Former Quintiles Chief Exec Tom Pike to Retire

Former Quintiles CEO Tom Pike, who led the company through its recent mega-merger with IMS Health and is now the combined firm's Vice Chairman and President of R&D Solutions, is to retire. His replacement will be Richard Staub III, while Paul Spreen will rejoin as EVP and Chief Customer Officer.

Pike led Quintiles from 2012 until the merger, announced in May this year - but subsequently reported in to former IMS Health Chairman and CEO Ari Bousbib, now CEO of the combined business.

Staub is President of Novella Clinical - which Quintiles acquired in 2013 - as well as the leader of the new company's Global Functional Resourcing business and a member of its R&D Solutions Executive Committee. He has more than three decades of industry experience, including nearly twenty years in contract research organizations, and spent nearly a decade at Novella, presiding over a period of innovation, customer service and operational improvements.

Pike says the integration is 'coming along quickly' and that he is 'highly confident in [Staub's] ability to drive R&D Solutions forward'. The management changes are said to be 'part of a planned succession... accelerated by the rapid implementation of strategic and operational changes'. Bousbib comments: 'We are grateful to Tom Pike for his stewardship of Quintiles and commitment to getting this merger moving in the right direction. I am really excited by our opportunity to lead the evolution of the CRO industry and am confident Richard and his world-class management team from R&D Solutions are poised to drive that change'.

Spreen was formerly President of Quintiles' Customer Solutions Management Group, having worked for the firm for twenty years. In his new role, he will work directly with senior-level clients to develop enterprise-level total cost of ownership opportunities across the entire QuintilesIMS portfolio. Bousbib comments: 'We are excited to have Paul back. He will bring his world-class approach to customer relationship management to help realize the full potential of QuintilesIMS'.

The merged firm's home page is at www.imsquintiles.com .