Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals adds medical and strategic experience to board with executive director appointment

Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:PAR) has appointed its current New York-based chief medical officer Dr Donna Skerrett to the board as an executive director. Skerrett will bring to the board significant medical and strategic experience from her more than 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry with experience in transfusion medicine, cellular therapy and transplantation. She was Director of Transfusion Medicine and Cellular Therapy at Weill Cornell Medical Centre in New York from 2004 to 2011 and served as Associate Director of Transfusion Medicine and Director of Stem Cell Facilities at Columbia University’s New York-Presbyterian Hospital from 1999 to 2004. “Pharmaceutical development experience” Interim executive chairman and CEO Paul Rennie said he was pleased Dr Skerrett had agreed to join the Paradigm Board of Directors. He said: “Donna brings a number of important skills and pharmaceutical development experience to the board including her strategic thinking, her deep understanding of the US health care system and reimbursement of pharmaceutical products and her extensive experience with regulatory agencies like the US FDA. “Her clinical trial expertise extends over many projects and she has a proven track record with moving many programs from research projects through clinical and registered pathways”. “Wealth of knowledge” Skerrett joined the Paradigm team in September 2019, when she was appointed chief medical officer with her primary role being to manage the company’s clinical development programs across its entire indication pipeline. She has been an advisor to the New York State Department of Health on the Progenitor Cell Committee since 1989 and a board member of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine since 2014. From 2004, she held roles at Mesoblast in clinical and regulatory affairs until she was appointed chief medical officer in 2011. She previously chaired the New York State Council on Blood and Transfusion Services and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Fox Chase Cancer Centre in Philadelphia and the Board of Visitors of Lewis Katz School of Medicine in Philadelphia. Paradigm believes Skerrett brings a wealth of knowledge to the board, with her executive responsibilities to include updates on operations of Paradigm’s US entity, oversight of the clinical development programs and strategic development of new opportunities for translation and growth.