Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Almac Group has appointed Dr. Victor Diaz Perez as head of physical sciences.

Dr. Diaz will further complement the existing physical sciences team bringing his experience in research and development within solid state chemistry. He will be responsible for Almac’s solid state chemistry and physical sciences business and tasked with strengthening the overarching chemical development strategy.

Before joining Almac Dr. Diaz spent ten years with Pharmorphix, now part of Johnson Matthey, a global contract research organization (CRO) providing solid state services for the pharmaceutical and fine chemicals industry. There he worked as projects director before being appointed as site manager/operations director. He was also a key player in the acquisition of Pharmorphix by Johnson Matthey from Sigma Aldrich, which completed in October 2015.

Before joining Pharmorphix, Dr. Diaz worked for over seven years as a medicinal chemist at Medivir AB, both within the hit identification and lead optimization teams and, prior to that, he worked at High Force Research providing chemical synthesis and R&D service to the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and fine chemical industries.

“Victor’s combined experience within physical sciences and his extensive knowledge of strategic management makes him a valuable addition to our team,” said John Robson, vice president quality operations, Almac Sciences. “We are delighted he has accepted this role with Almac and we look forward to working together to continue to develop our global business and provide best in class, innovative drug development solutions to our growing client base.”