Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, a Tustin, California-headquartered biopharmaceutical company, has appointed Roger J. Lias, PhD, as the company’s new president and chief executive officer.

Lias, who has more than 20 years of management experience with contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), currently sits on the Peregrine board of directors and serves as president of Avid Bioservices, Peregrine’s wholly owned CDMO subsidiary. Lias succeeds Steven W. King, who resigned as president and chief executive officer of Peregrine to pursue other professional interests.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals is a company transitioning from an R&D focused business to a pure-play CDMO.  Peregrine’s in-house CDMO services, including cGMP manufacturing and development capabilities, are provided through its wholly owned subsidiary Avid Bioservices, Inc. Peregrine is in the process of officially changing the company’s name to Avid Bioservices and adopting a new NASDAQ ticker symbol. The company expects this process to be completed in early 2018.

Source: Peregrine Pharmaceuticals