Dr. Phillip Gomez Joins PRTM Management Consultants

Business Wire, Oct 31, 2007

Former Director for Vaccine Production at the NIAID Vaccine Research Center Brings Expertise to Firm's Biodefense and Public Health Practice

WASHINGTON -- Dr. Phillip Gomez, Former Director, Vaccine Production at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health (NIAID/NIH) Vaccine Research Center (VRC), has joined PRTM as a principal in the firm's Biodefense and Public Health Practice. He has more than 15 years of experience in bringing drugs and biologics to market through his work in industry and the public sector.

Prior to joining PRTM, a global management consulting firm that helps create and implement transformational operational strategies for its worldwide clients, Dr. Gomez worked at the Bethesda, MD-based VRC, where he established the Vaccine Production Program in 2001.

During his six-year tenure, his group manufactured more than forty bulk pharmaceutical compounds and more than fifteen candidate vaccines through innovative collaborations with industry to advance the development of vaccines against HIV, Ebola, West Nile Virus, Marburg, Severe Acute Respiratory System (SARS), and Influenza.

In 2007 he earned the NIH Director's Award for the establishment of the vaccine pilot plant and for the rapid production of a candidate pandemic influenza vaccine. Prior to NIH, he spent nearly a decade in the pharmaceutical industry at Abbott Laboratories, Sanofi Pasteur, and Baxter Healthcare leading process/product development organizations as well as project teams for product development.

"To meet the increasing threats to public health of bioterrorism and other infectious diseases, our nation plans to build a reliable biodefense industry, based on effective public-private partnerships. Our Biodefense and Public Health Practice is focused on bringing practical commercial biologics experience in drug development and manufacturing to help solve this national need," said Bill Helming, PRTM's Vice President of the Biodefense and Public Health Practice in the firm's Global Public Sector group.

"Dr. Gomez's prior commercial experience in manufacturing and product development, and his most recent work implementing a pilot plant capability for the VRC that leverages public-private partnerships, provides a proven model for meeting this nation's needs at the appropriate scale. Integrating Phil's experience with our decades of commercial expertise adds significantly to PRTM's capabilities to assist this young industry," Helming added.

"The development of new vaccines and drugs is more complex and costly than ever, and increasingly requires partnerships among industry, academia, foundations, and government," Dr. Gomez said. "PRTM is a leader in transforming organizations to excel at innovation, and I joined the firm to develop new ways for these partnerships to deliver critical products to protect public health."

Dr. Gomez holds an A.B. degree from Dartmouth College, an M.S. and Ph.D. degree from Lehigh University, and an M.B.A. from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

About PRTM Management Consultants

Since 1976, PRTM has created a competitive advantage for its clients by changing the way companies operate. PRTM management consultants work with senior executives to develop and implement innovative operational strategies that deliver breakthrough results. The firm is a leader in operational strategy, supply chain, product development, and customer value management. PRTM has 16 offices worldwide and serves major industry and public sectors. For more information, visit www.prtm.com.

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