Ins and Outs: Top-level additions at Repligen, ViroCell, Fujifilm, and Aldevron

Repligen and Aldevron appoint new presidents; ViroCell makes additions amongst its top echelon; Fujifilm hires a quality officer. Welcome to this week’s roundup brought to you by BioProcess Insider. 

Repligen 

Repligen, announced the appointment of Olivier Loeillot as president and COO of the company, focused on the development and production of materials used in the manufacture of biological drugs.

Olivier Loeillot

With 20+ years of experience, Olivier previously served as the bioprocess president at Cytiva between 2018 and 2022.  

CEO at Repligen, Tony Hunt said, “We are delighted to welcome Olivier to our team at Repligen. His proven management and leadership experience in global bioprocessing markets strengthens our executive team and will enable us to reach the next level of growth for the company, as we expand our market footprint and execute on commercial and business strategies.”  

“I am excited to join Repligen, which has quickly become the innovation leader in bioprocessing. I look forward to applying my commercial and global business experience to the company, working closely with Tony and the rest of the executive team, to continue Repligen’s successful growth and to advance Repligen to the next stage of its development,” said Olivier. 

The transition will be effective immediately. 

ViroCell 

Traci Kyes

ViroCell Biologics, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) dealing in viral vectors and gene-modified cells, announced the appointment of Traci Kyes as vice president US and Makis Sigalas as senior director Europe.  

Traci and Makis bring in extensive business development expertise in the hopes of accelerating the company’s aspiration of dominating the viral vector industry in the US and Europe. 

Previously, Traci served as the director of Global Business Development within the Viral Vector Service team at Thermo Fisher Scientific, which provides viral vector CDMO services for cell and gene therapies.  

Makis Sigalas

With over 25 years of experience in innovative biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals, Makis will join ViroCell from Catalent Cell and Gene Therapy, and has been a founding member of Omnigen Biotechnologies and Theracell Advanced Biotechnologies. 

Earlier this year, other key additions to the organization included Brian Collins from Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult as CFO and John Dawson as non-executive chairman. 

Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies 

Maja Pedersen

Fellow CDMO Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies has appointed Maja Pedersen as chief quality officer, effective immediately. She will serve as a member of the executive leadership team, leading the company’s global quality team. 

A veteran executive with 20 years of leadership experience in the life sciences and biopharma, Pedersen returns to Fujifilm from Biogen where she served as the global head of external manufacturing. 

The new appointment emphasizes the company’s unwavering commitment to quality.  

“I am thrilled to be joining Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies again and becoming an integral part of leading our teams to develop and embed a transformational quality culture,” said Pedersen.  

Aldevron 

Jennifer Meade takes over as president of Aldevron, as part of a planned leadership transition, replacing Kevin Ballinger, who led the organization for three years. 

Meade joined the CDMO in October 2022 as general manager, Nucleic Acids, and has actively led the strategic initiatives including expanding the company’s commercial footprint to better serve the market. 

Previously having served as president of the Breast & Skeletal Health Solutions division of Hologic, Meade stated, “It is an honor and privilege to lead the Aldevron team at this pivotal time. Aldevron is a key partner to clients working to bring life-changing therapies to countless patients whose lives depend on biotechnology breakthroughs. Genomic medicines play a vital role in helping solve the world’s biggest health challenges, and I look forward to growing our capabilities and capacity to serve.”