May 8th, 2020 (South San Francisco) Cellares, an organization developing a next-generation cell therapy manufacturing platform today announced the appointment of Mark Flower as Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships. In this role he will drive the acquisition of partners, develop new business opportunities and work with the co-founders to set the vision, priorities, and strategy for the organization. “We look forward to leveraging Mark’s connections and expertise into the manufacturing challenges facing developers of commercial cell therapies to build partnerships, and introduce our game-changing technology to a rapidly growing industry,” said Fabian Gerlinghaus, CEO and Co-Founder of Cellares.
Flower brings more than 15 years of experience working in the field of immuno-oncology, cell-based gene and immunotherapy, cell therapy manufacturing and bioprocessing technologies. Most recently he served as Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships with Be The Match BioTherapies, a cell and gene therapy solutions provider with customizable services to support the end-to-end cell therapy supply chain, and provider of high-quality cellular source material used to manufacture life-saving therapies.
Previously, he served as the Executive Director of Sales and Marketing at Hitachi Chemical Advanced Therapeutics Solutions a global cell therapy CDMO. As Senior Manager, Global Strategic Marketing, in the Therapeutic Systems business unit of Terumo BCT, he successfully launched multiple devices and technologies including stem cell collection via leukapheresis, cell culture, isolation, and cell processing. His relationships extend from commercial cell therapy developers to leading academic and research centers that serve as the clinical trial sites for numerous innovative cell therapies. Flower is a member of the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) and the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). He graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a B.S. in Biological Sciences.