Biotech firm Mountain Valley MD has brought on Dr. Azhar Rana as their new Chief Medical Officer. After spending nearly two decades working in life sciences, he has acquired extensive experience in clinical development, pre and post launch medical affairs, and regulatory and commercial strategy. This includes 10 years of pharmaceutical leadership at AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers-Squibb, and Novo Nordisk. During his pharmaceutical career, Dr. Rana has also gained experience in the development, launch, and life cycle management of novel therapeutics, having collaborated with teams in clinical operations and development, medical affairs, regulatory affairs, quality, and pharmacovigilance.
Dr. Rana also established the North American organization for integrated medhealth communications (imc Group), which is a globally recognized medical communications agency that supports pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies. As President & Managing Director, Dr. Rana has led a sizable cross-functional medical marketing team, working with global companies and healthcare professionals at different stages of drug and device development.
He’s well-versed in a number of disease areas, such as oncology, virology, inflammation and metabolic disease. This is partially because of his professional experience, but also because of his education. Dr. Rana has a medical degree from Aga Khan University, and he also trained in internal medicine in the UK.
“I am extremely proud to welcome Dr. Rana to our leadership team at Mountain Valley MD and look forward to his immediate contributions towards the advancement of our pipeline of novel health and wellness applications,” stated Dennis Hancock, President and CEO of Mountain Valley MD. “Dr. Rana’s extensive pharmaceutical and biotech experience comes at a critical time for MVMD as we continue to advance our science and solidify key technology licensing agreements.”
“I am excited to be joining MVMD and look forward to working with the outstanding leadership team here to help advance the numerous technology applications into commercialization in this next phase of planned growth,” said Dr. Rana. “The pursuit of the Company’s broad vision of more life across the global landscape is very compelling to me personally at this stage of my career and I am honoured to have my legacy work supporting broad husbandry and human health initiatives.”