Contract research organization Clinipace Worldwide has brought on a new executive to its management team as the company continues its push for global growth.

Mark Ubert has joined the Morrisville company as chief financial officer bringing 25 years of experience in finance and accounting leadership roles, including more than 15 years in CFO-level positions in the life sciences and health care. Ubert has worked for CROs before, having held positions at Omnicare and Durham-based Quintiles. For five years, Ubert was CFO of Quintiles Transnational Japan K.K.

“Mark’s appointment comes at a crucial time in the growth and development of our business,” Clinipace CEO Jeff Williams said in a statement. “With four global acquisitions over the past three years and over 450 employees worldwide, it’s important that we continue to build an executive team and management structure that will support our therapeutic, operational, and global expansion goals.”

In other Triangle tech and life sciences moves:

  • Digital advertising company Netsertive named Kevin Fitzgerald to become the Morrisville company’s senior vice president, where he will be responsible for driving the growth and performance of the inside sales and client service teams. Netsertive’s software delivers highly-targeted, local advertising via a number of channels. Fitzgerald brings more than 20 years of experience, most recently from sales effectiveness software company PROS (NYSE:PRO), where he was responsible for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) channel development, sales and client services.
  • Ocera Therapeutics has completed its merger with Durham drug developer Tranzyme. San Diego-based Ocera announced in April that it would merger with Tranzyme in an all- stock deal. Tranzyme, which focused on developing gastrointestinal treatments, stumbled in the last year as its lead drug candidates failed to distance themselves from placebos in clinical trials. Ocera is developing drugs to treat rare liver diseases. Ocera will keep Tranzyme’s Durham presence. The company is now trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol “OCRX”.