Clinical Network Services appoints leading toxicologist to BioDesk

Clinical Network Services (CNS), an Australian and New Zealand contract research organisation, has appointed ex-Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) toxicologist Dr Douglas Francis as Senior Regulatory Toxicologist to the company’s BioDesk product development planning and regulatory affairs service.

CNS’s BioDesk consultancy helps small to medium-sized biotech companies move products through the development pipeline by providing support through the preclinical phase, the planning and implementation of clinical trials, and drug registration.

Francis previously provided regulatory toxicology services to small to medium pharmaceutical and biotech clients in Australia, Europe and the US through his consultancy, DF Pre-clinical Services. Previous to that, he was Vice President of Drug Development for Australian biotech Phylogica, and from 1998-2006, he was Drug Development Manager at Pharmaxis.

In his new role, Francis will provide advice and assistance to international and Australian/New Zealand biotechnology companies in toxicology, pharmacology and drug optimisation.

Francis hails from Sydney, having studied vet science followed by a PhD at the University of Sydney, after which he was a clinical academic at the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne for a number of years.