FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 April 27, 2002, Leeds, AL 

Ward R. Richter, DVM, MS, DACVP has joined DRUQUEST International as Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer.  Dr. Richter is an expert in preclinical safety evaluation of drugs and chemicals.  Previously he was Director of Safety Assessment at Southern Research Institute in Birmingham.  Prior to that he served as Vice President of Research at the New Jersey Laboratories of Huntingdon Life Sciences, a U.K. contract research organization (CRO).  A veterinary pathologist by training, he has spent his career as a toxicologist and toxicological pathologist, conducting research on the mechanisms of toxicity and working with numerous pharmaceutical companies, assisting them in the safety evaluation of new products.  He has advised pharmaceutical and chemical companies in North American, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and India.  Among other positions, earlier in his career, Dr. Richter spent 11 years as Professor of Pathology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

 DRUQUEST International, Inc. is a Birmingham Alabama area company providing consulting services to the Biopharmaceutical industry worldwide, including project management, toxicology, pathology, information management and training.  DRUQUEST was founded in 2000 by Joanne R. Kopplin, DVM, PhD, MBA.  She serves as President and CEO of the company.  With the addition of Dr Richter, the staff has grown to 2 Principals and 6 Associates.

For More Information Contact:

DRUQUEST International, Inc.
     Tel: 205-956-4813 
      info@druquest.com