Board Will Accelerate Solutions for Life Sciences
Customers; Includes Experts in Biologic Manufacturing Sciences and
Technology, Chemistry and Gene Therapy
RADNOR,
Pa., Sept. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Avantor,
Inc. (NYSE: AVTR), a leading global provider of mission-critical
products and services for customers in the life sciences and
technology industries, today announced the creation of a new
Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which will provide strategic
guidance and consult on the Company's mid- to long-term research
and development efforts to deliver solutions for the life sciences
industry, including biotech and pharma customers.
The SAB brings deep knowledge and experience in clinical
research, academia, and industry to Avantor, and a passion for
advancing science that improves health and well-being. By bringing
together experts with a track record of working across innovative
modalities, the SAB will enable Avantor to better serve customer
needs as well as emerging opportunities and challenges facing the
life sciences industry.
Ger Brophy, Ph.D. and EVP,
BioPharma Production at Avantor will serve as Chair of the SAB.
Initial members include: Brendan
Hughes, Ph.D., Consultant and Former SVP of Global
Manufacturing at Bristol Myers Squibb; Erik
Sorensen, Ph.D., Arthur Allan Patchett Professor in Organic
Chemistry, Princeton University; and
Johannes van der Loo, Ph.D.,
Director, Clinical Vector Core at the Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia.
"Integral to Avantor's value proposition is our deep technical
expertise and agility in delivering solutions designed for our
customers' needs. Our goal is to support customers at every step of
the scientific journey, and our Scientific Advisory Board will play
a pivotal role in steering and accelerating our innovation
priorities," said Michael
Stubblefield, President and CEO, Avantor. "We are pleased to
have this esteemed group of scientists collaborating with our teams
to set science in motion."
"We are in a golden age of science where the pace of scientific
advancement, potential of new technologies, and opportunities to
improve human health are vast," said Ger
Brophy, EVP, Biopharma Production and Chair of the
Scientific Advisory Board. "Dr. Hughes, Dr. Sorensen, and Dr. van
der Loo are renowned scientists and I look forward to their
partnership to advance our research and development agenda, and to
expanding our Board in the future."
Avantor Scientific Advisory Board Member Bios
Brendan Hughes, Ph.D. has
more than 30 years of leadership roles in the biotech and pharma
industry, including Process Development, Quality and Manufacturing
Operations. Most recently, he was SVP of Global Manufacturing at
Bristol Myers Squibb. Previously, Dr. Hughes held leadership roles
at GSK and Pfizer in the U.S. and Europe in Manufacturing Sciences and
Technology, Process Development and Quality Assurance for a range
of innovative medicines including biologics and vaccines. Earlier
in his career, he was a member of the Biotech Expert group in the
International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements
for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use process, which developed several
foundational Chemistry Manufacturing & Controls regulatory
guidelines for biotech medicines. Dr. Hughes received his Ph.D. in
biochemistry from the National University of
Ireland in Galway, Ireland.
Erik Sorensen, Ph.D. is
the Arthur Allen Patchett Professor in Organic Chemistry at
Princeton University. The Sorensen
laboratory is focused on the field of complex chemical synthesis,
questions about the structural origins of architecturally unique
natural products and evaluating hypotheses about the chemical basis
of the biological activities of natural products and non-natural
molecules. In recognition of his achievements, Dr. Sorensen has
received a Beckman Young
Investigator Award, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the
AstraZeneca Award for Excellence in Chemistry, the Lilly Grantee
Award, the Pfizer Global Research Award for Excellence in Organic
Chemistry, and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Unrestricted Grant in
Synthetic Organic Chemistry. In addition, he has served as a
Woodward Scholar at Harvard University
(2001) and the Givaudan/Karrer Distinguished Visiting Professor at
the University of Zürich (2009). In 2009, he received the Arthur C.
Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society. Dr. Sorensen
obtained his Ph.D. in chemical synthesis from the University of California, San Diego.
Johannes van der Loo,
Ph.D. is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the
University of Pennsylvania, and
Director of the Clinical Vector Core at the Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia (CHOP). His expertise
includes process development and manufacturing of pre-clinical and
GMP-grade adeno-associated virus (AAV) and lentiviral vectors
applicable to early phase clinical trials since 2002. He was
involved in the development, design, commissioning, and
qualification of several cGMP facilities. In 2021, the
manufacturing facility at CHOP received the 2021 Facility of the
Year Honorable Mention Award by the International Society for
Pharmaceutical Engineering. Previously, Dr. van der Loo was a
founder and served as the Director of the Vector Production
Facility at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He
served on the Translational Science and Product Development
Committee of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy
(2016-2022) and Editorial Board of Molecular Therapy – Methods
& Clinical Development, Translational Science (2013-2022).
He continues to serve as a thought leader, scientific advisor, and
consultant in several capacities. Dr. van der Loo obtained his
Ph.D. in cell biology from the Erasmus
University in Rotterdam, The
Netherlands.
About Avantor
Avantor®, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading global
provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in
the life sciences and technology industries. Our portfolio is used
in virtually every stage of the most important research,
development and production activities in the industries we serve.
Our global footprint enables us to serve more than 300,000 customer
locations and gives us extensive access to research laboratories
and scientists in more than 180 countries. We set science in motion
to create a better world. For more information, visit
avantorsciences.com and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter and
Facebook.
Global Media Contact
Emily
Collins
Vice President, External Communications
Avantor
332-239-3910
Emily.Collins@avantorsciences.com
Investor Relations Contact
Christina Jones
Vice President, Investor Relations
Avantor
805-617-5297
Christina.Jones@avantorsciences.com
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