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Catalyst SVP Keya Watkins Honored as Business Diversity Leader

July 22, 2021

Philadelphia Business Journal Recognizes Watkins’ Career Contributions 


Wilmington, NC, 20 July 2021 – Keya Watkins, senior vice president of clinical development operations at Catalyst Clinical Research, has been honored by the Philadelphia Business Journal as a 2021 Diversity Business Leader. 

Watkins will be recognized with other honorees during a virtual Philadelphia Business Journal event in August. For nearly two decades, she has provided clinical leadership in key roles in the biopharmaceutical industry, including more than two years as the senior vice president of clinical development at Catalyst. 

 Nick Dyer, CEO of Catalyst Clinical Research, emphasized the importance of Watkins’ leadership in understanding and adapting to the evolving pharma marketplace while managing clinical trial processes and exceeding customers’ expectations.  

“Keya has done a masterful job at Catalyst and has been instrumental in evolving our services to meet the needs of customers over the past 2 plus years,” Dyer says. “Significantly, in the context of this award, she has also always been people-focused with an emphasis on coaching and building the careers of her colleagues and encouraging professional development in others.”

“She has always demonstrated a commitment to a diverse workforce engaged fully and collaboratively and to helping create a workplace that encourages contributions from a diverse team.” 

Before joining Catalyst, Watkins served as Vice President of Clinical Operations at Clinipace. She also held senior roles at WIRB-Copernicus Group, ePharmaSolutions, and Theorem, which is now Chiltern. 

Watkins has specialized in understanding the regulatory landscape and developing creative and innovative solutions to the clinical trials that she and her team are responsible for executing. Throughout her career, she has been in a position to evaluate options and make key decisions. 

About Catalyst 

Catalyst is a clinical development organization providing highly customizable clinical research solutions to the global biopharmaceutical industry through two established solutions: Catalyst Flex and Catalyst Oncology. With over 500 staff and offices in the US and EU, the company provides multi-therapeutic global resourcing and functional services through Catalyst Flex and a full-service oncology CRO offering through Catalyst Oncology. The company’s flexible service model is built from more than a decade of listening to customers, devising customer-centric solutions, and helping them drive breakthrough clinical development studies leveraging Catalyst’s expert teams and innovative technologies. 

Catalyst is a portfolio company of NovaQuest Capital Management, LLC, a leading healthcare and life sciences investment firm.