February 11, 2021 – South San Francisco – Cellares Corporation, a biotechnology company focused on revolutionizing cell therapy manufacturing, announced the appointment of Rodney Rietze, Ph.D., to the company’s Advisory Board. In this role, Dr. Rietze will provide insights and support to guide further development of Cellares’ next-generation cell therapy manufacturing solution.
Dr. Rietze brings over two decades of technical, operational, and strategic leadership experience in the development of novel cell and gene therapies. He is co-founder and CEO of iVexSol Inc., a viral vector manufacturer that enables the production of stable lentiviral vectors at any scale. Prior to this, Dr. Rietze was the director of strategic development and innovation at Novartis, where he supported the clinical development of several cell and gene therapies, including Kymriah® (tisagenlecleucel), the first FDA-approved CAR-T cell-based gene therapy.
“We are steadfast in our mission to revolutionize cell therapy manufacturing—an audacious cause that continues to attract pioneering minds from across the field,” said Fabian Gerlinghaus, CEO and co-founder of Cellares. “Rod brings a wealth of experience in the advancement of cell therapy with a strong passion for discovering and delivering innovative technologies. We look forward to working with Rod to make our next-generation cell therapy manufacturing solution the platform of choice for researchers and developers around the world.”
Dr. Rietze joins Cellares at a time of rapid expansion, with the recent appointments of Einav Kraft, vice president of quality and Mark Flower, vice president of business development. Additionally, Cellares welcomed Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and PACT Pharma to its Early Access Partnership Program (EAPP).
Cellares’ advisory board currently comprises luminaries in the cell therapy field and experienced business leaders, including Carl June, M.D., professor in immunotherapy, University of Pennsylvania; Tim Moore, president and chief operating officer, PACT Pharma; Megan Suhoski Davis, Ph.D., director, PDL, University of Pennsylvania; and Bruce Cozadd, co-founder and chief executive officer, Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
“While cell therapy continues to make a profound impact on the lives of patients, its use is limited by accessibility challenges due, in part, to manufacturing challenges,” said Dr. Rietze. “This is truly an exciting time to be joining the advisory board of Cellares as the company works to expand access to its innovative Cell Shuttle platform with its early access partners to meet the growing needs of the field.”
About Cellares Corporation
Cellares is creating the future of cell therapy manufacturing and accelerating access to life-saving cell therapies. The company is developing a one-of-a-kind solution to overcome the limitations associated with manufacturing cell therapies that are more affordable and widely available to patients in need. With Cellares’ proprietary platform—The Cell Shuttle—biopharma companies, academic research centers and CDMOs will no longer have to compromise by either choosing a manufacturing platform that is semi-automated but lacks workflow flexibility, or one that provides customization but not the end-to-end automation needed to manufacture at scale. The company is headquartered in South San Francisco, Calif. For more information visit www.cellares.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Kymriah is a registered trademark of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
CONTACTS
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Sylvia Aranda
Pure Communications
saranda@purecommunications.com
For Potential Partners:
Mark Flower
Cellares Corporation
