Life Science Experts

William R Neilson – Product Assessment, Development Management, Recruitment

William Neilson is a physician and epidemiologist who after a number of years in clinical practice in the UK and South Africa joined the pharmaceutical industry.  He held positions in Paris, Copenhagen, Cincinnati, Hong Kong and Zurich working on the clinical development, registration and post marketing of pharmaceuticals in a range of therapeutic areas including Anti-infective, Neurological, Oncological, GI, O&G and Immunological as well as Orphans & Regeneratives.  He has managed large and complex portfolios and many international development programmes.  Having worked for both pharmaceutical companies and service providers William is well versed in the needs of each and the likely areas of concern.  He has also advised investors. 

Managing people from many cultures across a range of functions has given him a sharp eye for talent and ensuring a good team fit.  Much of his time is currently spent in the international recruitment of permanent and interim staff. 

Services offered to clients include:

Services Include:

Assessing the viability of a product, taking into account unmet medical need, risk / benefit / cost ratios & feasibilities, according to a 7-point plan

Implementing the medical, clinical and regulatory work required for the registration and marketing of a product, including Late Phase work

Employing expert staff (on a permanent or contract interim basis) and structuring clinical & medical organizations

Selecting and managing Contract Research Outsourcing Organisations (CROs)

Nandan Koppiker - Pharmaceutical Physician

Nandan Koppiker has had a lengthy career in clinical research and in the design and management of clinical trials from POC/Phase I through to IIIB and approval. He has spearheaded the corporate strategy for various indications, crystallised the clinical development plans around these strategies and then turned these plans into reality including evaluating critically the evolving efficacy and safety data to enable appropriate regulatory interactions, moving the compounds towards registration. Colleagues have praised his attention to detail, scientific acuity and flare for innovative trial design

Nandan’s background is in diabetes and endocrinology, but he has also led programmes in other therapy areas including sexual health, metabolic diseases and gastroenterology/hepatology.   He has built up networks of key opinion leaders in ophthalmology, hepatology and gastroenterology..

Nandan speaks several Indian languages, basic Arabic and has first-hand experience of the barriers to access for healthcare in the developing world. He has spent several years living in Japan, Africa, India, Oman, UK and the USA and is therefore well qualified to understand the situation in both the developing and developed world. He has  led an R&D initiative to improve access to health care to those below the poverty line.

Sarah Hamilton – corporate communications

Sarah Hamilton has been an international corporate and financial communications consultant for more than 20 years. She has extensive experience in IPOs and transactions (M&A), investor relations, corporate social responsibility, issues management and strategic PR consultancy. She has advised on some of the largest IPOs and privatisations ever completed, both in the UK and internationally, and specialises in preparing companies, large and small, for their IPO.

She was previously a senior consultant at Maitland, and before that she created the successful IPO offering at M:Communications, a company she joined as a start-up from Citigate Dewe Rogerson where she was a director on the international projects team doing IPOs. 

Sarah provides strategic advice for companies across a range of sectors including healthcare, law, financial services, and energy. She speaks French and has a good knowledge of Japanese, having lived in France, Japan and Hong Kong.

Richard qualified in medicine at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, now Imperial College in London. After several posts in the NHS, he joined Pfizer as a medical advisor responsible for rheumatology and infection. After obtaining an MBA from Kingston Business School, he set up the Outcomes Research Group at Pfizer. In 1999, he founded the Goffin Consultancy to provide evidence-based health economics and data review for the healthcare industry. With over 30 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry, his clients have ranged from start-ups to blue chip pharmaceutical companies as well as OTC companies, medical device companies and private equity houses wanting to review potential investment opportunities.

Richard Philips – Medical Affairs and Health Economics

Richard Philips qualified in medicine at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, now Imperial College in London. After several posts in the NHS, he joined Pfizer as a medical advisor responsible for rheumatology and infection. After obtaining an MBA from Kingston Business School, he set up the Outcomes Research Group at Pfizer. In 1999, he founded the Goffin Consultancy to provide evidence-based health economics and data review for the healthcare industry. With over 30 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry, his clients have ranged from start-ups to blue chip pharmaceutical companies as well as OTC companies, medical device companies and private equity houses wanting to review potential investment opportunities.

