Singapore: Harlan Contract Research Services (CRS), a division of Harlan Laboratories, a privately held provider of general and specialty toxicology services to the global chemical, agrochemical and pharmaceutical industries, has appointed Mr. Hiroharu Okochi as president of Harlan Japan.

Mr. Okochi will have full profit and loss responsibility as well as overall accountability for all aspects of the Harlan Contract Research Services (CRS) business stream serving the Japanese chemical, agrochemical and pharmaceutical markets.

"Hiroharu has all the qualities we're looking for in leadership for our Japanese facility," said Mr. Eric Hess, Harlan CRS vice president of commercial operations. "He has strong product development and marketing skills combined with excellent planning, team building and administrative abilities. We are confident that he will play an important role in building our franchise in Japan."

Prior to joining Harlan, Okochi was responsible for sales and business development of Covance central laboratory services to Japanese pharmaceutical companies.

"We see Asia-Pacific as an area with great growth potential for Harlan," said Manuela Leone, Harlan CRS president. "Part of our strategy is to seek out and hire the best possible talent to help us achieve our goals, and Hiroharu Okochi fits that profile perfectly."