News

Posted On: 04/18/2007

Molecular Insight Pharma Names Abeysekera as Manufacturing VP

PharmaManufacturing.com

Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has appointed Brian Abeysekera, Ph.D., to the newly-created position of vice president, manufacturing. He joins Molecular Insight after more than 20 years of increasing responsibility at MDS Nordion, the world's leading manufacturer of radioisotopes, where he was most recently director, Applied R&D.

"Brian is a recognized leader in the highly specialized field of radiopharmaceutical development who should make an immediate contribution to Molecular Insight. His broad experience spans radionuclide production, radiochemistry, quality assurance and regulatory affairs," said John W. Babich, Ph.D., president and chief scientific officer of Molecular Insight. "We look forward to Brian's proven expertise and leadership abilities to guide the manufacture of quality material for our clinical programs and to prepare for the commercial scale-up of our strong pipeline of targeted radiotherapeutics and molecular imaging pharmaceuticals."

"Molecular Insight is the leading innovator in the discovery and development of molecular targeting radiopharmaceuticals, and I am very pleased to be joining the company at this exciting stage of its rapid growth," said Abeysekera. "I look forward to leading a talented team toward continued progress in the manufacture of the company's robust pipeline of innovative new drug candidates and toward further expansion of its unique radiolabeling technology platforms."

Among his many achievements during his 22-year career at Nordion, Abeysekera helped establish MDS Nordion as a cGMP supplier of sterile pharmaceuticals in the United States and Canada; designed, developed and validated aseptic manufacturing facilities; directed scale-up from clinical to commercial manufacturing; and developed chemistry and manufacturing sections for numerous small molecule and biologic products to support FDA submissions. He holds a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of British Columbia.