Biotechnology
Avance Clinical Appoints Liahna Toy To Lead Global Early Phase Center Of Excellence, Advancing Accelerated Early Phase Delivery For Biotechs
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ADELAIDE, Australia, March 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avance Clinical, a global full-service CRO headquartered in Australia dedicated to servicing biotech, announces the appointment of Liahna Toy as Senior Vice President & Head of Early Phase Center of Excellence, reinforcing the company’s strategic focus on accelerating high-quality early-phase trials for emerging biotech sponsors.
Avance Clinical’s Early Phase Center of Excellence supports biotech sponsors from first-in-human (FIH) through Phase I into Phase II, combining regulatory strategy, scientific and medical leadership, clinical operations, biometrics, pharmacovigilance, and tailored project delivery to streamline early development.
Liahna Toy brings extensive global experience in early-phase clinical development. In this role, she works across with Avance Clinical’s scientific, operational, and partnership leaders to align strategy and execution, giving biotechs a clear and predictable path through critical inflection points. Under her leadership, the Early Phase Center of Excellence is focused on helping biotechs move efficiently from pre-clinical readiness to FIH, generate early safety and PK readouts, and produce decision-grade data to support investment, partnering, or regulatory engagement.
“Early phase development sets the trajectory for a program,” said Toy. “Biotechs need a CRO partner that understands both scientific complexity and capital efficiency. Our teams are focused on de-risking programs, accelerating timelines, and delivering globally accepted data that sponsors can use with confidence.”
The company's Early Phase Center of Excellence is delivered through a globally integrated model across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan and India, providing consistent governance, and regional execution expertise. This gives sponsors greater flexibility in where they run studies while maintaining continuity in oversight, quality and delivery.
The model is underpinned by the Australian Advantage, including rapid start-up under the Clinical Trial Notification (CTN) scheme, globally accepted data to support FDA and EMA pathways, and cost efficiencies through Australia’s R&D Tax Incentive. Together, these factors help sponsors start smart, preserve capital and progress with confidence as programs expand internationally.
“For global biotechs, this creates a practical and cost-efficient pathway to advance assets without compromising scientific rigor,” added Toy. “Australia’s multicultural population support targeted recruitment across priority therapeutic areas, while maintaining a high bar for data quality and operational execution.”
Avance Clinical will be attending BIO-Europe Spring 2026, March 23–25 in Lisbon, Portugal. Biotech leaders advancing Phase I programs are invited to schedule partnering meetings with Avance Clinical’s team, via the BIO-Europe Spring partnering platform.
About Avance Clinical
Avance Clinical is the largest premium full-service Australian headquartered CRO delivering high-quality clinical trials in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, North America, United Kingdom and Europe for biotechs. With more than 30 years of experience and expertise across 250+ indications, Avance Clinical supports programs from pre-clinical consulting to later-phase trials, backed by deep regulatory, clinical, and operational capability. The company has received multiple Frost & Sullivan CRO Market Leadership and Customer Value Leadership awards.
Find out more:
- Meet our expert team to discuss your Phase I plans
- Book a meeting with us at BIO-Europe Spring
- Learn about the Early Phase Center of Excellence
- Discover the Oncology, CNS and Renal & Cardiometabolic Centers of Excellence
- Request a proposal
For More Information:
media@avancecro.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b259c2ca-a7b5-4b20-9efa-ba8ff48e2962
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the focus of Avance Clinical's Early Phase Center of Excellence?
Avance Clinical's Early Phase Center of Excellence supports biotech sponsors from first-in-human (FIH) through Phase I into Phase II, combining regulatory strategy, scientific leadership, and tailored project delivery.
Who is Liahna Toy and what is her role at Avance Clinical?
Liahna Toy is the Senior Vice President & Head of Early Phase Center of Excellence, responsible for aligning strategy and execution to streamline early development for biotechs.
What advantages does the 'Australian Advantage' offer for clinical trials?
The 'Australian Advantage' provides rapid start-up under the CTN scheme, globally accepted data for FDA and EMA pathways, and cost efficiencies through Australia’s R&D Tax Incentive.
First published on Mon, Mar 23, 2026
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