Van earned an industrial PhD in applied mathematics from University of Leeds and AstraZeneca, where she developed agent-based models to simulate cancer population behaviour and their interaction with immune cells. She also used computational models to study effects of combination treatment on the tumour immune response and their effects on cancer cell population and tumour immune interaction. She has developed stochastic equations to obtain the time to extinction of a heterogeneous cell population, created reinforcement learning algorithm (artificial intelligence method) to optimise cancer combination treatment with hybrid PKPD agent-based models and worked on tools to analyse agent-based models (stochastic equations, ODEs). 

At Seda, Van will be working with clients to provide scientific Clinical Pharmacology and DMPK input, study design and provide interpretation and analysis of client data.  With her background in pharmacy and experience in QSP and PKPD modelling, Van builds Seda’s modelling sciences capability, enhancing our ability to integrate clinical pharmacology into meaningful drug product design in a timely manner. 

Seda provide PK modelling services for the integration of data to mitigate the risks of drug properties impacting drug absorption and uncovers the relationship between dose, exposure and biological effect. As clinical development progresses Population PK and Population PKPD modelling becomes increasingly important in the decision-making process. 

Please join us in welcoming Van Thuy Truong, Senior Scientist: Modeller, to the Seda team. 

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Matthew joins us as a Level 3 Laboratory Technician Apprentice. During his apprenticeship, Matthew will receive on the job training in all aspects of formulation development, including solid dosage forms and analysis. He will learn what is required to enhance the solubility and bioavailability of poorly soluble compounds and how to assess their performance in vitro. In addition, Tiro will deliver a structured training programme and support Matthew’s learning through modules including Health & Safety, LIMS and Documentation Control, Quality Procedures, and many more.  

“I intend to follow my aspirations and learn everything I can and become a contributing member of the scientific community. My apprenticeship is 18 months and in that time I will try my best to learn everything I can and offer a different outlook while shadowing my peers. Once I complete my apprenticeship, I plan on going on to the next level as soon as is possible to further develop my skills and experiences.” – Matthew Quinn.

Senior Scientist, Lorraine Jones will be mentoring Matthew throughout his apprenticeship. Having started her career in the pharmaceutical industry on an apprenticeship scheme herself, this will stand Lorraine in good stead to support Matthew with his training and development at Seda.

“Going to university straight from school is not for everyone. I started my career as an apprentice with ICI pharmaceuticals in 1989. Like Matthew I was keen to leave the education system and earn while I learnt. The apprentice schemes are excellent for bright young people like Matthew who learn quickly but are not particularly academic.” – Lorraine Jones 

The apprenticeship scheme is through Tiro, a leading training provider for science and technology apprenticeships. This scheme supports apprentices in kick-starting their career in an alternative way to the traditional higher education pathway, allowing apprentices to gain a qualification and the chance to climb the career ladder. 

Please join us in welcoming Matthew to the Seda team and wishing him the best of luck starting his career in pharmaceutical sciences. 

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We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Alison Wilby as our new Senior Principal Scientist in Clinical Pharmacology and DMPK. With an impressive background and a wealth of experience in her field, Alison brings a remarkable level of knowledge and expertise to Seda. 

Alison expands our capacity and deepens our technical expertise in Clinical Pharmacology and DMPK consultancy support to guide client projects from late phase discovery through to clinical development, including dose selection, dose justification and drug-drug interaction (DDI) support.  This can be a difficult skillset for biotech clients to access and is critical for speedy clinical development. Alison is a world leader in Physiologically Based Biopharmaceutics modelling (PBBM) and PBPK. The expertise Alison brings allows us to offer clients late-stage regulatory PBBM and PBPK modelling, including GastroPlus(R). 

Alison has a PhD in Drug Metabolism from the University of Manchester and an MSc in Toxicology from the University of Birmingham. She is an experienced multidisciplinary scientist having spent over 10 years in Discovery DMPK with AstraZeneca and, for the last 10 years, specialised in PBPK modelling using GastroPlus with Quotient Sciences.  

At Seda Alison will be working within the modelling team to provide scientific Clinical Pharmacology and DMPK input, study design and providing interpretation and analysis of client data. 

As a Senior Principal Scientist, Alison will play a pivotal role in driving our scientific endeavours, spearheading research initiatives, and guiding our talented team of modellers. Her extensive experience and exceptional track record in clinical pharmacology and DMPK makes her an invaluable addition to the Seda team. 

Alison’s appointment aligns perfectly with Seda’s vision and commitment to fostering a culture of innovation and scientific excellence. With Alison’s leadership, we are excited to explore new research avenues, forge strategic collaborations, and make significant contributions to support our esteemed clients. 

Please join us in congratulating Alison on her new role as Senior Principal Scientist: Clinical Pharmacology and DMPK. 

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We are delighted to announce the appointment of Paula Goddard as our new Head of Sales and Marketing. With an impressive track record in driving business growth and a deep understanding of market dynamics, Paula brings a wealth of expertise and leadership to our organization.  

