Catalent’s Chair and CEO, John Chiminski, to Speak About R&D Leadership Through the Pandemic During BIO Digital
SOMERSET, N.J. – June 4, 2020 — Catalent, the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products, today announced that John Chiminski, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, will join other R&D leaders to present during BIO Digital, which will take place on June 8 – 12, 2020.
On Tuesday, June 9 at 10 a.m. EDT, Mr. Chiminski will participate in the “Endpoints at BIO20” panel session, titled, “R&D Leadership During the Pandemic”. He will join panelists from Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and Takeda to discuss the structures they have put in place at their respective companies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, how they have prioritized new programs, and the ways the experience will influence operations after the pandemic to improve ongoing working practices and efficiency
Mr. Chiminski joined Catalent in 2009 after more than 20 years of experience at GE Healthcare in engineering, operations, and senior leadership roles. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a master’s from Purdue University, both in electrical engineering, as well as a master’s degree in management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
As part of the conference’s scientific agenda, three of Catalent’s biologics experts will present on the company’s innovations and technologies. Graham Brearley, Ph.D., General Manager of Catalent’s biologics facility in Madison, Wisconsin will be joined by Jared Davis, Vice President of Technical Operations and Manufacturing at Arcturus Therapeutics, to present “How COVID-19 is Reshaping Vaccine Development: Innovations in Vaccine Technology and Manufacturing Partnerships,” which will be available on-demand to BIO Digital registrants from June 8. Dr. Brearley and Mr. Davis will discuss the recently announced partnership between the two companies that will enable and expedite scale-up to large-scale manufacturing for Arcturus’ COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate. They will also discuss how lessons learned during the pandemic can be applied to future vaccine development and supply.
During the BioProcess International Theatre, which will also be available on-demand, Julien Meissonnier, Catalent’s Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, will present “Technology Integrators in Cell and Gene Therapy: Powering Innovation” and discuss how optimized methodologies such as Manufacturing by Design (MbD) have achieved accelerated progress through the clinical phases of development.
Additionally, Gregory Bleck, Ph.D., Global Head of R&D, Catalent Biologics, will present “GPEx Boost: A Novel Approach for High-Expressing CHO Cell Line Engineering,” and will explain how improvements to Catalent’s GPEx® cell line development technology can result in highly specific productivities, titers, and improved cell growth characteristics for most protein products.
Dr. Brearley joined Catalent in 2018 and has over 25 years’ technical, operations and business experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, having previously held senior leadership positions at companies including Shire, Sigma-Aldrich and Baxter. He has a bachelor’s degree in applied biology from Thames Polytechnic, U.K. and a doctorate in biochemistry from the Council of National Academic Awards.
Mr. Meissonnier leads the company’s scientific community and its customer advisory partnerships. He is responsible for Catalent’s new product development and technology innovation programs, and co-chairs the Catalent Applied Drug Delivery Institute that leverages emerging new therapeutic modalities. Mr. Meissonnier holds an engineering degree in physico-chemistry from the ENSI in Caen, France.
Dr. Bleck has more than 20 years of experience in biopharmaceutical research and development. He has a bachelor’s degree and doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and performed postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign working in the areas of gene regulation and expression. At Catalent, Dr. Bleck has transferred his knowledge of gene expression and transgenic systems to the development and continued optimization of retrovector expression systems and development of the proprietary GPEx process.
Catalent and GPEx are registered trademarks of Catalent, Inc. or its affiliates or subsidiaries.
ABOUT CATALENT
Catalent is the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products. With over 85 years serving the industry, Catalent has proven expertise in bringing more customer products to market faster, enhancing product performance and ensuring reliable global clinical and commercial product supply. Catalent employs over 13,500 people, including over 2,400 scientists and technicians, at more than 40 facilities, and in fiscal year 2019 generated over $2.5 billion in annual revenue. Catalent is headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.catalent.com