Purdue Pharma Canada announces the appointment of Dr. Julie Ducharme as Vice President, Research and Development

PICKERING, ON, Jan. 11, 2016 /CNW/ - Purdue Pharma Canada today announced the appointment of Dr. Julie Ducharme as Vice President, Research and Development.

"Dr. Ducharme is a dynamic leader with a proven track record in clinical research, drug discovery and early drug development both in Canada and internationally." said Dr. Craig Landau, President and CEO of Purdue Pharma. "Her extensive network and her experience in progressing collaborative projects will be key to building a robust product pipeline and to driving Purdue's growth strategy."

Fluently bilingual, Dr. Ducharme brings to Purdue almost 20 years industry experience in drug discovery and early drug development, including 16 years at AstraZeneca, where she held roles of increasing accountability, culminating as the lead for the company's R&D strategy for their analgesia portfolio.  Most recently, Dr. Ducharme was General Manager of Human Health Therapeutics at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). Under her leadership, Human Health Therapeutics became a leading portfolio at NRC, working with biotech firms in the development of biologics, vaccines, and delivery of large molecules to the brain.

An expert in the fields of drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, Dr. Ducharme has worked in numerous disease areas including analgesia, anesthesia, neuroscience, cancer and infectious disease.  She is an adjunct professor of pharmacy at the Université de Montréal and sits on several scientific advisory boards.

Dr. Ducharme earned her BPharm, MSc and PhD degrees at the Université de Montréal, and held post-doctoral fellowships at McGill University and the Université de Paris.

About Purdue Pharma Canada

Purdue Pharma (www.purdue.ca) is a research-based pharmaceutical company with its headquarters and manufacturing operations located in Pickering, Ontario. The company is a leader in the research and development of medicines for the treatment of pain and ADHD. Privately held, Purdue Pharma Canada is independently associated with the worldwide Purdue/Napp/Mundipharma group of companies.

SOURCE Purdue Pharma

Lucy Lai, 905 420-6400, [email protected]