Company News

The Emmes Corporation today announced the creation of an internship program in which the company will offer one fellow from Egypt’s Children Cancer Hospital an internship to gain training and experience in clinical research. Under the new program, one fellow will be selected each year to travel to Emmes’ headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, to work with its clinical research experts. The duration of each internship will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Dr. Anne Lindblad, president and chief executive officer of Emmes, explained that the internship program was a natural extension of the company’s recent education efforts in Egypt. Emmes’ Dr. Ashraf El Fiky and Dr. Robert Lindblad were keynote speakers at the 53rd Alexandria Congress on Allergy and Immunology in Alexandria, Egypt. The conference, scheduled from February 21 to 23, was attended by leading allergy and immunology specialists from Egyptian universities.

Following that conference, El Fiky, Emmes’ clinical trials medical officer for drug safety and pharmacovigilance, and Lindblad, vice president and chief medical officer, traveled to Cairo to speak at an event at the Children Cancer Hospital. They spoke about cancer clinical trials at the First Symposium on Clinical Research in Oncology and Good Clinical Practice Guidelines on February 25.

The Children Cancer Hospital is the largest pediatric oncology hospital in the Middle East. According to El Fiky, “Our new internship program recognizes the hospital’s important role in providing free pediatric oncology services to patients in the region. Its joint fellowship programs with Harvard Medical School, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are great role models. Emmes is truly proud to support the clinical research community in Egypt.”

Two years ago, Emmes had hosted members of the senior management team from Cairo’s Children Cancer Hospital as part of a tour that included the National Institutes of Health and other area biohealth organizations.

“We’re excited to continue to collaborate with Egypt’s medical community and academic institutions and expand our new relationships,” said Dr. Anne Lindblad. “We believe our internship program demonstrates this commitment, and we look forward to hosting our first fellow later this year.”

About Emmes
We collaborate with our clients to produce valued, trusted scientific research. Our team members at Emmes are passionate about making a difference in the quality of human health, and we have supported more than a thousand studies across a diverse range of diseases since our formation in 1977. Our research is contributing to a healthier world. For more information, visit the Emmes website at www.emmes.com.

Company News

The Emmes Corporation today announced that it contributed to a landmark research study by the National Institutes of Health linking air pollution and preterm birth risk in pregnant women with asthma. The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, reported that pregnant women with asthma have an increased risk for preterm birth when exposed to high levels of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, common traffic-related air pollutants.

The study found that exposure to nitrogen oxide, for example, in the three months prior to conception, increased preterm birth risk by nearly 30 percent for women with asthma compared to 8 percent for women without asthma.

The company’s work on this study initially began with a project for the Consortium on Safe Labor, in which an Emmes team conducted statistical analysis on more than 223,000 records of pregnant women. The data, spanning six years, were subsequently merged with air pollution data generated from a modified computational tool called the Community Multi-scale Air Quality Modeling System available from the Environmental Protection Agency. The goal was to determine whether there was a relationship between levels of air pollutants and pregnancy outcomes.

Company News

Emmes, a global, full-service Clinical Research Organization dedicated to supporting the advancement of public health and biopharmaceutical innovation, today announced significant progress in its role as Data Coordinating Center for studies conducted under the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA).

Results from the Emmes-managed clinical trials, conducted through the BPCA Clinical Coordinating Center at Pediatric Trials Network, contributed directly to improved drug labeling for a range of products used in treating infants and children. The four newest label changes related to caffeine citrate, used to treat apnea of prematurity, plus three antibiotics: doxycycline, clindamycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (often referred to by its trade name Bactrim™). With the revised labeling for Ampicillin, announced early last year, there were a total of five Emmes-supported label changes during 2020.

According to Ravinder Anand, Ph.D., Emmes’ Vice President of Maternal Child Health, “These are the most approvals ever gained in a single year under the BPCA program. We are proud of our role in these accomplishments for our client, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).”

He added, “The improvements associated with these label changes provided weight base dosing recommendations for clindamycin; information on pediatric pharmacokinetics for doxycycline and Bactrim; and a broader treatment-eligible age range and extended treatment duration when using caffeine to treat premature infants with apnea of prematurity.”

Under the NICHD contract, Emmes provides end-to-end clinical study support and management, which includes data management, regulatory support, pharmacovigilance, site monitoring, and statistical analyses for the studies. The company has served as the Data Coordinating Center for the BPCA program since August 2009 and has supported 11 labeling and two other marketing approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These changes have addressed either pharmacokinetics, dosage, safety and/or efficacy information for a variety of pediatric drugs and devices across various pediatric populations and treatment indications.

Emmes’ Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Christine Dingivan, said, “These drug labeling approvals reinforce our commitment to excellence in study design, execution and analysis. This is an important public sector program and a valued client. Emmes has a long history of pediatric clinical research, and our team is so proud of our role in improving public health outcomes and safe, effective drug development in children.”

