The Birth of the CRO Industry: How Parexel Transformed Drug Development | Episode 16

Description

Josef von Rickenbach is a true pioneer in the pharmaceutical industry. In 1982, he co-founded Parexel, a company that would go on to define the CRO industry as we know it today. Over the next 36 years as CEO, he led over 40 acquisitions, scaled the company to 19,000 employees, and helped set industry standards that still shape biopharma today.

But Josef’s story isn’t just about business. It’s a story of relentless execution, risk-taking, and building an entirely new industry from scratch. Convincing pharma companies to outsource clinical research - an idea that was unheard of at the time - took vision, persistence, and an ability to see patterns before others did.

In this conversation, we explore:

1. How he identified the unmet need that led to the birth of the CRO industry
2. The hardest moments of scaling Parexel from a 2-person consultancy to a global powerhouse
3. How he sees the future of clinical development, including the role of AI in drug development

Resources

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