Novartis, Rentschler Biopharma and BioAgilytix are among the companies welcoming new faces to top roles.
Novartis, Rentschler Biopharma and BioAgilytix are among the companies welcoming new faces to top roles.
BioIVT, a global provider of biospecimens, cell & gene therapy related products, and research models and services for drug development purposes, has promoted Richard Haigh, PhD, to Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Dr. Haigh joined BioIVT in May 2022 as Chief Operating Officer and brings over 27 years’ experience in the life science research and diagnostics space covering products, consumables, and services, including over 15 years with Thermo Fisher Scientific/Life Technologies.
Former CEO Jeff Gatz has retired from day-to-day involvement with BioIVT but will continue to support the company as an advisor focused on M&A and business development activities. Over the last 26 years, Gatz has successfully led and grown the business from a small family operation to a global enterprise employing over 500 people and serving thousands of pharma, biotech, CRO and diagnostic customers worldwide.
CDMO Rentschler Biopharma has appointed Mark Caswell as Vice President, Site Head at the company’s US operations.
Caswell joined the company July 2022 and is managing all operations at the company’s US facilities in Milford, MA, including the completion of the new state-of-the-art Rentschler Biopharma Manufacturing Center (RBMC) adjacent to the existing site.
Caswell has more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Rentschler Biopharma, he worked for over six years at Lonza Biologicals, most recently as Head of Operations at the Portsmouth, NH site. At Lonza, he supported the design, construction, start up and transition to operations of a facility based on single-use technology, including responsibility for the entire site operations of nearly 1,400 people as the interim Site Head.
Before that, he worked for many years at Sanofi Genzyme (previously Genzyme) in positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as Director, Global Engineering and Technology. While there, he led the transformation of a local engineering organization into a global center of excellence for operational, technical and reliability engineering and maintenance.
At Rentschler, part of Caswell’s new role will be overseeing the completion of the state-of-the-art RBMC facility: the largest expansion in Rentschler Biopharma’s 150-year history.
Laupheim, Germany headquartered Rentschler Biopharma has had a US footprint since 2019, acquiring a manufacturing facility in Milford, MA. Since then, the company has expanded capacity and gained certification as a multi-product site, and, in the summer of 2021, broke ground for the RBMC that will double the company’s commercial manufacturing capacity.
The RBMC is adjacent to the current site and will add 22,000 square feet of manufacturing cleanroom space and house four new 2,000 L single-use bioreactors, in addition to being highly automated and leveraging industry 4.0 solutions.
Part of Caswell’s new role will be to oversee the completion of this facility: the largest expansion in the company’s 150-year history.
With the appointment of Mark Caswell and Rentschler Biopharma’s growth in the US, the company has implemented changes to its governance structure. The responsibilities of Dr. Martin Kessler in his role as CEO of Rentschler Biopharma Inc. have been transferred to Mark Caswell.
BioAgilytix Labs, a CRO supporting pharmaceutical and biotech partners in all phases of drug development, has announced the appointment of Dr. Linda Robbie as Chief Operating Officer.
For the past three years, Dr. Robbie has served as Vice President and General Manager of Boston operations, responsible for leading all Bioanalytical Services at BioAgilytix’s Boston, MA Laboratory. During this time, she directed all initiatives relating to science, technology, and laboratory operations.
Dr. Robbie has more than 25 years of experience with biomarker assay technologies, including 20 years of experience in scientific leadership positions. She was previously Senior Vice President of Science and Laboratory Operations at Cambridge Biomedical and joined BioAgilytix’s leadership team when the company was acquired in November 2019. She has also held senior roles with Quintiles and Immucor.
Dr. Robbie replaces Dr. Michael, who will be leaving the company at the end of the month.
With laboratory locations in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park; Cambridge, Massachusetts; San Diego, California; Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia and Hamburg, Germany, BioAgilytix provides PK, immunogenicity, biomarkers, and cell-based assay services supporting the development and release testing of therapeutics across several industries and disease states. It offers assay development, validation, and sample analysis under non-GLP, GLP, and GCP, as well as GMP quality control testing (i.e., product release testing, stability testing, etc.) BioAgilytix also offers diagnostic testing services at its CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited Boston laboratory.
Kriya Therapeutics, a gene therapy company advancing a broad portfolio of therapeutics, has appointed Curt Herberts, M.B.S., as President and Chief Operating Officer.
