ViroCell Appoints Brian Collins as CFO

Brian’s appointment adds to an experienced leadership team that will drive ViroCell’s growth strategy to become a leading global specialist CDMO in cell and gene therapy

LONDON & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ViroCell Biologics (“ViroCell” or the “Company”), a specialist Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (“CDMO”) in cell and gene therapy clinical trials, announces the appointment of Brian Collins as Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”).

Brian brings a wealth of relevant experience to the Company as it embarks on its next phase of growth, having spent the last four years as CFO of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (“CGT Catapult”), a UK-based organisation supporting companies to develop, deliver and commercialise advanced therapies. As part of his role, Brian was responsible for Finance, HR, IT, Operational Excellence, and Risk and Data Privacy, as the CGT Catapult doubled its turnover in two years and expanded its headcount from 250 to over 400.

Brian’s appointment is the latest in a series of key additions to the team, and follows the recent announcement of John Dawson CBE, previously Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of Oxford Biomedica (LSE: OXB), as Non-Executive Chairman. Brian will join an executive team consisting of Nick Maishman as Chief Operating Officer, and Susan Nichols as Chief Business Officer, in addition to John W Hadden II as CEO and Farzin Farzaneh, PhD as Chief Science Officer, the two co-founders of the business.

Built around one of the most prolific academic viral vector manufacturing teams, ViroCell was created to address the global demand for precisely engineered viral vectors and aims to become the partner of choice for companies developing cell and gene therapies. ViroCell’s state-of-the-art vector manufacturing facility is based within the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children’s (“GOSH”) Zayed Centre for Research (“ZCR”).

John W. Hadden II, CEO at ViroCell, commented, “I am delighted to welcome Brian to the ViroCell team. His direct experience in financial leadership of a cell and gene therapy service business will be invaluable as we unlock ViroCell’s full potential as the partner of choice for cell and gene therapy innovators demanding high specification viral vectors produced to GMP standards.”

Brian Collins, incoming CFO at ViroCell, added, “I’d like to thank John and the team for welcoming me to ViroCell. Operating in a game-changing area of science, ViroCell is already establishing itself as the go-to CDMO for difficult to produce viral vectors.”

Brian is a chartered accountant and experienced executive with significant international manufacturing and B2B service expertise. Prior to the CGT Catapult, Brian was the CFO of Coveris Packaging and before that held numerous financial and operational roles of increasing seniority at companies, including MSX International, HB Fuller and Avery Dennison. Throughout his 30-year career in finance, Brian has built finance operations, led acquisitions, and secured company financings.

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Notes to editor:

ViroCell
www.virocell.com

ViroCell Biologics is an innovation-driven Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (“CDMO”) focused exclusively on the design and GMP manufacture of viral vectors for clinical trials. The team leverages its deep track record to help clients to de-risk and accelerate novel cell and gene therapies into and through clinical development, with a mission of being the partner of choice for corporate and academic innovators in this field. Focused initially on manufacturing lentivirus, gamma-retrovirus, and AAV vectors, ViroCell enables clients to start clinical trials on a scalable platform, delivering value by reducing costs, time and regulatory risk.

ViroCell’s state-of-the-art vector manufacturing facility is based at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children’s (“GOSH”) Zayed Centre for Research (“ZCR”), with ViroCell working in partnership with GOSH to address the global demand for viral vectors.

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