Brussels, Belgium, September 12, 2017 – Univercells SA, a technology company dedicated to delivering innovative and cost-effective biomanufacturing solutions, today announces the appointment of Douglas Neugold as chairman of its board of directors.
Mr. Neugold has extensive industry experience in various areas, with more than 30 years as a successful executive and manager in global technology companies, most recently as chairman and CEO of NASDAQ traded ATMI. Prior to that he was an executive at Johnson Matthey, helping to build their global electronic and specialty materials business.
While at ATMI Inc, Mr. Neugold built and led the organization to a global leadership position as the key supplier of sophisticated materials and delivery systems used in the manufacture of leading edge computer chips and displays, with over 700 employees and facilities throughout the US, Asia and Europe. As the electronics industry matured, Mr. Neugold led the company into other high growth technology intensive industries, most notably single-use systems for bioprocessing.
As CEO of ATMI, Mr. Neugold partnered with Univercells’ founders Hugues Bultot and José Castillo to fund and help strategically develop their previous biotech start-up, Artelis. ATMI eventually acquired the company, expanding its single-use products portfolio, and was acquired by Pall in May of 2014, helping to achieve global large-scale commercialization of the technology developed at Artelis. Pall was subsequently acquired by Danaher.
Neugold’s appointment brings a wealth of relevant experience to Univercells, which he will leverage to provide insight and guidance on its long-term strategic development plan, notably the development of Univercells’ US-based activities. Univercells will benefit from Mr. Neugold’s deep understanding of the biopharmaceutical sector and players to build long-lasting relationships with the US federal agencies and initiate strategic industrial and institutional partnerships.
“I have been following the growth and evolution of Univercells from the beginning, serving as a strategic advisor. I am proud and excited to take a more active role in helping drive its further development and achieve its objectives, which I see as making significant contributions to improving global health, most especially in emerging markets” said Mr. Neugold.
“We are very pleased to welcome Mr. Neugold to our board. He is very well known for his entrepreneurial mindset, his dynamic skills, his strategic insight and his ability to grow small to medium-size businesses into large corporations,” said Hugues Bultot, CEO of Univercells. “His tremendous experience and deep understanding of Univercells’ technology and mission make him ideally suited to lead our board of directors and create new opportunities that support our vision for Univercells’ future.”
About Univercells
Univercells is a technology company offering novel biomanufacturing platforms, aimed at increasing the availability and affordability of biologics – recombinant proteins and vaccines - for all. Univercells designs innovative production processes to significantly decrease the size of the necessary equipment and facility, for a lower capital and operational cost. The company’s process intensification and integration technology entails smaller footprint and unit cost while offering flexible capabilities, from small to large batches.
Deployment of affordable production units enables ‘in-country, for-country’ biologics production, creating value for manufacturers and healthcare systems with cost efficiency and local supply while increasing patients’ access to healthcare.
Univercells was founded in 2013 by experienced entrepreneurs Hugues Bultot, CEO, and José Castillo, CTO, who bring close to 25 years of expertise in the biotechnology and life sciences sectors. Headquartered in Gosselies (Belgium), Univercells benefits from support from the Walloon region, and received €3 million from Takeda in 2015. Most recently, the company was awarded a $12 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
