ABOUT US
Meet
Dr. David Wells
Dr. David A. Wells
Pharmaceutical Scientist
Dr. David A. Wells is a pharmaceutical scientist (Ph.D., Toxicology) and author with broad experience in medical communications, medical information, drug safety, drug metabolism and bioanalytical chemistry, and is also a registered pharmacist.
With a career that has included multiple roles within the pharmaceutical industry, founding and managing a consulting company, university teaching, a leadership role with an outsourced call center, and continuing his core work as a pharmacist, David possesses a broad range of expertise and knowledge with drugs, their development and support.
Curriculum Vitae available on request
From the Start with 3M
Following graduate school at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, under the leadership of Professor Emeritus Dr. George Digenis, David began his career with 3M Pharmaceuticals in supporting preclinical toxicology studies and Phase I human clinical studies for the antiviral drug imiquimod (Aldara®). He also utilized pharmacokinetics to interpret data and wrote drug metabolism reports to support three investigational new drug (IND) submissions to the FDA.
David next joined the 3M New Products Department where he was a global subject matter expert for a novel technology useful in analytical sample preparation. Using this technology, he developed Empore® High Performance Extraction Disk Cartridges and 96-Well Solid-Phase Extraction Plates for pharmaceutical bioanalytical laboratories, and supported applications development. Over an 8-year period he helped commercialize the Empore technology into a successful business and managed all technical service activities. The full product line was sold in later years to CDS Analytical.
1st Company
David expanded his expertise in bioanalysis by founding his first consulting company, Sample Prep Solutions, which gave him the opportunity to continue to support pharmaceutical and contract research laboratories, automation companies, and manufacturers of sample preparation products, but now in an independent role. Some of the major projects David worked on include bioanalytical support for drug discovery projects, Phase III human clinical study sample analyses, and development of a bioterrorism identification kit for use with 50-gallon drums containing unknown liquids.
David’s assignments were with well-known companies such as Roche, DuPont, Bristol-Myers, Wyeth, Millennium (Takeda), Parke-Davis (Pfizer), Onyx (Amgen), Quest Pharmaceutical Services, McNeil (Johnson & Johnson), Merck, Cedra, and Purdue Pharma. Dr. Wells is no stranger to the pharmacy counter, and during this time he was able to keep current in retail pharmacy in between his research assignments.
CALL CENTER
Medical Information
In his role with a pharmaceutical call center serving twenty-five clients, David managed all aspects of medical information fulfillment and was a dedicated resource to BioMarin for six of these years. Activities included responding to every written physician inquiry for BioMarin, conducting literature searches, writing/editing medical letters, creating reports on call metrics, and managing publication alerts and summaries. During this era, David became a subject matter expert for orphan drugs to treat phenylketonuria and LEMS, enzyme replacement therapies for lysosomal storage disorders (specifically MPS IV and VI), transdermal fentanyl pain medication, and endocrine drugs for growth and maturation.
PRESENT DAY
Consulting, Communications & Writing
David’s present role is again in consulting, via his second venture named Wells Medical Research & Support Services. He now shares his expertise to Medical Affairs, Medical Communications, and Medical Information departments to advance their capabilities, lead projects, deliver training, produce written responses, and provide project support as an independent contractor or consultant. Recently he has supported Medtronic Medical Affairs in providing medical information for implanted spinal cord stimulation products and intrathecal drug delivery devices, Shire Pharmaceuticals in Medical Communications for pipeline and marketed drug products in the GI, internal medicine, and rare disease space, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals in Medical Communications for pipeline and marketed drug products for rare metabolic and genetic diseases.
David has an established record of accomplishments in the education and training of students. He has acted as a Mentor and Preceptor to colleges of pharmacy at the University of Minnesota and Creighton University, and as an Adjunct Instructor in Pharmacology at Northwestern Health Sciences University. Throughout his career, David has continued to maintain his skills in retail pharmacy; these experiences, combined with his research and consulting experiences, give him a thorough understanding of the drug development lifecycle and a unique perspective for the companies he spends time with. His experience in toxicology provides valuable knowledge for his work in drug and medical device safety, and in product complaint reporting.