Purdue Pharma LP, a provider of prescription medications and consumer health products, revealed on Tuesday that it has appointed Julie Ducharme, BPharm, MSc, PhD as vice president and chief scientific officer, reporting directly to Craig Landau, MD, president and CEO.

The company said Dr Ducharme will be instrumental in helping the progress of its existing pipeline, as well as identifying new research opportunities & technological ventures across multiple therapeutic areas. In addition, Dr Ducharme will be expected to support Purdue Pharma's ongoing efforts to help address the opioid addiction crisis.

Dr Ducharme has over 25 years of experience in discovery research, late development, regulatory approval and life cycle management for small and large molecules, in pain, neuroscience, inflammation, infectious diseases and cancer. She has served in various leadership roles at AstraZeneca and Mundipharma and spent nearly four years leading research in biologics and vaccines at the National Research Council (Canada). She also has a broad scientific expertise in pre-clinical and clinical drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics and translational science, with more than 100 scientific communications and publications, the company added.

In addition, Dr Ducharme is a member of several Scientific Advisory Boards, including Human Health Therapeutics at the National Research Council Canada since 2018 and has been an Adjunct Professor of Pharmacy at the Université de Montréal since 1998. She was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Drug Metabolism & Infectious Diseases at the Université de Paris XI/V in France, a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Oncology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada and a Fellow of the Medical Research Council of Canada.