LONDON & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ViroCell Biologics (“ViroCell” or the “Company”), a cell and gene therapy (“CGT”) contract development and manufacturing organization (“CDMO”) specializing in GMP viral vector manufacturing for clinical trials, announces the expansion of the Company’s U.S. business development team with the appointments of Meredith Brown, as Senior Director, and Elaine Rihn as Director of Business Development. Both join from Lonza Inc., a global CDMO, where their roles focused on generating and expanding commercial contracts with clients in CGT manufacturing. Meredith and Elaine will focus on growing ViroCell’s U.S. market share and report to Traci Kyes, ViroCell’s Vice President of Business Development.
John W. Hadden II, CEO at ViroCell, commented: “We are delighted to appoint two highly talented and experienced professionals to further accelerate ViroCell’s strong commercial traction in the vector market. Team ViroCell extends a warm welcome to Meredith and Elaine, who have proven track records of delivering commercial results in cell and gene therapy manufacturing, to bring ViroCell’s unique viral vector design, de-risking, and high titer GMP offering to more innovators across the U.S."
Meredith Brown
Meredith Brown has a wealth of expertise in business development, executive leadership, and venture capital strategy in the biotech industry. Most recently, Meredith was Director of Business Development and Account Management at Lonza, Inc. She facilitated the company’s commercial activities by negotiating contracts for CGT process development and GMP manufacturing across all clinical stages. Before joining Lonza in 2019, Meredith was founder and CEO of Gravitas Biomanufacturing, established to provide specialized manufacturing to early-stage CGT companies requiring clinical grade products. Meredith had also launched another start-up company to provide vectors for cell therapy, gene therapy and DNA vaccines.
Elaine Rihn
Elaine brings over 15 years of CGT commercial development and customer relationship experience to ViroCell, as the Company seeks to capture greater U.S. market share. Elaine was most recently Director of Business Development, Cell and Gene Technology at Lonza Inc., where she focused on technology capabilities in gene, viral and cell therapies, collaborating with potential customers to offer clinical phase service solutions. Prior to this, Elaine worked at Gamida Cell Ltd. as a Director of Commercial Readiness and Supply Chain Operations in the U.S. portfolio from 2020. Before this, Elaine spent 11 years as Senior Program Manager and Global Lead in Cell and Gene Therapy at Lonza Walkersville Inc.
Notes to editor:
ViroCell
ViroCell Biologics is an innovation-driven Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (“CDMO”) focused exclusively on the design, derisking, and GMP manufacture of viral vectors for clinical trials. Built around one of the most prolific academic viral vector manufacturing teams, ViroCell was created to address the global demand for precisely engineered viral vectors. The team leverages its deep track record to help clients to de-risk and accelerate novel cell and gene therapies into and through clinical development, with a mission of being the partner of choice for corporate and academic innovators. Focused initially on manufacturing lentivirus and gamma-retrovirus vectors, ViroCell enables clients to start clinical trials on a scalable platform, delivering value by reducing costs, time and regulatory risk.
