Leading bioscience company, Penn Pharma, has appointed Darren Hassey as Operations Director at the company’s Welsh headquarters.

The newly created position comes at a time when Penn Pharma is bucking the current economic trend and is continuing to achieve its high growth targets month on month. Darren joins Penn with a wealth of experience within operations roles across the pharmaceutical industry spanning development, quality, in-licensing, manufacturing and operational excellence.

The 36 year old from Wiltshire will be responsible for all operational areas on site which means that Paul Thomas formerly Pharmaceutical Services Director has taken on a new role as Chief Scientific Officer and John Roberts formerly Commercial and Manufacturing Director can now focus on the role of Commercial Director for Europe and the rest of the world.

Speaking on his appointment Darren said: "I am very excited about becoming part of such a successful and thriving business, I represent Penn at both executive and board level and am pleased to be able to bring with me more than 15 years experience in the industry.

"Although I am responsible for all operational areas including analytics, formulation, clinical trial supplies, logistics and manufacturing I will also maintain customer focus through leadership of the senior account managers."

Darren holds a first class degree in Chemistry and a Master of Philosophy degree in Pharmaceutical Science. He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry with Chartered status and is also registered as a Chartered Scientist with The Science Council.

Penn chief executive, Peter George is pleased to have secured the expertise of Darren, he said: "Darren’s appointment comes at a very exciting time for Penn we are continuing to grow and expand with plans to further develop Penn’s business on a global level. Darren has a very strong background in the pharmaceutical sector and I’m confident that he is what Penn needs to continue to drive growth.

"He joins us following his seven year career at Catalent, one of our competitors, where he held the role of Business Unit Leader for the Zydis business for the past two years. Prior to this Darren has worked at GSK and AstraZeneca where he has built up an excellent reputation."