Velesco adds Quality and Scientific Capabilities

 

 

Contact:

Gerry Cox

Chief Operating Officer

Velesco Pharmaceutical Services

734.545.0696

gerry.cox@velescopharma.com

 

 

Velesco Pharmaceutical Services Expands Core Scientific and Quality Team

 

(Plymouth, MI; September 21, 2010) – Velesco Pharmaceutical Services, located in state-of-the-art facilities in Plymouth and Kalamazoo, Michigan, is proud to announce enhanced quality and scientific capabilities with the addition of Shirley Smith as Director of Quality and Yuan Chen as Senior Pharmaceutical Scientist. Ms. Smith and Ms. Chen recently joined Velesco, a contract research organization supporting early stage product development work for pharmaceutical companies. These new colleagues will increase the level of expertise at Velesco through their extensive work experiences and educational backgrounds.

 

Shirley Smith is the Director of Quality at Velesco Pharmaceutical Services. Prior to joining Velesco, Shirley was the Quality Assurance Manager for Richard-Allan Scientific (aka Thermo Fisher Scientific) and the Senior Quality Assurance Manager for Pfizer’s Drug Product and Device Research Group in Kalamazoo, MI. In conjunction with her role at Velesco, Shirley will continue her leadership role of PharmaMed Resources, a quality assurance and regulatory affairs consulting business that services the Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Industries.

 

Shirley has more than twenty-five years of experience in the Pharmaceutical (human and animal health) and Medical Device Industries. She has in-depth knowledge of the pharmaceutical and medical device GMP’s (US and EU) along with strong organization, team, and leadership skills. She has performed as a lead GMP auditor of contract vendors (manufacturing, packaging, laboratories, devices, suppliers, etc.)

 

Shirley is an ISO 13485:2003 certified lead auditor and holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. She is a member of the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) and the American Society of Quality (ASQ).

 

With nearly a decade of experience in cGMP and GLP environments, Yuan Chen, M.S., serves as Senior Pharmaceutical Scientist at Velesco Pharmaceutical Services. Yuan has extensive experience in analytical methods development and validation, cleaning verification and validation, and drug release testing.

 

Before joining Velesco, Yuan served in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Division of Pfizer Global R&D as a Senior Associate Scientist for eight years and the Analytical Development Department of Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories for two years. Yuan's responsibilities and projects spanned the drug development spectrum from early stage development and validation of stability-indicating methods for the release of drug substance and drug product, to later stage projects focused on the detection of residual drugs on manufacturing equipment.

 

Yuan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the Beijing Institute of Light Industry and a Master of Science degree in Chemistry from Eastern Michigan University. She is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.

 

“Shirley and Yuan bring the experience and industry knowledge needed as we increase the services offered to our growing client base,” commented Dave Barnes, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Velesco. “Velesco’s ability to provide the highest quality formulation and analytical services along with cGMP clinical supplies is driven by the depth of experience of our team.”

 

About Velesco Pharmaceutical Services

Velesco Pharmaceutical Services (www.velescopharma.com) was formed by former pharmaceutical R&D colleagues and focuses on supporting early stage drug development. Velesco’s founders, analytical chemists and drug formulation experts are pharmaceutical industry veterans working in the highest-quality facilities. Velesco delivers on time high quality products and services along with insightful consultation.

###