratories). Dr. Ghahramani has led or overseen more than 86 drug development projects across various stages, ranging from small molecules to biologics and antibodies. He has made major contributions to 31 NDAs, MAAs and JNDAs, and to more than 308 licensing and acquisition assessments and company mergers. Dr. Ghahramani has published more than 130 academic papers in reputable international journals. He is also an affiliate professor at the University of Maryland.
Kourosh Parivar
Head of Clinical Pharmacology
Kourosh Parivar graduated in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Uppsala University, Sweden before beginning a fellowship at UCSF. Later, he joined Astra (currently AZ) as a Clinical Pharmacologist, supporting their CNS portfolio for 2 years before moving to (formerly) Pharmacia in Stockholm, supporting programs in urology, diabetes and anesthesiology. By 1999, he was appointed head of Clin Pharm of Pharmacia & Upjohn in Sweden, and in early 2000 became lead of Clin Pharm in Asia-Pacific, with a focus on completing an ICU-standard Phase I clinic at Singapore General Hospital. Following this, he relocated to Chicago to lead Pharmacia’s Clin Pharm team for their anti-inflammatory portfolio (COX2 inhibition). In 2003, he joined Pfizer as their head of Clin Pharm, overseeing four therapeutic areas: virology, diabetes, ophthalmology and oncology. During a 20-year tenure at Pfizer Oncology, he oversaw the successful submission and approval of 14 oncology assets with an additional 15 supplemental NDA/BLAs. During his total 33 years of Pharma experience, he has delivered more than 20 successful products to the market. Currently, he is an advisory member on several boards at UCSD/UCSF and gives didactic lectures at UCSD.
Dr. Stephen A. Barat
Head of Pre-Clinical
Dr. Stephen A. Barat studied at Rutgers University and New Jersey Medical School, earning a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology. Dr. Barat holds 30 years of large pharma and biotech drug development experience, ranging from subject matter expert to product development team leader. He has held senior and executive leadership positions within major companies such as Schering-Plough (Merck), Forest Laboratories, Scynexis and Janssen. To date, Dr. Barat has contributed to the selection, development and regulatory approval of 15 new drug products across multiple therapeutic areas and routes of administration. Over the course of his career, he has cultivated significant regulatory agency experience in the United States, Europe and Japan. Additionally, Dr. Barat also has expertise in the interface between CMC and safety assessment, as well as considerations for drug packaging. Professionally, Dr. Barat has been an active member of industry working groups with USP, PDA and PQRI, and has presented numerous international seminars on drug discovery and pre-clinical development, and is also a course creator and faculty for ACT and DIA.