Alacrita Builds Companion Diagnostic Consulting Practice

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, May 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Appoints Susanta Sarkar, a Recognized Leader in Molecular Imaging and its Application to Drug Development Including Development of Radiopharmaceuticals and Companion Diagnostics  

Alacrita, the life sciences consulting firm, today announced that it has appointed Susanta Sarkar, PhD, as an Associate Partner in its Cambridge, MA office.

Susanta joins Colin G Miller, PhD, in the firm's Medical Imaging consulting practice and helps consolidate Alacrita's position as a leading provider of medical imaging and companion diagnostic consulting support.  Susanta was formerly a Director, Translational and Clinical Imaging, at Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline. He has a strong track record in strategic, scientific and technical leadership in the development and integration of innovative imaging approaches across drug development - from preclinical to clinical and translational studies.

Susanta is an internationally recognized medical imaging professional with 28 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D. Throughout his professional career, he successfully led and managed clinical and preclinical studies by building multinational cross- functional collaborations, with a skill base drawn from diverse functions. He is experienced in creating a comprehensive drug development plan for radiopharmaceuticals including management of the full scope of its development functions- from early discovery preclinical activities to Phase I trial design and IND preparation and submission. He accomplished IND approval for an immunoPET agent from the FDA for Phase I clinical trial.

Susanta has developed and executed innovative imaging strategies for oncology clinical trials - Phase I through Phase III, and interpreted clinical imaging study results to enable data driven decision making. He has expertise in MRI, PET, SPECT, CT and optical imaging, and has experience in managing all imaging aspects of multinational multisite clinical trials. At GSK, he proposed and implemented a strategic initiative in molecular imaging and directed the establishment of a world class $10M multimodal Molecular Imaging Center. At this center, he led the delivery of imaging biomarkers in support of decision making for discovery and translational programs across therapeutic areas of neuroscience, arthritis, anti-infective, respiratory, metabolic, cardiovascular and oncology.

Susanta is also Adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and serves on the editorial board of Molecular Imaging and Biology. He has published extensively and is a co-author of two patents. In addition, Susanta serves on the scientific advisory board of SibTech Inc. He is currently the co-chair of the Pharma Imaging Network for Therapeutics and Diagnostics (PINTAD) and served as the chair of the MR in Drug Discovery section of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Susanta Sarkar said, "I am delighted to be joining the Alacrita team, which has an impressive track record in providing support to biotech, pharma and investors in the life sciences. I look forward to working alongside Alacrita to share my expertise and experience to help our clients."

Rob Johnson, Managing Partner at Alacrita, said: "We are delighted to welcome Susanta to the Alacrita team as we continue to build an outstanding life sciences consulting practice. Susanta has a proven successful track record in the integration of innovative imaging approaches across drug development including radiopharmaceutical development. He joins a high caliber team of seasoned consultants and underlines our commitment and philosophy to build a preeminent life science consulting firm."

In other medical imaging news from Alacrita, Colin G Miller has recently had two papers published describing novel end points or biomarkers.  One is a quadrant analysis of the femoral neck using quantitative computerized CT which was used in a study evaluating rosiglitazone in a diabetic patient population.  The other was for muscle quantification using MRI.

About Alacrita 

Alacrita is a rapidly growing, transatlantic life science consulting firm providing expertise-based services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life science sectors. The firm is supported by an unrivalled team of experts who operate across the spectrum of life sciences. They combine extensive international industry experience (strategic, technical and commercial), broad functional capabilities and a track record of success across the industry.

Alacrita Europe:
London BioScience Innovation Centre
2 Royal College Street
London, NW1 0NH
Tel: +44 207 691 4915

Alacrita USA:
One Broadway, 14th floor
Kendall Square
Cambridge, MA 02142
Tel: +1 617 714 9696
www.alacrita.com