Cellares Appoints Ossama Eissa, Former Novartis, Lonza and Legend Biopharma Leader, as Chief Operating Officer

November 12, 2024 at 08:00 AM EST

Appointment positions Cellares to scale globally, deliver on existing commercial contracts, and meet rapidly growing customer demand
Eissa brings 20+ years of biopharma leadership experience to Cellares, particularly as the site head for commercial-scale manufacturing of two FDA-approved CAR-T cell therapies, Carvykti® at Legend Biotech and Kymriah® at Novartis
Eissa’s experience will support the expansion of Cellares IDMO Smart Factories in the United States, Europe, Japan, and other international markets

Cellares, the world’s first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO), and a leader in automated cell therapy manufacturing, has appointed Ossama Eissa, former executive at Novartis, Lonza Biologics, and Legend Biotech, as Chief Operating Officer (COO). This appointment strengthens the Cellares leadership team in a time of rapid global expansion of the company’s IDMO manufacturing services, in response to the growing global demand for cell therapy manufacturing capacity. By leveraging its advanced automated manufacturing platforms, the Cell Shuttle™ and Cell Q™, Cellares will enable cell therapy developers to meet the total global patient demand for their cell therapies.

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Eissa brings more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing. As Vice President and General Manager at Legend Biotech, he led the Raritan, NJ production site through the global launch of Carvykti^®, a CAR-T cell therapy. At Lonza Biologics, Eissa managed Global Strategic Projects, contributing significantly to the Cell and Gene Technologies Business Unit by boosting manufacturing efficiency and driving commercial scale-up. He also oversaw U.S. manufacturing operations at Novartis, scaling production and supporting regulatory approval for Kymriah^®, the first FDA-approved CAR-T cell therapy.

Eissa's expertise in navigating high-growth operations and regulatory complexities is key for Cellares as it scales its Smart Factories to meet the accelerating demand for its manufacturing services, as new cell therapies and new indications move toward regulatory approval. This growth in demand is driven by the pressing need to increase manufacturing capacity, ensuring that all eligible patients suffering from oncological and autoimmune disorders can access cell therapies.

“Joining Cellares is an opportunity to address one of the biggest challenges in healthcare today: making cell therapies accessible to all of those who need them,” said Eissa. “The mission aligns closely with my experience in scaling complex manufacturing systems to benefit patients directly. I've witnessed the profound impact these treatments have, and I'm committed to ensuring that we reach more patients, especially those facing cancer and autoimmune diseases, with the reliability and speed they deserve.”

“The Venn diagram of general managers who have led two commercial-scale sites for two of the six FDA-approved CAR-Ts on the market and happen to live within commuting distance of Cellares’ Bridgewater IDMO Smart Factory is exactly one person. We’re very proud to have Ossama join the C-Suite at Cellares,” said Fabian Gerlinghaus, Co-founder and CEO of Cellares. “The bottleneck in cell therapy manufacturing has already cost many patient lives. With Ossama's leadership, we are scaling worldwide production while redefining how cell therapies are made — faster, more reliably, and at scale — to meet the total patient demand for these life-saving therapies globally.”

Eissa's extensive experience will support the expansion of Cellares' Smart Factory network in the United States, Europe, Japan and other international markets, addressing the challenges of scalability, cost, and quality that have long hindered patient access. Through these advancements, Cellares will work to ensure that life-saving treatments are accessible for oncology and autoimmune patients globally.

About Cellares

Cellares is the first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) and takes an Industry 4.0 approach to mass manufacturing the living drugs of the 21st century. The company is developing and operating integrated technologies for cell therapy manufacturing to accelerate access to life-saving cell therapies. The company’s Cell Shuttle™ integrates all the technologies required for the entire manufacturing process in a flexible and high-throughput platform that delivers true walk-away, end-to-end automation. While the Cell Shuttle™ automates cell therapy manufacturing, the Cell Q™ automates quality control at high throughput, both for in-process and batch release QC addressing both manufacturing and QC bottlenecks. Cell Shuttles and Cell Qs will be deployed in Cellares’ IDMO Smart Factories around the world enabling each Smart Factory to produce 10 times as many cell therapy batches as conventional CDMOs with the same facility size and number of employees. Partnering with Cellares enables academic medical centers, biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate cell therapy development, scale out manufacturing, lower process failure rates, lower manufacturing costs, and meet global patient demand.

The company is headquartered in South San Francisco, California with its first commercial-scale IDMO Smart Factory in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Cellares is building a global network of IDMO Smart Factories with additional facilities under construction in Europe and Japan. The company is backed by world-class investors and has raised over $355 million in financing.

For more information about Cellares, please visit cellares.com.