Certara, the leading global technology-enabled drug development and drug safety consultancy, announced the appointment of new chief executive officer Dr. Edmundo Muniz.
Dr. Muniz joins Certara from Kirax Corporation, where he had served as president and chief executive officer, since 2005. In that role, he focussed on acquiring, developing and commercialising innovative specialty care therapies for oncology, pain, inflammation, acute and supportive care. Prior to that position, Dr. Muniz held several senior executive roles at Eli Lilly and Company, including Head of Worldwide Pharmacovigilance and Epidemiology, Cardiovascular Business Unit Leader, and vice president of Oncology Clinical Development.
“Edmundo is ideally suited to lead Certara,” said Certara chairman Dr. Donald A. Deieso. “As a senior R&D executive and chief executive officer, he has managed exactly the problems that Certara’s technology-enabled drug development and safety solutions address. As a physician, drug developer, and scientist, he has great affinity and respect for our extraordinary internal scientific community. He also appreciates the fact that our consultants have become trusted, essential partners to biopharma companies of all sizes.”
Dr. Muniz’s therapeutic development focus is in oncology and so he is well positioned to lead Certara in that market. According to CenterWatch, oncology remains the most dynamic therapeutic area, representing 18 per cenrt of active commercial Investigational New Drugs in 2012, and has among the highest number of trials in phases II and III. It also reported that the FDA approved 63 oncology drugs over the past five years, more than medicines in any other therapeutic area. In addition, Dr. Muniz has significant cardiovascular experience, having served as the head of that business unit at Lilly.
When asked to describe his vision for the company, Dr. Muniz said, “Certara is strategically positioned at the confluence of the needs of drug developers, demands of regulators, and the expectations of payors. All three stakeholders can be significantly empowered by model-based drug development. They also face the same challenges: how to improve the efficacy and efficiency of pharmaceutical/biotech development, and enable the integration of clinical care and clinical research.”
Dr. Muniz earned an M D from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, and a Ph D. in Population Planning and International Heath, and an MS in Population Planning from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Muniz is also a graduate of the Epidemic Intelligence Service program and the Preventive Medicine Fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.