SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain, Oct. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Viralgen Vector Core (Viralgen) is pleased to welcome back their previous Executive Vice President of Commercial Development and Manufacturing, Andy Holt, into the newly created position of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). In this role, Holt will lead Viralgen’s commercial strategy towards achieving market-leading growth and customer centric solutions in gene therapy manufacturing.
Holt brings more than 15 years of experience in cell and gene therapy into his new role. His most recent position was CCO of Ncardia and Cellistic, affiliated companies leveraging deep experience in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to accelerate drug discovery and allogeneic cell therapy development. Prior to his first role with Viralgen, Holt held business development and management positions at MilliporeSigma (Merck KGaA) and Lonza.
“Viralgen has always worked hard to place the customer at the center of its business,” said Jimmy Vanhove, CEO of Viralgen, “and having Andy return to the team to lead an evolving commercial organization, which includes Business Development, Marketing, and Project Management, is an exciting next step for us as we continue to fulfill our mission of producing revolutionary medicines on behalf of the customers and patients we serve.”
“It’s a privilege to return to Viralgen at an exciting time in our growth”, says Holt. “We believe our team and capabilities lead the industry in meeting the manufacturing needs of gene therapy developers for uncompromising quality, agility, and cost effectiveness. Continuing to innovate, both in business and science, will enable us to remain a partner of choice, and this is an incredible opportunity that I am looking forward to supporting.”
About Viralgen Vector Core Viralgen is a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) founded in 2017 and exists as an independently operated subsidiary of AskBio, which is wholly owned and independently operated as a subsidiary of Bayer AG. As a leading manufacturer of cGMP certified AAV, Viralgen offers the Pro10™ based suspension manufacturing platform, a technology licensed from AskBio and developed by Chief Technical Officer Josh Grieger, PhD, and co-founder R. Jude Samulski, PhD, at University of North Carolina. It has been demonstrated that Pro10™ increases scalability, performance, and yield of AAV therapies1 at Viralgen and previous partners of AskBio. Located in Spain, in the Gipuzkoa Science and Technology Park, Viralgen produces AAV gene therapy treatments for pharmaceutical and biotech companies with the aim of accelerating the delivery of new treatments that can improve patients’ lives
The company’s clinical facilities have four cGMP manufacturing suites, with 250-liter and 500-liter bioreactors. In 2020, Viralgen expanded within the Scientific Park by constructing a new building for large-scale commercial manufacturing. The new state-of-the-art space includes three additional cGMP suites with a manufacturing capacity of >2,000 liters each, as well as a suite dedicated to fully automated fill and finish operations. The new facility has received the cGMP certification by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS) as part of the EMA network. F
