PlateletBio Names Derek Adams, Ph.D., as Chief Operating Officer

PlateletBio, a private cell therapy company focused on developing a suite of allogeneic cell therapeutics based on a platform of platelet-like cells (PLCs), today announced that Derek Adams has joined the company as its Chief Operating Officer (COO).

“Derek is an outstanding addition to our executive leadership team, bringing decades of technical, operational and strategic expertise across process development, manufacturing and technical operations in the development and commercialization of complex biologics and gene therapies,” said Sam Rasty, Ph.D., CEO and President of PlateletBio. “Derek’s hands-on experience in building and leading teams in manufacturing biologics and complex products at various stages of drug development will be critical to our success in advancing our novel cell therapy products toward clinical development. In this newly created role, Derek will not only be leading and building our increasingly critical Manufacturing and Technical Operations organization, but also assume additional strategic and operational responsibilities across the company, including leadership of the Program and Alliance Management function.”

Before joining PlateletBio, Dr. Adams spent four years as Chief Technology and Manufacturing Officer at bluebird bio, a leading lentiviral gene therapy company, where he was a member of the bluebird bio leadership team, overseeing pharmaceutical sciences and quality functions: process and analytical development, vector manufacturing, patient operations, global supply chain, quality assurance and quality control. Dr. Adams represented bluebird bio’s manufacturing and supply teams to the press and investors as a pioneer company facing the successes and challenges of gene and cell therapy commercialization. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls at Evelo Biosciences, where he established the process development function and supply chain for clinical studies. For over a decade prior to Evelo, he held senior leadership roles of increasing responsibility in process development and manufacturing at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he led process development, analytical sciences, global technical services and clinical supply within global operations and helped to more than double the size of the clinical manufacturing network. Dr. Adams started his manufacturing career with Merck & Co, Inc. as a Process Engineer for vaccine production technologies. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with High Distinction from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).

“I am thrilled to join PlateletBio at this important stage in the development of its novel PLC platform, with the exciting potential to bring highly innovative cell therapy products to dramatically improve patients’ lives in a wide variety of therapeutic areas with high unmet clinical need,” said Derek Adams. “I have had the opportunity to help multiple organizations rapidly scale product development and manufacturing to successful launch and commercialization. I look forward to joining the accomplished team at PlateletBio as we work together to advance the company to its next phases of growth.”

About PlateletBio

Inspired by the biological function and versatility of platelets, PlateletBio is pioneering the next generation of safer, more effective allogeneic cell therapies. Its cell therapy platform produces “platelet-like cells” (PLCs) from induced human pluripotent stem cells, capable of delivering and expressing a variety of natural and engineered biological functions as allogeneic cell therapies. The company, based in Watertown, Mass., is focused on advancing a diverse pipeline of next-generation cellular therapeutics for applications in autoimmune diseases, hematology, fibrosis and inflammation. Visit www.plateletbio.com for more information.

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