Herberts will oversee all general and administrative functions at Kriya.
Herberts joins Kriya from Senti Biosciences, Inc., where he was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer from 2018 to 2021, and Chief Operating Officer from 2021 to 2022. Prior to joining Senti, Herberts held various positions at Sangamo Therapeutics including as the company’s Chief Business Officer, as well as at Campbell Alliance Group, a leading management consulting firm specializing in the life science industry. Herberts earned his B.A. from Stanford University in human biology, and his Master of Business and Science from the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences.
With core operations in Silicon Valley, California and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Kriya is a fully integrated company pioneering novel technologies and therapeutics in gene therapy. The company aims to revolutionize how gene therapies are designed, developed, and manufactured, improving speed to market and delivering significant reductions in cost. The company’s current pipeline includes programs in ophthalmology, oncology, rare disease, and chronic disease.
The Center for Breakthrough Medicines (CBM) has appointed Mandy Conver as Senior Vice President (SVP) of Business Development for Testing & Analytics, and Jennifer Manning as SVP of Global Strategic Partnerships.
Mandy Conver (above) will tap into her 20-plus years of diverse experience in the biotechnology and BioPharma industries to strategically lead all organic and new business development opportunities for CBM's Testing & Analytics division. She will be responsible for leading and directing a team of highly technical Business Development professionals to repeated success while driving revenue growth.
Most recently, Conver led the successful launch of QIAGEN's QIAcuity Digital PCR portfolio in North America, where she oversaw market strategy and commercial activities, including creation of a specialized commercial team and customized training for a large-matrix sales organization. Additionally, she also negotiated strategic alliances and heavily influenced portfolio evolution that led to QIAGEN achieving widespread adoption of the platform throughout the cell and gene therapy field.
Conver earned her bachelor's in chemistry from The George Washington University.
With more than 25 years of bioprocessing and cell and gene therapy experience, Jennifer Manning (right) will negotiate, develop and lead strategic partnerships with academic institutions, private equity and venture capital firms, and large pharma in her new role as SVP of Global Strategic Partnerships at CBM.
Additionally, she will help set the strategy for growing CBM revenue, establish senior-level relationships with partners, and build a team of Strategic Account Directors ensuring CBM partners have access to its technologies and services, while focusing on establishing and nurturing thoughtful, long-term collaborations.
Most recently, Manning built and led the North American Advanced Therapy Commercial Development Team at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, where she was responsible for the growth of the viral vector, recombinant vaccine, and oncolytic virus businesses. Previous roles and responsibilities include advancing global capabilities for industry leading CDMOs such as Lonza, DSM Biologics, Alcami Corporation, and Patheon and helping to build and lead the sales training department at Human Genome Sciences for the successful launch of BENLYSTA.
Manning earned her bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Clemson University and a Master of Public Administration, Health Policy and Management from New York University.
Based in Philadelphia's Cellicon Valley. CBM offers pre-clinical through commercial manufacturing capabilities including process development, plasmid DNA, viral vector manufacturing, cell banking, cell processing, and a full suite of complementary testing and analytical capabilities.
Novartis' James (Jay) E. Bradner, M.D. will step down from the Executive Committee of Novartis (ECN), effective October 31, after seven years leading research at Novartis as President of the NIBR.
Fiona H. Marshall, Ph.D., currently Senior Vice President and Global Head of Discovery Sciences, Preclinical Development and Translational Medicine at MSD (Merck & Co., Inc in USA), will take on the role of NIBR president, effective November 1st, 2022, also becoming a member of the ECN.
As a biomedical scientist, Marshall brings with her three decades of leading drug discovery and early development across large biopharma, biotech and academia.
Prior to joining Merck in 2018, Dr. Marshall was a Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Heptares Therapeutics, a successful UK Biotech company focused on structure-based drug design that was subsequently acquired by the Japanese biotech company Sosei, where she continued to serve as Chief Scientific Officer. Earlier in her career, Dr. Marshall was Director of Molecular Pharmacology at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and spent 10 years at GSK, holding senior positions in Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience.
She holds a BSc in Biochemistry from University of Bath (UK) and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from University of Cambridge (UK).
Dr. Marshall is the recipient of the 2012 WISE Women of Outstanding Achievement for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award, and the 2015 RSC Malcolm Campbell Award for chemistry and the Vane Medal from the British Pharmacological Society. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, Honorary Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