About the Research
The BPCA program is funded by the National Institutes of Health through its Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. This program supports the Pediatric Trials Network, which studies commonly prescribed off-patent drugs whose original development did not include pediatric patients. Study results are intended to amend FDA-approved prescribing information. This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Institutes of Health under Contract No. HHSN275201700002C.

About Emmes
Founded in 1977, Emmes is a global, full-service Clinical Research Organization dedicated to excellence in supporting the advancement of public health and biopharmaceutical innovation. The company’s clients include numerous agencies and institutes of the U.S. federal government and a wide range of biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies throughout the world. To learn more about how our research is making a positive impact on human health, go to the Emmes website at www.emmes.com.

Company News

Transaction Expands Emmes’ Biopharma Effort and European Presence

Emmes, a global, full-service Clinical Research Organization (CRO) dedicated to supporting the advancement of public health and biopharmaceutical innovation, today announced that it has acquired Neox s.r.o., a European-based CRO. Neox will add over 150 employees who support biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies.

“This is an important and exciting step for Emmes, demonstrating significant progress on our strategic plans to grow our biopharmaceutical business,” said Dr. Christine Dingivan, Chief Executive Officer of Emmes. “Neox adds a sizable, well-established biopharmaceutical research services business to Emmes and significantly expands our international presence.”

Based in Prague, Neox has operations primarily in central and eastern Europe, with a direct presence in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. The company operates in another 11 European countries, including a recently established entity in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2004 by brothers Dr. Pavel Marek and Petr Marek, Neox has provided clinical research support for more than 1,000 studies and has built deep experience across multiple therapeutic areas. Both Pavel and Petr Marek will remain with Neox and continue to serve in their leadership roles. “Pavel and his team have built a CRO with an excellent reputation,” noted Dr. Dingivan. “Our companies share a dedication to science, long-term partnerships with clients, and a corporate culture that centers on integrity, agility and passion for excellence.”

According to Dr. Marek, “Neox and Emmes will be a powerful combination. We look forward to continuing to serve our customers with the expanded resources of the Emmes organization, as well as helping Emmes support rapid patient enrollment in global clinical trials. Our regulatory contacts throughout Europe, who understand country-specific requirements, will be an asset in helping Emmes’ current and future biopharma customers with their global drug development strategic planning and clinical operations.”

Emmes conducts its operations from, and is focused on growing, its two strategic business groups: Emmes Biopharma and Emmes Public Sector. Neox will be part of Emmes Biopharma, which also includes Emmes’ established, experienced teams in the USA, India and Canada.

“Neox will broaden our biopharmaceutical platform by expanding our customer base and capabilities to conduct global trials at sites across the US, Canada, UK, EU, and India,” noted Dr. Dingivan. “The acquisition will leverage the systems and technology investments Emmes has made to support future growth.”

This acquisition will bring the total number of employees at Emmes to over 1,000 across the globe.

About Emmes Founded in 1977, Emmes is a global, full-service Clinical Research Organization dedicated to excellence in supporting the advancement of public health and biopharmaceutical innovation. The company’s clients include numerous agencies and institutes of the U.S. federal government and a wide range of biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies throughout the world. To learn more about how our research is making a positive impact on human health, go to the Emmes website at www.emmes.com.

Company News

Emmes today announced that three corporate vice presidents have been promoted. Dr. Traci Clemons has been named chief research officer, Marian Ewell is now chief scientific innovation officer, and Jennifer Hester is the company’s chief human resources officer. These are all newly created positions for the company.

According to Dr. Anne Lindblad, president and chief executive officer, “Elevating these roles – research, scientific innovation, and human resources – is a tremendous step forward in our company’s evolution. It’s an endorsement for how far we’ve come as a major player supporting clinical trials and research for a wide range of human health issues. It reflects our growth and diversification across both government and commercial sectors. And finally, it’s a testament to the value of these three outstanding professionals, and the role they’ve played and will continue to play in our success.”

Dr. Traci Clemons, chief research officer, has served as the company’s executive vice president for research units and as principal investigator of the National Eye Institute’s Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2. She also provides leadership and statistical expertise for other contracts, including the Sickle Cell Disease Consortium for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as several studies of ophthalmic diseases sponsored by the National Eye Institute and industry.

She joined Emmes in 1999 as a senior statistician and was later promoted to vice president and then senior vice president. She has led a number of important research studies for both government and commercial clients. In 2017, Dr. Clemons was named executive vice president. Earlier in her career, she was an assistant professor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Clemons said, “I look forward to helping evolve the structure of our therapeutic and research units. Elevating research to an officer-level position is a great responsibility and honor.”

She added, “This is important and fulfilling because of the diversity represented by these three promotions.”

Dr. Clemons has co-authored more than 100 papers that have been published in a number of scientific journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in biostatistics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a B.A. in mathematics from the University of West Florida.

Dr. Lindblad noted, “Traci combines excellent science and business acumen with an ability to align company functions with our mission and vision. Traci will set the company’s research and scientific priorities to align with the goals of the organization. She has extensive managerial research and industry experience.”

