19 Jun Cincinnati executive launches firm to aid in clinical trials
Cincinnati Business Courier
Jun 19, 2018, 6:50am EDT Updated: Jun 19, 2018, 9:56am EDT
Jim Westerkamp stepped down as a vice president with one of Cincinnati’s fastest-growing private firms to start his own company in the health care sector involving clinical trials.
He’s president of Cliniceval Solutions LLC, which is focused on connecting stakeholders to optimize the clinical development process and clinical trials.
Westerkamp, 50, was vice president for consulting operations at CTI Clinical Trial & Consulting Services until April, when he launched Cliniceval Solutions in Clermont County’s Miami Township. He had been employed by CTI since 2006.
Covington-based CTI works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to plan, manage and analyze clinical trials, which is a critical step in bringing new drugs, therapies and medical devices to market.
Cliniceval Solutions won’t be directly competing with CTI, said Westerkamp, who added that he left on good terms with CEO Tim Schroeder.
“We are aiming to supplement and support CTI’s and other site management and contract research organization’s efforts through collaborations,” Westerkamp said.
Cliniceval Solutions is building a database called ClinicEval Connect, which will include information on research interests of principal Investigators and their research sites, sponsors such as pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and medical diagnostics firms, and patient advocacy groups.
Westerkamp will recommend the ideal research sites and investigators as well as contract research and site management organizations to sponsors that are developing drugs, devices or diagnostics.
“For instance, I hope to be able to refer an individual neurologist from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio State, UCLA (or elsewhere) because I have vetted them and their research staff – and believe they will bring added value and efficiencies to the conduct of trials,” he said.
“My goal is to serve as a bridge between all parties in hopes of connecting those with similar research needs to expedite the delivery of therapies in development to patients in need,” he added.
“I believe the introduction of ClinicEval Connect to the clinical development community will have a positive impact on the overall development time lines by allowing quicker connections between parties,” Westerkamp said. “Our unique model will bridge many global groups and is expected to fill a gap.”
Information entered into ClinicEval Connect by each of the stakeholders can be rapidly cross- referenced to select researchers as well as save time and money for the sponsors, he said.
Improved development times will ultimately result in the more efficient delivery of new medical treatments to patients, said Westerkamp, a 1986 graduate of St. Xavier High School who earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology in 1990 from Miami University in Oxford.
Before joining CTI, Westerkamp worked as a senior scientific liaison for Astellas Pharma U.S. He previously was a senior account representative for Chemicon International, a sales representative for Pel-Freez Clinical Systems and a lab manager for the Ohio State University Medical Center.
“I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit,” Westerkamp said. “I did not want to look back in 20 years and say that I did not capitalize on an idea to address what I believe to be a missing gap in the clinical development process – someone to connect all parties, and to do so with properly focused and constructed site feasibility assessment and analysis.”
For more information, visit Cliniceval Solutions’ website or call 513-966-8632.
Barrett J. Brunsman
Staff reporter
Cincinnati Business Courier