Richard has worked in the medical and economic aspects of Alzheimer's disease and drugs in mental health both while at Pfizer and later as a consultant. In addition, he has worked in a variety of conditions including infection, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disease, cancer and arthritis

He brings a wide background in clinical studies, economic analyses and meta-analyses following over 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry as well as wide experience in presenting clinical and health economic studies both in print, at symposia and for training purposes. He has worked with several companies in the medical affairs, health technology assessment, pricing and reimbursement and market access fields. He is the author of numerous market, data and literature reviews and core-value documents as well as several publications

Mauro Placci – Clinical Development

Mauro is a clinical development consultant with 25+ years' experience in early to late phase development with major pharmaceutical companies and contract research organisations including Pfizer, Merck Serono, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer and Quintiles. He developed clinical studies in more than 20 indications in various therapeutic areas including multiple sclerosis, psychiatry, oncology, dermatology and infectious diseases. He is detail oriented, dedicated and skilled in all aspects of Phase 1 to 4 clinical trials including planning, organising, implementing, leading, controlling and reporting.

He led international teams of up to 40 for more than 50 projects and achieved primary results for 6 Phase 2 and 6 global Phase 3 pivotal studies. He delivered complex clinical projects performed in Europe, Russia, Africa, India, Australia, North and South America with GCP/International Committee on Harmonisation standards. He worked across multiple technology platforms, including small molecules, therapeutic proteins, monoclonal antibodies and devices and in differently targeted environments, including prescription drugs and consumer products.

Peter Lawes - Medical Devices

Peter Lawes spent 23 years of his career with Pfizer Inc. in their several Medical Devices & Hospital Products subsidiaries. Of these the majority was with Howmedica, a world leader in orthopaedic implants for bone joint replacement and bone fracture fixation. His most notable successes were management of the development and commercialisation of the Exeter Total Hip Replacement system and the Gamma Nail hip fracture device, both currently market leaders.

While with Pfizer he represented the company on the board of the International Association of Medical prostheses Manufacturers (IAPM) a Brussels-based trade association. As President of IAPM for 4 years he led their advisory team in developing with the European Commission the first EU Directive on Medical Devices. Peter negotiated the merger of IAPM with EUCOMED, the European Confederation of National Medical Devices Trade Associations.

Having started with Pfizer in Ireland as Design and Development Manager for orthopaedic implants he was elevated to Vice President of Pfizer’s Hospital Products Group at their International HQ (UK) with responsibility for Patent Management, Quality Assurance, Regulatory Compliance, Clinical Research, and Regulatory Compliance across the several MedTech companies in the Group.

Pfizer divested itself of all these companies in 1998, after which Peter established himself as a one-man MedTech Consultancy working with a number of medical devices companies, large and small and individual inventors, mostly orthopaedic surgeons, on design and development projects, manufacturing problem solving, regulatory compliance, patenting and patent defence, and product liability defence. He also assisted 3 new start-up companies emerging from UK Universities (UCL, Oxford & Queen Mary University of London). One notable success was Apatech Limited of which Peter was founding CEO. Apatech developed and brought to market several synthetic bone grafting products, obtaining regulatory approval in many countries including European CE Marking and USA FDA. There was a successful exit to Baxter of the USA.

Prior to Pfizer, Peter was employed by the Scottish Ministry of Health on a design analysis and evaluation of the then new generation of commercially available, modular-assembly, artificial limbs.

From 1986 – 2010 he sat on the Governing Council of the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering, now named “Designability”, which designs and develops a variety of assistive technologies (devices for the lesser able-bodied). For the latter 12 years he was Chairman.

Peter also has/had several non-executive Directorships of medical and non-medical companies. He holds a PhD in Biomechanical Engineering, an MTech in Engineering Design, a BSC in Physics and a Diploma in Management. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (I.Mech.E) and a Member of the Institute of Engineering Technologies (IET). From 2001-2004, he was chairman of the Medical Engineering Division of the I.Mech.E and continues as a Board member.