Craig Rennie, Chairman and Chief Executive at Penn, said: "Since the implementation of the Clinical Trials Directive in May 2004, there has been a general increase in demand in our business sector for QP services. As such, this has been one of many areas of our business in which we have concentrated on investment as part of our ongoing commitment to personal development and training and is in line with our new £1M expansion programme." Matthew, an Oxford University graduate, joined Penn in June 1993 as a member of the analytical development team before moving to the quality control (QC) division, first as an analyst, then as a supervisor. Matthew was made head of QC in 2002, head of both QA and QC the following year and became Head of Compliance in 2005. In his new role as a QP, Matthew will continue to report to Penn’s Technical Director, Paul Thomas, but will now also have the authority to conduct QP audits and QP release products, investigational medicinal products and commercial drug products. Penn’s QPs all have extensive experience of working with worldwide clients, particularly those from Japan and North America to ensure that importation procedures and EU compliance issues for new drug candidates can and have been addressed. Penn Pharmaceutical Services Ltd is a leading provider of outsourced pharmaceutical development services to the international healthcare industry. The company’s core business expertise includes a fully comprehensive product development service, which consists of formulation and analytical development, clinical trial manufacturing, packaging and supply management and extensive custom manufacturing. Penn also offers CMC Consultancy and Qualified Person (QP) Services.