Published: 4/11/2017

Smithers, a world leader in rubber, plastics and composites testing expertise, announced today the addition of extractables and leachables expert Dr. Daniel Norwood, Executive Partner, SCIO Analytical, LLC as an independent Senior Consultant.

Dr. Norwood’s expertise will continue to strengthen the ability of Smithers’ global team to help clients assess and address a range of chemical migration challenges with medical, pharmaceutical, and food packaging materials. This work will include the evaluation and implementation of study programs, as well as assisting clients with risk mitigation and regulatory submissions. In addition to assisting in client facing work, he will be active in the startup of Smithers’ new U.S. based extractables and leachables laboratory, to be opened at the Akron Global Business Accelerator in the summer of 2017. This facility will complement Smithers’ extractables and leachables lab in Shawbury, England and food contact lab in Leatherhead, England.

“Dr. Norwood will play a key role in assisting our clients with their difficult extractables and leachables and food contact challenges,” said Nat Leonard, President, Smithers. “His wealth of experience is a great complement to our comprehensive services, which range from material selection to product validation and packaging transit studies in the medical, pharmaceutical and food segments.”

Dr. Norwood has over 41 years of experience in chemistry and pharmaceutical research and is well recognized in the industry as one of the pioneers in extractables and leachables research. His expertise covers all analytical chemistry areas, including structural analysis of pharmaceutical impurities and degradation products, along with assessment of extractables and leachables. He has conducted research for Boehringer Ingelheim, Magellan Laboratories and the Glaxo Research Institute, among others. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, as well as a Master of Science in Public Health and Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“I’m honored to begin this collaboration with a world-renowned independent testing and consulting organization that is held in such high regard in the extractables and leachables space,” said Norwood. “Smithers has been enhancing their expertise and global laboratory capabilities, and it’s exciting to lend my years of expertise to this growth and the support of various clients around the world.”

This collaboration with one of the world’s foremost experts in the field is yet another investment in Smithers’ long-term strategy to better serve the medical device, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Already in 2017, Smithers announced the future opening of a North American extractables and leachables lab, opened a dedicated medical device testing lab in Shawbury, UK and made expansions in personnel and equipment to support migration chemistry studies at its Shawbury, UK analytical lab.

About Dr. Daniel Norwood

Dr. Norwood is an internationally recognized expert in the field of leachables and extractables assessment in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. He has served as a chair and member of various working groups within a variety of key industry associations, including the Product Quality Research Institute (PQRI) Working Group on leachables and extractables in inhalation drug products and parenteral and ophthalmic drug products (PODP), the International Pharmaceutical Aerosol Consortium on Regulations and Science (IPAC-RS) and the USP Expert Committee on Packaging, Storage and Distribution. Dr. Norwood has received several industry awards, including the CEO’s Award from Glaxo (1994), the President’s Award from Boehringer Ingelheim (2007), the Excellence in Research Award from PQRI (2009), and the Award for an Innovative Response to Public Health Challenges from USP (2013). He completed his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at Virginia Tech and his doctorate degree in Environmental Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health.