Ginko Bioworks, Inizio and Neuway Pharma are among the companies welcoming new faces to top jobs.
Ginko Bioworks, Inizio and Neuway Pharma are among the companies welcoming new faces to top jobs.
Ginkgo Bioworks welcomes Behzad Mahdavi, Ph.D., MBA, as its senior vice president of biopharma manufacturing and life sciences tools.
In this new role, Dr. Mahdavi will lead Ginkgo's commercial efforts in the growing areas of bio-reagents, cell and gene therapies and new biopharmaceutical modalities. Dr. Mahdavi brings more than 20 years of experience in developing and leading innovative patient-centric growth strategies in challenging environments in the biopharmaceutical, cell and gene therapy, personalized medicine and life sciences sectors.
Prior to joining Ginkgo, Dr. Mahdavi most recently served as vice president of global open innovation at Catalent Pharma Solutions, where he created a distinctive portfolio of innovative services and expanded its customer base in new market segments. Prior to his work at Catalent, he held numerous leadership positions during his 13 years at Lonza and served as CEO of SAM Electron Technologies.
In addition to his company leadership roles, he has also served in multiple Board of Directors and Advisory Board roles. Dr. Mahdavi holds a Doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, and also has a Master in Business Administration from the University of Quebec in Montreal.
ViroCell Biologics has appointed Susan B. Nichols to its senior management team as its Chief Business Officer.
The London-headquartered CDMO is addressing the global viral vector supply/demand imbalance that constrains the timely manufacture of novel cell and gene therapies. It focuses exclusively on the design and GMP manufacture of viral vectors and gene modified cells for clinical trials.
“ViroCell aims to be the global viral vector supplier of choice for the translational development phase of novel cell and gene therapies,” says the company. “The appointment of Susan as CBO is a significant milestone in ViroCell’s continuing operational development as a future leader in the clinical trial CDMO market and her appointment brings with it, Susan’s passion to assist clients in accelerating their innovative product candidates into and through clinical trials.”
Nichols has a distinguished track record as an executive and business development professional and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (“ARM”), the leading international advocacy organization dedicated to realizing the promise of regenerative medicines and advanced therapies. She is also Co-Chair of its Accelerator Committee and Co-Chair of ARM’s Womens’ Executive Forum.
Most recently, Nichols was an executive officer at Propel BioSciences, Cary N.C. as part of the Entrepreneurial Consulting Team, supporting the business development and funding needs of early-stage biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to that, she was CEO of Falcon Therapeutics, Durham N.C., an early-stage gene modified cell therapy company focused on solid tumors. She joined Falcon in 2018 to apply her manufacturing, operational and fundraising experience to take a promising academic candidate to clinical trial readiness.
bluebird bio has commenced a search for a new CFO as Jason Cole, chief strategy and financial officer, leaves to pursue new career opportunities.
Throughout his 8.5 years at bluebird, Cole has held multiple roles including General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer (2014-2019), Chief Operating & Legal Officer (2019-2021) and Chief Business Officer (2021-2022).
“Throughout his tenure, Cole helped guide bluebird’s evolution from a small clinical stage biotech to a commercial company and has helped bluebird navigate periods of tremendous change,” notes the company.
In March this year, Cole was appointed Chief Strategy and Financial Officer at a critical juncture for the company. He led changes to stabilize the Company’s financial position and strengthen its balance sheet. Since that time, he has also served as Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer.
Over the coming weeks, Cole will transition finance responsibilities to Katherine Breedis, an experienced business and financial executive from Danforth Advisors, who will serve as interim CFO. Meanwhile, bluebird has initiated an external search for its next CFO, with a focus on experience with commercial stage companies. Cole’s management responsibilities for strategy, external affairs and operations will be transitioned to Andrew Obenshain.
Cole’s last day with bluebird bio will be on October 14; although he will continue to consult on corporate strategy through April 2023.
Inizio Biotech, a business unit of Inizio offering biotech services from clinical development to commercialization, has appointed Jay Janus as Senior Account Director.
In his role, Jay will act as the primary point of contact for emerging biotech partners, providing strategic guidance and connecting them with the knowledge and expertise of the wider Inizio network at the right moments in their development journey.
He has extensive experience in consulting early phase companies in the clinical trial space with a vast array of experience in medical writing, biostatistics, clinical trial design and data management.
Inizio Biotech offers biotech services across Advisory, Medical, MarComms and Engagement.
Neuway, a biotech specializing in the delivery of mRNA and other biotherapeutic drug molecules to the CNS and other tissues via its proprietary EnPC drug-delivery technology, has announced two new appointments in its senior leadership team.
Dr Oliver Ernst, formerly Neuway’s Chief Operating Officer, has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer, and Dr Thomas Christoph has been appointed as new Chief Development Officer.
Dr Ernst, who joined Neuway in 2019 as Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director, will now lead the company as CEO. Ernst steps up to the role at a time where the company is ‘rapidly generating highly promising data, advancing our EnPC development program and entering into new partnerships’.
Neuway co-founder Dr. Heiko Manninga will continue to serve in his existing role as Chief Scientific Officer and Managing Director.
Meanwhile, Dr Christoph brings with him his experience a board certified pharmacologist with more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, led pharmacology and preclinical development teams at German pharmaceutical company Gruenenthal for many years. He has most recently served as a consultant for several biotech companies specializing in translational pharmacology.
American Gene Technologies, a clinical stage biotech based in Rockville, Maryland, has promoted Barry H. Wells, M.D. as head of business development.
American Gene Technologies is a gene therapy company with a proprietary gene-delivery platform for rapid development of gene therapies to cure infectious diseases, cancers, and inherited disorders. Dr. Wells joined the company’s investor relations team in 2019.
After nearly four decades as a urologist and surgeon treating patients suffering from perirenal abscess, kidney stones, urinary tract infection and other urological issues, he has broadened his scope to help American Gene Technologies in its mission to use the power of gene therapy to relieve human suffering from serious diseases.
In addition to medicine, Dr. Wells has also long been interested in business and technology. He formed two small-business ventures and has raised funds for New Sapience, an AI company in its early stage of growth.
Dr. Wells earned his bachelor of arts degree in 1977 at the University of Kansas, where his academic achievement led to his election to Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from the Kansas University School of Medicine with his M.D. in 1983. He completed a residency in urologic surgery at University of Maryland Medical Center from 1983 to 1988.