From Toxicologist to Trailblazer:
The Remarkable Career of Chris Perkin, CEO of Altasciences
Chris Perkin's career in the biopharmaceutical industry spans nearly five decades, with humble beginnings as a toxicologist and culminating in his current role as CEO of Altasciences.
Upon obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Biology, Chris joined Huntingdon Life Sciences in England in 1975 as a toxicologist. In 1983, he took the role of Section Head at Beecham Pharmaceuticals, for their prescription drug preclinical development division. In 1988, Chris joined Bio-Research Laboratories (now Charles River Laboratories) in Montréal as Senior Toxicologist, then progressed to Scientific Director, Director of Toxicology, General Manager and, in 2004, Corporate Senior Vice President. By then, Chris was responsible for seven preclinical facilities (four in the United States, two in Canada, and one in China).
Over the years, Chris developed a deep understanding of the drug development process and witnessed first-hand the inefficiencies of the traditional outsourcing model in which sponsors must contract multiple CROs and CDMOs to complete their R&D.
The Beginning of a New Paradigm
When Chris joined Altasciences as CEO in 2010, he brought his vision to simplify the journey for sponsors. He set out to build an integrated CRO/CDMO that could seamlessly move a drug from drug discovery through all the stages of early-phase drug development, and eliminate bottlenecks and the need for numerous service providers.
"Innovation is a bit of a hybrid process, marrying entrepreneurship with tradition," Chris says. "It first requires an intimate understanding of how something is done, and then putting a team of like-minded individuals together to figure out how it can be done better."
Chris spent his first few months at Altasciences bringing that team together, and they went on to transform the clinical CRO into an outsourcing solution that integrates preclinical and clinical research, bioanalysis, formulation and manufacturing, and a full array of research support services.
A Vision Realized
Under Chris' leadership, Altasciences became a multi-award winning CRO/CDMO that supports sponsors from lead candidate selection to clinical proof of concept, and beyond. Sponsors partnering with Altasciences benefit from clear, customized roadmaps to guide early-phase studies, supported by real-time data generation, a proprietary communication platform, harmonized teams, and centralized program management and scheduling. The result is a seamless, integrated, and streamlined pathway for early-phase drug development.
The company now has nine strategically placed facilities across North America, with over 2,000 employees helping sponsors reach more educated, faster, and complete early drug development decisions.
"Client feedback is the foundation of Altasciences," explains Chris. "It was by listening to our clients that we gained further insight into their experiences, so that we could resolve their frustrations and pain points. And to this day, client feedback continues to drive us forward, informing how we improve our solutions."
With this new paradigm, Chris and his team help get better medicine and therapies to the people who need them, faster.
Recognizing Excellence
In 2019, after receiving recognition as "PharmaVoice 100 Most Inspiring Leaders in the Life Sciences Industry" for four consecutive years, Chris received the lifetime Red Jacket Award from PharmaVoice.
Altasciences has also been recognized by the industry more than 25 times in the past five years, including most recently in 2023 as:
• CRO Leadership Award Champion for Capabilities,
by Clinical Leader
• Scrip Awards Finalist — Best Contract Research
Organization, Full-Service Providers, by Citeline
• Most Innovative Pharmaceutical CRO — North America
by Global Health and Pharma