Dr. Marian Ewell, chief scientific innovation officer, helped to build Emmes’ biostatistics, bioinformatics, and clinical data standards services groups, which now include more than 90 staff members. She promotes new statistical methods with Emmes research projects, and her new role encompasses fostering a culture of innovation throughout the company. She also serves as principal investigator of the Statistical and Data Coordinating Center for the Clinical Research in Infectious Diseases contract with the NIH Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

After serving as a post-doctoral fellow and research assistant at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, she joined Emmes in 1994 as a statistician and was subsequently promoted to senior investigator, vice president and then senior vice president. In 2017, Dr. Ewell was named executive vice president.

According to Dr. Ewell, “Emmes was founded by a statistician, whose vision has resulted in the company’s outstanding reputation for trusted clinical research. But we can’t rest on our laurels, and my priority will be to lead our new Statistical and Scientific Innovation team in extending our expertise and finding opportunities to partner with other organizations.”

In addition to co-authoring numerous scientific papers, Dr. Ewell reviews grant applications for several NIH agencies and served as the Advisory Board chair for the George Mason University Department of Statistics. She earned an Sc.D. degree in biostatistics from Harvard University’s School of Public Health, an M.S. in statistics from the University of Wisconsin, and a B.A. in statistics from Princeton University.

“Emmes maintains our competitive edge in the market through differentiation and continual innovation throughout the organization,” said Dr. Lindblad. “Having Marian in this role ensures we have a competent leader at the helm with a laser focus on keeping Emmes at the cutting edge of our statistical and scientific research.”

Jennifer Hester, chief human resources officer, has been vice president of human resources since 2017 and joined the company in 2006 as its director of human resources. She is responsible for the strategy and leadership of all the programs related to human
resources management and related corporate service operations.

Before joining Emmes, Ms. Hester was manager of human resources at Spirent Communications and, before that, manager of finance and administration at North American Networks.

Ms. Hester commented, “Our human resources team remains focused on continuing to help grow Emmes’ competitive position in the market and ultimately to build our reputation as workplace of choice for prospective and current employees. We continue to grow our employee base at a double-digit rate, and my priority will be to recruit and retain a highly engaged team. I plan to continue to be active in the community and build strong, effective partnerships with local and state organizations supporting innovative, diverse, and active workforce development.”

Ms. Hester is on the board of directors for Montgomery County Workforce Development; serves as vice chair of the board of directors of Rockville Economic Development, Inc.; and participates on the executive committee for Leadership Montgomery. She is also on the board of Girls on the Run in Montgomery County, Maryland. She holds an executive MBA from the University of Maryland, an M.S. in personnel and human resources management from American University, and a B.A. in liberal arts & sciences from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

According to Dr. Lindblad, “As Emmes continues to grow, human resources, talent, benefits, training and facilities are crucial to our success. I have depended on Jennifer over the years to see the future so we do not fall behind supporting our most important asset – our employees. Under Jennifer’s leadership, we have been selected four times as a Washington Post top workplace in the greater DC area, and we’re also a five-time winner of the Alliance for Workplace Excellence Seal of Approval award. ”

About Emmes
Emmes is a leading Contract Research Organization working with both public and private sector organizations. We collaborate with our clients to produce valued, trusted scientific research, and our team members are passionate about making a difference in the quality of human health. Emmes has supported more than a thousand studies across a diverse range of diseases since our formation in 1977. Our research is contributing to a healthier world. For more information, visit the Emmes website at www.emmes.com.

Company News

Emmes reported revenues of $125 million in 2019 and has more than 750 employees globally. More than 675 employees work in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

The company is expecting to hire nearly 70 new employees to support new and expanded clinical research projects. This represents an increase of approximately 10 percent of its area-wide workforce. The positions include clinical operations staff, biostatisticians, bioinformatics experts, project control analysts, project managers, data management staff, technical writers, clinical research auditors, and proposal manager. The company has offices in Rockville, MD, Frederick, MD and Tysons Corner, VA. Emmes continues to maintain a robust teleworking environment.

“We provide the backbone of support to both government and biopharmaceutical companies involved in developing treatments and vaccines associated with a wide range of diseases and disorders,” said Dr. Anne Lindblad, president and chief executive officer. “Our operational, data management, regulatory, safety, statistical and data analysis support for clinical trials and human health research is highly valued, and the result is continued growth. This means promoting employees, giving people more opportunities for job expansion and flexibility, and adding new staff.”

Dr. Lindblad noted that three new executives have joined the leadership team since November: a chief business officer, vice president of clinical operations, and chief medical officer. Two new business development directors were just hired. The company also promoted three employees to the position of vice president.

About Emmes
Emmes is a leading Contract Research Organization working with both public and private sector organizations. We collaborate with our clients to produce valued, trusted scientific research, and our team members are passionate about making a difference in the quality of human health. Emmes has supported more than a thousand studies across a diverse range of diseases since our formation in 1977. Our research is contributing to a healthier world. For more information, visit the Emmes website at www.emmes.com.