Paula brings with her 25 years of commercial sales, business development and marketing experience, gained largely from blue chip, branded FMCG organisations including Diageo and Sara Lee Corporation where she had demonstrable success in identifying and converting brand building opportunities, leading first to market launches and delivering significant profitable growth to both Client and Brand. 

In recent years she has been working with some of the world’s biggest technology brands to deliver pan European technical projects where her focus was solely on delivering high quality, accurate data on time and in budget, in line with Client expectations. 

As the Head of Sales and Marketing, Paula will play a pivotal role in developing and implementing strategic initiatives to drive sales, enhance customer engagement, and strengthen our brand position. With her extensive experience in sales management, marketing strategies, and market analysis, Paula is poised to lead our sales and marketing teams to new heights of success.  

“I am looking forward to working alongside the team in building, implementing and delivering a strategic sales and marketing plan that will further cement Seda’s growing importance and contribution to the Pharma sector.” 

At Seda, we believe that our success lies in our ability to effectively communicate the value of our services and build lasting relationships with our customers. With Paula at the helm of our sales and marketing efforts, we are poised to capture new opportunities and drive revenue growth. 

Please join us in congratulating Paula on her new role as the Head of Sales and Marketing. We are thrilled to have her join our team and look forward to the positive impact she will have in expanding our market presence. Together, we will embark on a journey of growth, customer satisfaction, and market leadership. 

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Pankaj Mittal 

Pankaj joined Seda in January 2023 as Technical Director to strengthen our late-stage product development capabilities and support the growth of Seda through business development. He has held several senior product development & technology transfer leadership roles in large & mid-size Pharma introducing new manufacturing technologies, product innovation & design to expedite the overall drug development pathway. 

Pankaj has managed product development and technical teams responsible for delivering products to the patients from First Time in Human through late-stage development, linking regulatory and launch activities in multiple international markets. Passionate about the technical capability build, with the application of robust Quality by Design & Quality Risk Management principles, Pankaj will enhance the technical product robustness and business development function at Seda. 

Essyrose Mathew 

Essy joined Seda in March 2023 as Senior Scientist further expanding our formulation service offerings. She has a pharmaceutical science background with a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast, and already boasts an impressive publication record. During her PhD she worked on 3D printed systems for transdermal drug delivery and the use of microfluidics for nanoparticle fabrication. At Seda she will use her experience in pharmaceutics within the formulation development team, focusing on oral dosage forms and complex medicines. 

Join us in welcoming Pankaj and Essyrose to the Seda team!

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Meet our new analytical scientists: 

Effi Baetzner 

Effi Joins us as Principal Scientist working in Analytical Sciences at Seda. Throughout her MSc and PhD, and in her career since, she has been working with Oligonucleotides/RNA – their synthesis, analysis and, in the last 4 years, their pharmaceutical testing in a GxP environment. Coming from an organic Chemistry background and having worked with big biomolecules, she has experience in a multitude of different analytical techniques and their troubleshooting. With her leadership experience in a CRO, she has the skills to work for Seda as a technical leader to ensure the quality of analytical data is excellent and the customers’ needs are met 

Bethany Nelson 

Bethany joins us as Senior Scientist in Analytical Sciences with a first-class degree in medicinal and biological chemistry and 5+ years of pharmaceutical analytical method development experience in a CDMO environment. Bethany’s focus is on U/HPLC and dissolution analysis, with experience in leading analytical projects from initial method establishment through to GMP validation and supporting formulation development. At Seda, Bethany will be developing fit-for-purpose analytical methods for a variety of drug products. 

Join us in welcoming Bethany and Effi to the Seda team. 

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Our PK modelling team has increased by three with the welcome addition of Stephen Checkley, Jingrao Fei, and Emily Fell, in a move to both enhance capacity and extend our modelling service offering, to meet growing demand from our clients.

We provide:

• Physiologically based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) and allometric scaling
• Absorption Modelling
• Preclinical Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics (PKPD)
• Clinical/Population PKPD
• Translational PKPD and Non Compartmental analysis (NCA)

These go hand in hand with our drug product consulting and laboratory services, allowing us to support our clients all the way from discovery to market with our integrated approach to pharmaceutical development and clinical pharmacology. Please head to the pharmacokinetic modelling expertise page for more details.

About the scientists:

Stephen Checkley

Stephen has experience in both experimental and computational fields, building complex gene circuitry in microorganisms alongside mechanistic modelling of biological systems. Stephen has applied his experience in providing quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) consultancy for the pharmaceutical industry as well as supporting life sciences researchers with data analysis and high-performance computing pipelines.

At Seda, Stephen will be working in the modelling team to deliver consultancy projects supporting clinical and drug development projects. Stephen will integrate his QSP experience into the range of PKPD skills within the team and work on expanding the scientific computing infrastructure with high performance computing and cloud services to increase the capacity and speed of Seda’s modelling workflows.

