SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xcell Biosciences Inc. (Xcellbio), an automation and instrumentation company focused on cell therapy manufacturing, today announced the appointment of Shannon Eaker, Ph.D., as its Chief Technology Officer. A veteran of the cell and gene therapy industry, Dr. Eaker will be responsible for driving Xcellbio’s instrument and software development strategy and the commercial delivery of its innovative commercial platforms.
“We are pleased to welcome Shannon to the Xcellbio team. His decades of experience in cell and gene therapy research, product development and commercialization at leading life sciences companies will be invaluable as we work towards expanding our portfolio of offerings and the commercial launch of our KALI Cell Foundry,” said Brian Feth, CEO of Xcellbio. “Shannon’s expertise in cell and gene therapy manufacturing will be especially useful as we seek to deepen our collaborations with biopharmaceutical companies developing these potentially lifesaving therapies.”
Dr. Eaker earned his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology. His expertise has been primarily focused on T-cell, hematopoietic stem cell (HSC), and undifferentiated embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell biology. He joins Xcellbio from Cytiva (formerly GE Healthcare) Cell and Gene Therapy where he spent more than 11 years. He is a member of the International Society for Cell Therapy (ISCT) Process Development and Manufacturing (PDM) committee and has authored numerous papers within the field of cell and gene therapy and regenerative medicine.
“Xcellbio has made incredible progress in delivering robust, high-value cell and gene therapy development technologies to labs around the world,” said Dr. Eaker. “I am excited to join the team at this exciting time of growth and as we prepare to introduce a truly novel new platform with unique capabilities to support the development of cell therapy products with improved potency and persistence as well as reduced cell exhaustion, mimicking the patient Tumor Microenvironment (TME).”
About Xcellbio
Xcellbio is a venture-backed company driven by its mission to enhance the performance and safety of cell and gene-based therapies through the design and development of revolutionary technology platforms. The company’s commercial instruments and AI-driven software allow researchers to discover novel insights into immune and tumor biology and enable the translation of these insights at patient scale through the development of its pioneering cell therapy manufacturing platform. Based in San Francisco, Xcellbio can also be found online at www.xcellbio.com.
