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Josef H. von Rickenbach

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

As Chairman and CEO of PAREXEL, which he founded in 1982, Mr. von Rickenbach has taken PAREXEL from its pioneering beginnings as one of the first clinical research organizations (CROs) more than two decades ago to its place as one of the top three public clinical service providers today. He has led PAREXEL through its IPO, multiple public offerings, and over 30 acquisitions during the Company’s history of more than 25 years to expand its portfolio in order to meet changing client needs and market demand. Under his leadership, PAREXEL has evolved to provide a broad range of services to the biopharmaceutical industry, including integrated clinical development, regulatory affairs consulting, commercialization services and technologies that expedite time-to-market.

Foreseeing the globalization of clinical research, Mr. von Rickenbach has worked to expand PAREXEL’s global footprint to provide access to a wide array of geographies for clients’ programs.  
 
Mr. von Rickenbach has made several innovative contributions to the advancement of the biopharmaceutical services industry through PAREXEL, including conceiving of a complex, multi-disciplinary, systems-oriented approach to outsourced clinical development, bringing efficiencies, speed, scalability and standardization to the business. As part of the S-1 filing to the SEC, he was among the first to define the industry in formal terms. As the biopharmaceutical industry adopted information technology, Mr. von Rickenbach created a leading advanced technology offering, and today PAREXEL’s subsidiary Perceptive Informatics is a front runner in providing eClinical solutions.
 
Mr. von Rickenbach’s extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical services industries puts him at the forefront of drug development and management. After having begun his career with Schering-Plough, Mr. von Rickenbach also held positions with ENSECO (formerly ERCO).
 
Mr. von Rickenbach served as Chair of the Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) in 2005, and is a long-standing member of the ACRO Board of Directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the New England Healthcare Institute. Mr. von Rickenbach holds a B.S. degree in Business Economics from the School of Business at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University.

 

Josef H. von Rickenbach
Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer