Robert Castellucci will oversee strategic commitment to quality: to meet or exceed customer, industry and regulatory expectations

PHILADELPHIA, PA, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - MDS Pharma Services, a leading provider of innovative drug discovery and development solutions, today announced the hiring of Robert Castellucci to fill the newly created position of Vice- President of Quality. He will report directly to MDS Pharma Services President and CEO Gilbert Godin and will be located in the business' executive office in King of Prussia, Pa.

"Bob will be a tremendous asset to MDS Pharma Services. We intend to leverage his experience to align our quality and compliance efforts with our strategic business goals," said Godin. "His addition to our senior leadership team reinforces our focus on quality and compliance as our two top priorities - for our customers, industry stakeholders and regulatory authorities."

Castellucci comes to MDS Pharma Services with more than 28 years of leadership experience in pharmaceutical technical operations, including positions in manufacturing, quality operations, organizational design and effectiveness, and business systems design and implementation.

"I define quality in two words: meeting expectations," said Castellucci. "Whether it's regulatory requirements, industry standards or customer-defined objectives, meeting expectations is the simple foundation of an effective quality program. As the leader of the MDS Pharma Services global quality team, I will implement company-wide standards designed to meet or exceed customer, industry and regulatory expectations."

Prior to joining MDS Pharma Services, Castellucci served as Vice- President of quality operations at Watson Pharmaceuticals for five years. Previous positions include Vice-President for quality and regulatory compliance at Schein Pharmaceuticals and Vice-President of worldwide quality at DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company. He is a graduate of Villanova University, with bachelor's and master's degrees in biology.

About MDS Pharma Services

MDS Pharma Services offers a full spectrum of resources to meet the drug discovery and development needs of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. With numerous facilities strategically located around the world, the company applies advanced scientific and technological expertise to each stage of the drug discovery and development process - Early Stage: lead optimization, pre-IND research, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical development, early clinical research (bioequivalence, phases I-IIa) and bioanalysis; and Late Stage: global clinical development (phases IIb-IV) and central lab. For more information, visit MDS Pharma Services' Web site at www.mdsps.com.

MDS Pharma Services is an integral part of MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS; NYSE: MDZ). MDS Inc. has more than 9,000 highly skilled people in 27 countries providing a diverse range of superior products and services to increase its customers' speed, precision and productivity in the drug development and disease diagnosis processes. MDS Inc. is a global, values-driven health and life sciences company, recognized for its reliability and collaborative relationships as it helps create better outcomes in the treatment of disease. Find out more at www.mdsinc.com or by calling 1-888-MDS-7222, 24 hours a day.