OKLAHOMA CITY, March 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cytovance® Biologics, a leading biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announces the appointment of Dr. Jesse McCool to Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Yan Wang will step down as Cytovance’s interim CEO while continuing to serve as Director of the Board for Cytovance and CEO of SPL (Waunakee, WI). Dr. McCool will report to Mr. Frank Sun, Execute Director and Vice Chairman of the Board for Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. and Chairman of the Board for Cytovance. In this new appointment, Jesse will lead Cytovance through another phase of the business transformation strategy that began in 2018 under the leadership of Dr. Wang.
Dr. McCool has 20 years of practice in the biotech field and has held various management and technical positions at Lonza Pharma & Biotech and Mascoma Corp., a subsidiary of Lallemand. He joined the site leadership team of Cytovance in 2013 to help position the company for growth and acquisition. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Dr. McCool served as the Chief Technology Officer.
“Jesse has been a driving force of the Sr. Leadership team and has been critical to the business transformation strategy,” said Dr. Yan Wang. “His depth of knowledge of our industry, professional reputation and professional network have helped to propel Cytovance into a leading CDMO that is well recognized for responsiveness, reliability and resourcefulness. In his role as CTO, Jesse was focused on fleshing out the strategy and aligning it with the strategic intent of our parent company. As CEO, he will propel the company even further.”
Mr. Frank Sun said: “We are deeply grateful for Yan’s tremendous contribution to the growth of Cytovance, including cultivating a deep bench of managerial talents led by Jesse. Driven by relentless focus on excellence and innovation, Cytovance is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the booming biotech research and development demand and become a global leader in biologics and gene therapy CDMO services. Jesse and the Cytovance team have the full confidence and support of the entire Hepalink family. We are thrilled about Cytovance’s future.”
“Yan has been a supportive, encouraging and sage mentor to the entire Sr. Management team,” stated Dr. McCool. “He led our company through a period of rapid growth and change. The future of Cytovance is bright and I’m honored to be here. In the short-term, while facing these extraordinary times, we will remain hyper-focused on protecting our employees from the pandemic. But we are managing, by leveraging the incredible work ethic and commitment of our employees to safely navigate the situation and still support our customers. Soon, I am confident that we will be able to take big steps towards the true potential of our company.”
Dr. McCool holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and completed his postdoctoral studies at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Dr. McCool has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and presented throughout his career at many scientific and industry conferences.
About Cytovance Biologics
Cytovance® Biologics is a leading biopharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) that excels in the rapid and cost-effective development and manufacture of large molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from both mammalian cell culture and microbial fermentation such as monoclonal antibodies, fragment antibodies, bispecifics, enzymes, fusion proteins, vaccines and other biological products including plasmid DNA and cell-based therapeutics. In addition to our clinical and commercial cGMP API manufacturing services, Cytovance offers well-integrated development services supporting the entire product lifecycle including cell line development, cell banking, microbial strain development, process and analytical development, and process characterization. A centralized, responsive program management team coordinates all critical chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) activities for each client program around raw materials management, QC testing, ICH stability studies, and regulatory support. Our 140,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facilities in Oklahoma City are designed to meet U.S., EU, and other global regulatory standards.
Cytovance® offers deep industry expertise and unique customized services for the scale-up and CGMP manufacture of protein-based therapeutics; from early-stage pre-clinical development to commercial production, for both mammalian and microbial. Further information can be found at www.cytovance.com.
Media Contact:
Jodie Gutkowski
Tel: 405-319-8309
E-mail: jgutkowski@cytovance.com