36-37 Your Moves

Abselion has announced the appointment of Dale Gordon as Chair of the Board of Directors.

His appointment strengthens governance and board-level expertise at Abselion, adding experienced commercial and bioprocess leadership as the company builds on the recent establishment of its US subsidiary and continues to develop its global engagement.

Abselion is committed to building a well-governed organisation that can support collaboration and reliable delivery as interest in its Amperia protein quantification system grows internationally.

As Chair, Dale will help to ensure sustainable growth and long-term value creation to meet the needs of academic, biotech and pharma teams working across biologics characterisation, development and manufacturing workflows.

Dale brings more than 30 years' experience across the life sciences sector, with a background spanning bioprocessing, company building and board leadership.

Most recently, he served as CEO of Mirus Bio, a leading provider of transfection technologies widely used in viral vector production, where he led the business through a period of significant growth and strategic development.

He was also CEO at Gemini Bio and held leadership roles at GE Life Sciences (now Cytiva) and Merck Millipore.

Europlaz has appointed the former Morgan Stanley HR professional – Anya Grattidge – to support continued growth and further develop career pathways in manufacturing.

A qualified Executive Coach, Anya brings over 15 years' experience from global finance and high growth scale-ups, including Liberis and Modulr, where she played a key role in a successful Series C fundraise.

She specialises in building people-centred systems that support organisational performance, alongside training and progression frameworks that encourage multiskilling, technical development and leadership capability.

Her appointment follows a strong period of expansion for Europlaz, which has reported a 20% rise in revenue to £15.5m and grown its workforce to 130 people.

"This is a really exciting time to be joining the business," said Anya, who became a Vice President at Morgan Stanley at just 34.

“Europlaz has a fantastic culture, and I’m inspired by what Eddie, Katy and Rory O’Keeffe are building – a medtech company that sets new standards in manufacturing performance, technical innovation and product reliability.”

She added: “As the business has grown, the demands on our people are evolving every day. One of my first priorities is to formalise HR processes and introduce technology that makes simple tasks easier for everyone, such as moving communications and forms from email and paper to a central HR system.”

To support its expansion plans and the increasing needs of new and existing customers, Europlaz is making significant investment in both capacity and capability.

The company will also recruit 10 apprentices and graduates in 2026, as part of a wider effort to build a strong pipeline of future talent.

Poolbeg Pharma has announced the appointment of Dr Adrian Kilcoyne to its Scientific Advisory Board.

Adrian brings over 20 years of clinical expertise with strategic drug development leadership, focusing on innovative therapies that address unmet medical needs in oncology and immunology.

Adrian is currently Chief Medical Officer at Cellectis SA, focusing on the development of allogeneic CAR-T therapies.

He was previously Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research & Development at Celularity Inc, where he advanced oncology-focused allogeneic CAR-T and natural killer cell therapy programmes.

Across his career, he has held senior leadership roles in research & development, medical affairs, commercial strategy, health economics and outcomes research at major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including AstraZeneca, Celgene, Sanofi, Roche and Eli Lilly.

Prof Luke O’Neill, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of Poolbeg Pharma, said: "Adrian brings a wealth of experience in oncology and cell therapy drug development, combined with deep clinical insight and regulatory expertise, which will be invaluable to us as we progress POLB 001 through the TOPICAL trial."

Adrian reflected: "Having seen first-hand both the clinical impact on patients and the economic burden on healthcare systems posed by immunotherapy-related CRS, I believe POLB 001 has the potential to transform the patient experience."

Ardena has announced the appointment of Paul Edwards as Chief People Officer.

He will lead Ardena’s global people strategy, strengthening organisational capability and supporting the company’s continued international growth.

Paul brings over 30 years of human resources leadership experience in complex, science-driven organisations.

He joins Ardena after 16 years at Catalent Pharma Solutions, where he most recently served as Vice President, Human Resources. In that role, he led international HR teams across multiple business units and geographies, shaping people strategies aligned with operational expansion, organisational design and leadership development.

At Ardena, Paul will focus on strengthening leadership capability, building a high-performance culture and ensuring the organisation is structured to support productivity, speed and scalability.

His mandate includes simplifying structures, clarifying accountability and developing the talent and engagement frameworks required to enable efficient execution across the business.

Jeremie Trochu, CEO of Ardena, commented: " As Ardena continues to expand its capabilities and footprint internationally, investing in our people, leadership and culture is essential to delivering for our customers. Paul will play a key role in ensuring our organisation evolves in line with our strategic ambitions."

Paul added: "Ardena has a clear strategy and very strong scientific and technical foundations. I look forward to working with my new colleagues across the organisation to further develop our leadership capability, support talent development and foster a high-performance culture that enables sustainable growth."

Argo Biopharmaceutical has announced the appointment of Gena Wang as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer.

Gena joins Argo Biopharma from Barclays, where she served as Managing Director and senior equity research analyst in the biotechnology sector.

She brings nearly 20 years of Wall Street sell-side experience and is widely recognised for her in-depth research on novel therapies, with a focus on RNA therapies, gene and cell therapies and emerging modalities in rare diseases and oncology.

"We are excited to welcome Dr Wang to our management team," said Dr Dongxu Shu, co-founder of Argo Biopharma. "Her deep knowledge of the genetic medicines landscape, expertise in biotechnology capital markets and her reputation and strong relationships within the financial community and healthcare industry make her an invaluable addition as we continue advancing our pipeline and entering our next phase of growth."

"I am thrilled to join Argo Biopharma at such an important stage of its development," said Gena. “I look forward to partnering with the management team to help Argo Biopharma achieve its long-term goals of delivering transformative therapeutics to patients while creating value for shareholders."

Prior to joining Argo Biopharma, she served as Managing Director and senior research analyst of Small and Mid-Cap Biotechnology at Barclays, where she established and led the therapeutic teams.

Gena has been repeatedly ranked among the top three analysts in Institutional Investor’s All-America Equity Research Team since 2018.

Symbiosis, a contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) specialising in the GMP sterile fill-finish manufacturing of injectable drug products, has announced the appointment of Joanne Anderson as its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

With over 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry, Joanne brings a wealth of international pharmaceutical experience to the role, having most recently served as Global Key Account Director at Recipharm and previously with other global CDMOs.
The strategic appointment is also significant for Anderson, who returns to Symbiosis after six years away to lead its global commercial team.

"Returning to Symbiosis feels very much like coming home," said Joanne. "Having previously been part of the Symbiosis team, it is incredibly rewarding to see the journey the company has been on. I am rejoining at an exciting time for Symbiosis and I am keen to lead the commercial team into new markets and explore new opportunities."

The appointment comes at a time of sustained momentum for the Stirling-based CDMO.

Following a period of significant investment in its manufacturing capacity and the recent successful qualification of its new commercial production facility, Symbiosis is primed to meet the rising global demand for specialised GMP sterile fill-finish manufacturing.

Colin MacKay, CEO of Symbiosis, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Joanne back to the leadership team at such an exciting time for the business. Her intrinsic understanding of our clients' needs, Symbiosis technical capabilities and our commitment to quality, coupled with her extensive global industry network, makes her the ideal leader to spearhead our commercial growth."

He added: "As we look to expand our footprint in North America, Europe and beyond, Joanne’s vision will be instrumental in ensuring Symbiosis remains the partner of choice for innovative drug developers worldwide."

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