Josh Fohey

Chief Operating Officer Simulations Plus

Last Reviewed: September 29, 2026

Executive Summary

Josh Fohey is Chief Operating Officer of Simulations Plus, the Nasdaq-listed provider of modeling and simulation software and consulting services used in drug discovery, development and clinical pharmacology. He leads the company’s service operations, software operations and quality management system teams, a remit that sits between its scientific consulting groups and its software products such as GastroPlus and MonolixSuite. An internal appointment, he joined in 2019 as Director of Operations and was named COO in May 2025, bringing a background that began at the bench as a pharmacokinetic scientist and ran through 14 years at the contract research organisation Covance. The company agreed in June 2026 to be acquired by an affiliate of the investment firm Altaris; shareholders approved the deal in August 2026 and closing was still pending at last review.

Career Highlights

• Appointed Chief Operating Officer of Simulations Plus on 30 May 2025, reporting to Chief Executive Officer Shawn O’Connor, as disclosed in the company’s Form 8-K.
• Named Senior Vice President, Operations in January 2024, with leadership across all business units for services operations, product operations and quality management.
• Joined Simulations Plus in March 2019 as Director of Operations and was promoted to Vice President, Operations in 2020; he also served as Vice President of Business Development before his 2024 move.
• Spent 14 years at Covance in operational, scientific and business development roles before joining Simulations Plus.
• Holds a degree in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Professional Journey

Fohey studied biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and went into pharmaceutical development. The company’s account of his career describes a progression through the main functions of drug development services: pharmacokinetic scientist, project manager, business development director, and scientific and operational leadership, across programmes from early discovery to early clinical development. Most of that took place at Covance, the contract research organisation, where he spent 14 years in operational, scientific and business development roles.

He joined Simulations Plus in March 2019 as Director of Operations. The company, founded in California in 1996, builds software that predicts how drug candidates behave in the body, and sells consulting services built on those models to pharmaceutical and biotech sponsors. He was promoted to Vice President, Operations in 2020 and later held the title of Vice President of Business Development. In January 2024, as part of a reorganisation of the leadership team, he became Senior Vice President, Operations, with responsibility across all business units for client-facing services operations, product operations and quality management.

On 30 May 2025 the board made him Chief Operating Officer, one of several changes that day. The previous holder of an operating title, Will Frederick, had been Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer; Frederick became Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Fohey took the COO role, reporting directly to the CEO. He entered a formal employment agreement as COO in December 2025 and appears among the company’s executive officers in its December 2025 proxy statement. The company describes his focus as aligning customers’ short-term objectives and long-term research goals with the right scientific consulting resources and software development strategies.

In June 2026 Simulations Plus agreed to be acquired for $18.50 per share in cash by an affiliate of Altaris, LLC, the New York investment firm. The antitrust waiting period expired in August and shareholders approved the merger on 27 August 2026; the company expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to remaining conditions including regulatory approvals in France.

Education

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Biochemistry