Jingrao Fei

Jingrao has a BSc in Pharmaceutical Science and MSc in Model-based Drug Development from the University of Manchester. At Seda, Jingrao will be supporting translational PBPK modelling for various species or populations and assist with dose selection in early clinical stage settings.

Emily Fell

Emily has a First Class BEng (Hons) from the University of Birmingham studying Mechanical Engineering with a final year focus on biomedical engineering. Using her academic background and her interest in the life science industry, Emily will be working with the modelling team within Seda to support our clients on their drug development journey.

Please join us in welcoming our three new modellers to the Seda team.

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Arun Kamath 

Arun Kamath joins as an Associate Principal Scientist in Analytical Sciences with a Master of Chemistry (MChem) from the University of Leeds and over 14 years’ experience in the global pharmaceutical industry. His specialism is in analytical sciences for drug product development, with expertise in a wide range of analytical techniques and a comprehensive understanding of drug project analytical strategy and regulatory requirements. Arun has worked across a range of therapy areas and dosage form types, from early preclinical development through to late stage and product launch. With this level of experience and expertise Arun will be a valuable addition to the team. 

Tahera Begum 

Tahera Begum joins as an Analytical Scientist with a BSc (Hons) in Pharmaceutical Science from The University of Salford. Tahera has 2 years’ analytical experience working in the Cannabis Industry. She has previously worked on formulations of cannabinoid-based products including food and cosmetics, where her main responsibilities included sample preparation and analysis of cannabinoid content in final formulations using HPLC. At Seda Tahera hopes to continue building her analytical expertise and broaden her experience of pharmaceutical drug development. 

We hope you will join us in welcoming our new scientists, Arun and Tahera to the Seda team. 

Seda’s extensive analytical capabilities and suite of in-house analytical instrumentation allow us to support a range of CMC activities extending from early phase method development stability studies and impurity analysis, through to excipient compatibility studies and understanding product formulation and behaviour. The increasing complexity of pharmaceutical compounds encountered today requires a deep understanding of analytical techniques which we apply to solve the most challenging of problems.  

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Elizabeth Wright

Elizabeth Wright joins as an Analytical Scientist with a BSc in Chemistry from University of Sheffield and has 7 years’ experience in the field. She is skilled in a broad range of analytical techniques, such as GC-MS, HPLC, ICP-OES, Karl Fisher, XRF where she has tested preclinical samples for toxicology. She is able to work to GLP standards and has accreditation from MCERTS and UKAS where she has personally gained incredibly positive feedback on the quality of her work. 

Toby Goodall-Munroe

Toby Goodall-Munroe joins as an Analytical Scientist with a first-class MSc in Chemistry from the University of Leeds. He also has expertise in synthesis, characterisation, and phase analysis of novel metal-organic nanosheets – specifically the bottom-up synthesis of novel zirconium-tricarboxylate based MON systems.

Emily Stables

Emily Stables joins as a Scientist with a first-class BSc in Chemistry from University of Leeds and MSc with Distinction in Drug Discovery, Development and Delivery from Liverpool John Moore’s University with a project on Immunomodulating Brain Targeting Peptide-Based Nanoparticles. Emily has experience in API polymorph screening and has experience working with analytical techniques such as PXRD, HPLC, IR, NMR, DSC, TGA and flow cytometry.  Emily’s areas of focus at Seda will be formulation development for preclinical and clinical studies alongside analytical development. 

Toby, Emily, and Elizabeth will be valued additions to the team, supporting with further expansion of our analytical capabilities and laboratory services. Join us in welcoming our new scientists at Seda. 

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From 2017 to 2021, Paul was the AstraZeneca Science & Innovation Director for Drug Delivery and Product Design and he also led AstraZeneca’s Global Novel Drug Delivery Network for many years. Paul is widely recognised as an expert on drug delivery technologies and the external drug delivery environment, including patent and intellectual property aspects. 

Paul has collaborated extensively with academic groups and drug delivery companies and is the co-author and co-inventor of numerous publications and patent applications. He has been a member of a range of external groups including Editorial Advisory Board member for the Nanomedicine journal, Scientific Advisory Board member and Programme Chair for the Controlled Release Society Conference, Scientific Consultant to the Wellcome Trust and EPSRC programme External Advisory Board member. 

Along with the rest of our team of consultants, Paul will provide consultancy support to our clients where necessary, offering his expertise and knowledge surrounding complex medicines. Paul’s expertise will also contribute to our plans to further grow our complex medicine capabilities in the coming months. 

Prof Paul Stott, CEO Seda Pharm Dev Services commented: ‘it is a privilege to be able to work directly with Paul again. I know from first-hand experience the innovation and scientific rigour that Paul brings to everything he does. He will be a tremendous asset to our Clients and an invaluable mentor to our in-house scientists. Welcome Paul!’   

Find out more about our complex medicines capabilities and the expertise we can offer throughout the wider team. 

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