Medical Leadership

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Our bench strength is in our extensive experience and team approach. We strive to facilitate each of our client’s needs through strategy, research, and collaboration.

Albena

Patroneva, M.D., MBA

Medical Director

Dr. Patroneva has over 25 years of experience in CNS drug development, focusing on neurology and psychiatry indications including Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, major depressive disorder, and sleep disorders. Her extensive experience includes early and late-phase protocol design, regulatory submissions, and medical affairs in various roles at AstraZeneca, Neurogene, Harmony Biosciences, Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. 

With hands-on experience in designing and executing clinical trials across all phases and in regulatory submissions and interactions, Dr. Patroneva has led FDA negotiations for over 20 programs, including discussions on clinical endpoints, requirements, NDA submissions, and labeling. She has managed robust neuroscience portfolios with programs including Alzheimer’s, bipolar depression, schizophrenia, and epilepsy. Notably, she contributed to two FDA approvals in Major Depressive Disorder with PRISTIQ and TRINTELLIX, overseeing their successful launches. Additionally, she played a key role in the FDA approval of WAKIX for narcolepsy. 

Dr. Patroneva also has significant experience in rare neurology indications. She led the IND clearance for a gene therapy program in Rett Syndrome, allowing pediatric dosing, and actively managed another program in a pediatric neurodegenerative disease. Her expertise in orphan drug development has been crucial in advancing therapies for rare conditions, including Fragile X, CDKL-5, PCDH-19, and Huntington’s disease. 

Dr. Patroneva is Board certified in Neurology and Epilepsy in Bulgaria and has authored numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals. She earned her M.D. from the Medical Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria, and an MBA in Health Management from Assen Zlatarov University. At CRC, she leverages her extensive expertise to support CNS research and drive innovation in psychiatry and neurology.